Saddleback 2016 – Felt

Barney popped down to distributors Saddleback last week, and took a look at what’s new from Felt for 2016…

Mostly for this year it’s just a case of Bold New Graphics (don’t change what ain’t broke, perhaps?), and some component tweaks, but some of the Bold New Graphics were pretty sweet. Here’s what caught our eye:
We really liked this colourscheme for the all-mountain sled, the Compulsion10. 160mm of Monarch-driven travel with a Pike up front, SRAM XO1 drivetrain, a KS Lev dropper post and a Matte Lime Punch colourscheme. It’ll set you back £3,999.Or how about the 130mm travel (140mm up front) 29er trail bike, the Felt Virtue? XO drivetrain, Pike up front, and FAST pivotless dropouts to keep the stiffness up and the weight down. The Virtue 1 pictured here is yours for around £5k. Models for 2016 come with shorter stems and wider bars – a welcome change.
These are fun – even if a load of people seem to be making them, manufacturers have seemingly infinite enthusiasm for kiddy-sized fatbikes – the Felt Cruncher 20 is £379.

Or if your littleun is a bit bog for a 20 incher, how about a 24 inch fatbike instead? the Cruncher 24 is £399.

So no great shakeups for 2016, but if you keep your ears to the ground you might hear rumours of some exciting new models for 2017 – more news as and when we get it.

You can get details of the Felt range from Saddleback’s website.

Barney Marsh

Barney Marsh takes the word ‘career’ literally, veering wildly across the road of his life, as thoroughly in control as a goldfish on the dashboard of a motorhome. He’s been, with varying degrees of success, a scientist, teacher, shop assistant, binman and, for one memorable day, a hospital laundry worker. These days, he’s a dad, husband, guitarist, and writer, also with varying degrees of success. He sometimes takes photographs. Some of them are acceptable. Occasionally he rides bikes to cast the rest of his life into sharp relief. Or just to ride through puddles. Sometimes he writes about them. Bikes, not puddles. He is a writer of rongs, a stealer of souls and a polisher of turds. He isn’t nearly as clever or as funny as he thinks he is.

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