Crush Tris and Time Trials in Style on the Felt IA3
Every now and then, I come across a bike that I know will be fun, before I’ve even touched it—let alone ridden it. You know the type. It’s a bike that looks fast even when it’s not moving; a bike so “stealth”—with meticulous aerodynamic features and an understated paint scheme that states, ‘I don’t have to compensate for anything’—that it prompts a totally contradictory reaction when it hits the pavement: Everyone notices it. And then when you get on it, the ride matches the appearance. For me, the Felt IA3 triathlon bike is one of those bikes. It’s not brand new, but it’s certainly lustworthy for anyone who wants to look good while beating down the clock.
While racing the IA3 in a sprint triathlon, on a flat course with a few turns on it, it felt like the bike knew the course. I’ve ridden many bikes in this category, and at this price point, and they can feel overly responsive to my input. The Felt, however, was more stable—it picked up on my subtle steering cues without veering more than I expected, and went where I projected it. But it was still plenty responsive: I could think about leaning into a turn without shifting my weight too much on the bike, and still get the IA3 to react. This is comforting on a technical course, where I had to find my way around other riders, with my hands on the bar extensions, cornering at speed.
RELATED: How to Turn Your Road Bike into a Time-Trial or Triathlon Machine
The ride quality was consistently dependable. On new, smooth pavement, the bike virtually disappeared beneath me; there was only that hollow, low, rumbling sound of the wind across the bike, and the bike on the road. On older, less-smooth roads, the IA3 adequately dampened some road chatter, sounded a little louder, and yet was still smooth enough to let me keep my power and speed high.
Felt’s Integrated Aero line of time trial and triathlon bikes extends from the top-of-the-line IA FRD, complete with Zipp 404/808 wheels and Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 electronic shifting, to the IA1 frameset, which allows riders to add their own components and wheels to Felt’s aerodynamic fuselage and cockpit. In the middle of Felt’s triathlon and time trial bike lineup is the IA3, complete with SRAM Red components, deep-profile carbon wheels, Felt’s proprietary cockpit, and the comfortable ISM Attack saddle. All of the bikes in Felt’s IA lineup share similar features, such as the fork, a rubber-topped storage area in the top tube where you can stash some energy chews or gels, and brakes integrated into the frame's bottom bracket area.
The IA3’s geometry—which is the same across all of Felt’s Integrated Aero models—accommodates just about any fit requirement and race distance, whether you’re doing a sprint triathlon with a 20km bike distance, an open 40km time trial, or an Ironman-distance event. Most of my time on this wicked-fast-looking bike was spent in preparation for 20km time trials, and sprint- and Olympic-distance triathlons. Felt’s proprietary cockpit is easily adjustable; however, on a size medium, I had the bar extensions at their minimum insertion point. The saddle height and position were also simple to set, in part because Felt specs the bike with a proprietary seatpost clamp that offers micro-adjustment of saddle fore/aft position, as well as nose angle. The seat tube clamp tightens down in the center of the seatpost, which is grooved to accomodate it. Once my saddle height and angle were set, I cut the supplied silicone strip, which seals that channel that runs the length of the seatpost. Although the seatpost might not seem like an area prone to drag, Felt has ensured that you won’t be wasting your watts on wind resistance there.
Felt differentiates its bikes not only by component specification, but also by the kind of carbon fiber used in frame construction. The IA3’s frame is made of high-modulus carbon (the second tier of carbon fiber layup schedules), which means it has a high carbon-fiber-to-resin ratio, and relatively more carbon strands per area than those in less expensive bikes. The massive, flattened seat tube seems to be tempered by small-diameter seat stays, mounted very low on the seat tube, for aerodynamics, compliance, and comfort. This results in greater stiffness, lower weight, and some forgiveness on rougher roads. To be certain, some road noise did come through the IA3—but I liked this. I could feel what was going on underneath me, and get a better sense of the terrain.
RELATED: Reviewed: Boardman AiR/ TT 9
I did have a few minor issues with the IA3. The stock carbon wheels (Felt-branded Novatec 50mm-deep carbon clinchers) are very sensitive to wind—maybe more than any deep-profile wheel I have ridden. The winds were pushing me around so much that I got nervous several times on fast descents and on the flats; I am a very average-sized adult male, so I do not usually get blown around. However, when racing, I swapped out these stock wheels for a Zipp 808 front wheel and a Super-9 rear disc, and experienced no steering issues. As with many non-premium carbon wheels, the Novatec wheels weren’t especially low-weight; my race wheelset—with a disc—was lighter, and easier to get up to speed.
The other issue of note was braking with the SRAM 990 brake levers, which operate Felt’s proprietary brake calipers. The levers are meant to rotate in place, in the base bar, to take up or add slack to the brake cables and allow a variety of wheel widths. Even with some tinkering, the brake levers never had a crisp feel, and they came out of adjustment more than once. The rear brake caliper, positioned under the bottom bracket and hidden behind a fairing, did not operate smoothly after a ride in the rain. Even after cleaning, the braking function was not on par with what I would expect of a bike at this price point.
The Felt IA3 is a pro-level bike with an enthusiast price tag. The ride is smooth and predictably fast, and offers ample comfort over long trips. With a race-day wheel swap, this just-right bike becomes a super bike—like the IA that carried Australian Mirinda Carfrae to two consecutive Ironman World Championships.
Price: $6,999
Weight: 19.1lbs (size medium)
Info: feltbicycles.com
You Might Also Like
