Young sprinter John Degenkolb had a great 2012, especially later in the season as he took five stages at the Vuelta a España and finished just off the podium at the road world championships. This year Degenkolb, racing a new Felt for Argos-Shimano, is again aiming for success at the Vuelta. Here we take a look at the Felt F-Series FRD bike he rode at the Tour of Qatar.
Degenkolb's Felt looks like the current F1, but it uses a different carbon fiber. Felt uses a blend of fiber it calls UHC Nano TeXtreme spread tow. Using the same mold as the F1, Degenkolb's frame has a blend of uni-directional fibers baked with a resin Felt claims as proprietary.
TeXtreme woven tow
TeXtreme is made by the Swedish company Oxeon. Instead of standard carbon yarn, TeXtreme uses flat tapes of carbon fiber, which Felt claims allows for more fibers (and thus less relatively heavier resin) to be be packed into a given area. TeXtreme is based on Oxeon’s Tape Weaving Technology that uses tapes instead of yarn. In any given area, more fibers can be packed in tape form than in a yarn. This material is then woven and used for the base structure of the frame.
Degenkolb's 54cm frame has a tapered steerer (1.125” to 1.5”), internal routing specific for Shimano Di2, carbon fiber dropouts, a threaded bottom bracket shell and, naturally, Argos-Shimano/1T4i graphics.
Woven tow means more fiber and less resin for a given area, Felt says, meaning a lighter and stiffer frame
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