Felt Racing is an American

bicycle A bicycle, also called a pedal cycle, bike, push-bike or cycle, is a human-powered transport, human-powered or motorized bicycle, motor-assisted, bicycle pedal, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, with two bicycle wheel, wheels attached to a ...

brand based in

Irvine, California Irvine () is a Planned community, planned city in central Orange County, California, United States, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. It was named in 1888 for the landowner James Irvine. The Irvine Company started developing the area in the ...

. Felt produces

road A road is a thoroughfare used primarily for movement of traffic. Roads differ from streets, whose primary use is local access. They also differ from stroads, which combine the features of streets and roads. Most modern roads are paved. Th ...

, track,

cyclocross Cyclo-cross (cyclocross, CX, cyclo-X or cross) is a form of bicycle racing. Races typically take place in the autumn and winter (the international or "World Cup" season is October–February), and consist of many laps of a short (2.5–3.5&nb ...

electric bicycles An electric bicycle, e-bike, electrically assisted pedal cycle, or electrically power assisted cycle is a bicycle with an integrated electric motor used to assist propulsion. Many kinds of e-bikes are available worldwide, but they generally fa ...

, and cruiser bikes. All design is completed in the United States and the majority of production comes from Asia. The company also has a strong reputation in the time trial/triathlon bike area and for several years provided bicycles to UCI teams in the

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage cycle sport, bicycle race held primarily in France. It is the oldest and most prestigious of the three Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tours, which include the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a ...

. Felt still supports several professional level race teams including Hincapie Racing and Team Twenty 16.

History

Felt was founded by Jim Felt in early 1994 when Felt products were distributed by Answer Products. Felt nearly disappeared from the domestic market following a fallout with Answer after a seven-year relationship. The brand was relaunched in 2001 as an independent company. On February 3, 2017, Rossignol Group announced the acquisition of Felt Bicycles. The announcement noted that Felt had grown to $60 million in revenue at the time of sale, though terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. Rossignol announced in March 2022 that it is selling Felt Bicycles to Pierer Mobility.

Technology

Felt has developed several unique bicycle technologies. For its time trial/triathlon bikes, Felt has developed the Bayonet Fork, which utilizes an external steerer in front of the

head tube The head tube is the part of a cycle's tubular frame within which the front fork steerer tube is mounted. On a motorcycle, the "head tube" is normally called the steering head. On bicycles the manufacturer's brand located on the head tube is know ...

for additional stiffness and aerodynamic efficiency. Felt has also developed the Equilink suspension system for its full-suspension mountain bikes. Felt extensively utilizes

wind tunnel A wind tunnel is "an apparatus for producing a controlled stream of air for conducting aerodynamic experiments". The experiment is conducted in the test section of the wind tunnel and a complete tunnel configuration includes air ducting to and f ...

and

computational fluid dynamics Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is a branch of fluid mechanics that uses numerical analysis and data structures to analyze and solve problems that involve fluid dynamics, fluid flows. Computers are used to perform the calculations required ...

modeling in its frame design process.

Recall

Felt has issued a recall of 2009 Felt model B12, B16 and S32 road bicycles because the steerer tube can break, causing the rider to lose control, fall, and suffer injuries.

Sponsorships

In 2007 Felt sponsored the bicycle team. In 2009, Felt signed a three-year agreement to supply frames to the team. On August 28, 2010, announced it was switching working agreements from Felt Bicycles to Cervelo bikes and change its name to for the 2011 season. Felt chose not to exercise its option with the Boulder-based cycling team after a four-year working agreement. The folded and some riders moved to . From 2012 to 2013 Felt Bicycles was the bicycle sponsor for with team rider

Marcel Kittel Marcel Kittel (born 11 May 1988) is a German former racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 2011 and 2019 for the , and squads. As a junior, he specialised in time trials, even winning a bronze medal in the World Championships for cycli ...

winning four stages of the 2013

. In 2014 Felt became the bike sponsor to the US Continental team, . The US Women's track cycling team won a silver medal riding Felt bicycles at the 2016 Olympics in Rio.

Jennifer Valente Jennifer Marie Valente (born December 24, 1994) is an American professional Cycle sport, racing cyclist who is a two-time gold medalist in women's omnium at the Cycling at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Women's omnium, 2020 and Cycling at the 2024 ...

won two gold medals, one in the Omnium and another in the Team Pursuit, riding Felt bicycles at the 2024 Olympics in Paris.

Athletes sponsored by Felt

Daniela Ryf Daniela Ryf (born 29 May 1987) is a Swiss triathlete. She is the titles holder of the Ironman World Championship of 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2021; and of the Ironman 70.3 World Championship of the 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, and 2019. Ryf compe ...

* Mirinda Carfrae *

Sarah Hammer Sarah Kathryn Hammer (born August 18, 1983) is an American former professional racing cyclist and four-times Olympic silver medalist. With eight world championships, she has been called, "America's most decorated track athlete." Hammer announced ...

* Tim DeBoom *

Gallery

Image:FELT Beachcruiser ZERO SEN 01.jpg, Felt Beachcruiser ZERO SEN Image:Felt Tomsk.jpg, Felt Q650 Image:Felt Ververza QX75.JPG, Felt Verza QX75 (2011 model) File:Felt_B2_Pro.JPG, Felt B2 Pro with Felt edition Zipp wheels File:Felt BS road bicycle.jpg, Felt Z85 road bicycle with Aluminium frame

References

External links

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Felt Bicycles - USA web siteFelt Bicycles - Canada web siteFelt Bicycles - European web siteFelt Bicycles - International web site
{{American bicycle manufacturers Cycle manufacturers of the United States Mountain bike manufacturers Manufacturing companies based in Greater Los Angeles Companies based in Irvine, California