RIDE REVIEW I FELT IA FRD 2.0 ULTIMATE FORCE ETAP AXS TRIATHLON BICYCLE
P92
The Pierer Mobility Group, aka KTM Group, is
one of the motorcycle manufacturers crossing
over into the cycling segment. Pierer Mobility
recently acquired Felt Bicycles, which had close
ties to the motorcycle industry back in the day.
Felt Bicycles was founded in the early 1990s
by Jim Felt, whom you might remember was a
factory motocross tuner for several stars of the
sport like John DeSoto, Jimmy Weinert, Broc
Glover and Johnny O'Mara in the 1970s and
'80s. Felt's bicycles were initially distributed
by Answer Products before relaunching in the
early 2000s as an independent company. It was
purchased by the Rossignol Group in 2017 and
then recently Pierer Mobility. Felt makes several
styles of bicycles, including triathlon (aka TT)
bikes, and their triathlon bikes are regarded as
some of the sport's elites. One of the top tri
-
athletes in the world, multi-time Ironman World
Champion Daniela Ryf, rides one. Her most re-
cent win came in 2021 aboard a similar-looking
version of the one we're reviewing here. Triath-
lon legend Paula Newby-Fraser also helped Felt
get off the ground in the 1990s.
With the acquisition of Felt Bicycles, Pierer
Mobility suddenly has triathlon bikes on its
hands, and to publicize this, they went looking
for a "tri person" in the motorcycle industry to
review its new toy. Luckily for them, especially
me, they didn't have to look far. The PIerer
group's media folks in Murrieta, California,
know triathlon is a hobby of mine and that I
had recently completed my first full Ironman
and was training for another one. Perfect!
Pierer Mobility Group is the new owner of Felt
Bicycles and Felt builds one of the most cutting-
edge triathlon bikes—the IA 2.0—that you can buy.
