THE GLOBE’S MOST EXPENSIVE PRODUCTION BIKE, COURTESY OF A WONDERFULLY LOONY SO CAL MAKER, IS ALSO THE WINNINGEST TRIATHLON MODEL EVER MADE

BY EVAN MONROE

If you really want to, you can spend more on one of artist customized bikes like the Damien Hirst blinged out Butterfly Trek Madone at a cool $500,000 or a $200,000 Trek 1274 with original drawings by Japanese artist Yoshimoto Nara, but if content with merely the most expensive production bike on the planet, may we direct you to Rancho Santa Margarita, California? There, since 1991, Felt Bicycles has produced high performance racing models that have attracted a gently loony and very fit fan base that includes Josh Amberger, Mirinda Carfrae, and four time (and counting) Kona Ironman World Champion, Daniela Ryf. Felt models have been ridden to stage wins at the global Grand Tours, to triathlon world titles, for Olympic gold medals, and other world championships on road, trail, track, and cyclocross courses. This truly remarkable record is a product of the still small company’s emphasis, as it explains, “on function over form, on a painstakingly iterative design process, and on adapting the bike’s characteristics to the needs of the fit rider, rather than the other way around.”

An evolution of Felt’s flagship model and winningest triathlon bike, the IA DICS’s frame has been redesigned to accommodate disc brakes and wheels (the former with Shimano Dura Ace hydraulic levers), with better stopping performance that inspires more confidence and boosts overall speed, particularly in corners. Debuting at the 2018 Kona Ironman World Championships, it sports a Felt Integrated Aero Tri Disc UHC Ultimate + TeXtreme frame and Felt Dagger Disc UHC Ultimate + TeXtreme monocoque construction fork (both carbon fiber), which together help keep weight to deeply respectable 19.6 pounds.

Conveniences include a top tubehoused CALpac storage area for long trip essentials, plus additional storage behind the seat tube that’s ideal for a flat tire repair/tool kit.

Felt IA FRD DISC
$15,799, feltbicycles.com