Felt “Little Bastard”. An American cruiser

Let’s talk about my realized “American dream” – the Felt Little Bastard cruiser and its subtleties

When using the word “thinness”, it should be clarified right away that this is purely a lexical turnover, because the frames of most cruiser bikes can hardly be called thin, and this Felt one is even less so. Why this one?

It’s hard to say where and when my fascination and love for cruisers began. Let’s consider the starting point the moment when I first learned about adult tricycles and saw the Schwinn Town & Country. A dream bike. The smooth curves of its blue frame captivated me so much that it literally became a kind of impossible dream for me, because in our realities it is difficult to find a normal cruiser, and even in such an unusual format as a tricycle. However, almost immediately after buying wife’s tricycle, I dug up my first Schwinn for myself for a very ridiculous price (200$? It seems so). I immediately ordered it, received it, and the feelings I had on it became something that is difficult to put into words. I rode a fairly large number of different bicycles, but it was Schwinn that became something new and unusual for me at that time. The damn wide saddle, damn wide handlebars, long frame and pedals, slightly extended forward, worked their magic and I fell in love with it.

When I ride it, I feel an indescribable thrill. It doesn’t matter where or at what speed, the feeling is important. You’re like sitting on a comfortable throne and moving somewhere in a relaxed way. The frame is light, aluminum, and the 26″ wheels on a tricycle feel completely different. It’s impossible to compare it to anything else, except for the time when you first got on a tricycle. That childish indescribable joy. All this became a kind of foundation for my love of cruisers. I’ll skip the Tango Tandem chapter and move on to Felt right away.

In general, there are several brands on the market that offer cruisers. There is the German Mifa, which has cruisers, but their number is very limited and the models are not the main focus of the company. There is a modern company Electra, located in America, whose main focus, on the contrary, is cruisers, and which for me is a modern version of Schwinn bicycles (compare their tandems and you will understand what I mean). They are quite expensive, but there are several interesting models that I would not refuse to ride, but … not for their price. Schwinn, although one of the old bicycle brands that produces cruisers (founded back in 1895), has not been a native American brand for a relatively long time in terms of the place of production of bicycles and now provides cruisers of Chinese quality (this also applies to my Town & Country, unfortunately).

If we exclude companies like Huffy, whose product quality has become very Chinese, only Nirve (which are also good, but not all) and Felt remain. Despite its young age (founded in 1991), the company occupies one of the leading positions in the production of bicycles. What is worth only the fact that Felt is a sponsor of the US Olympic team, and the company’s most expensive models are not inferior in price to the cost of a car (about $ 16,000). Among other bicycle models, the company also produces cruisers. The company occupies one of the leading positions in the production of bicycles. What is worth only the fact that Felt is a sponsor of the US Olympic team, and the company’s most expensive models are not inferior in price to the cost of a car (about $ 16,000). Among other bicycle models, the company also produces cruisers. The company occupies one of the leading positions in the production of bicycles. What is worth only the fact that Felt is a sponsor of the US Olympic team, and the company’s most expensive models are not inferior in price to the cost of a car (about $ 16,000). Among other bicycle models, the company also produces cruisers.

I first became acquainted with Felt cruisers recently, when I first saw the Red Baron model (hereinafter RB).

It was perfect for me in everything – the colour, the shape of the frame, the graphics, the fenders, the planetary hub, the wide wheels, the comfortable saddle. There was only one minus – it was a model from about 2014, so it would be very difficult to find it, and the last one we sold went on sale a couple of months ago for about 400 USD, a solid amount for a used bike. Well, as they say, I started looking for the same one, but with mother-of-pearl buttons. At first, my eyes fell on the same model, but a more recent release.

The frame slightly changed the geometry, removed the front fender, added a piece of metal for more correct weighting (joke), and the design became different, and the price for it (new) was even higher – 580$! Unheard of money, so I had to give it up. And I gave it up. In favor of my now Felt Little Bastard! (hereinafter LB).

The geometry of the LB frame is closer to the early version of the RB, which, of course, pleased me, despite the fact that in the new version it looks more like a gas tank (the fact is that cruisers were originally conceived as a kind of replacement for motorcycles, so the design sought this type of transport as much as possible, and sometimes the gas tank was really located at the top of the frame, and the motor was built into the frame). Otherwise, the bikes are very similar – the same comfortable saddle, the same wide wheels, a three-speed planetary gear and a steel frame. Yes, yes, you heard right, all these cruisers are made on a steel frame !

It’s hard to say whether the whole point is the cost of a steel frame on a par with aluminium or whether it’s more of a fashion statement, but most cruisers are made on steel frames. I’ll make a perhaps absurd assumption that a steel frame can better withstand the load from the motor mounted on it (the fact is that in America, where cruisers originate, it was a popular thing to put a motor on your rover and ride it as a compact alternative to a motorcycle), but a cruiser is a cruiser because it’s slow and heavy! Does this fact bother me? Let’s just say that the weight of my LB with 26*2.125 wheels is noticeably higher than that of a fatbike with wheels that are essentially twice as large. If you put both wheels side by side, I can bet that not every person will guess on the first try which wheel weighs more. Only theoretically, more weight will give greater stability on the road at high speeds, and wide wheels will allow you to swallow small potholes, which will help you stay in the saddle even in a critical situation. Given the quarantine, I don’t have the opportunity to test the bike at full strength, but today’s test showed that the sensations from riding it are very amazing. It’s something between a fat bike, a regular bike and a motorcycle. And I want to dwell on this in a little more detail.

When you buy this bike (like any other), you put a picture in your brain of how you will ride it through the open spaces. Outside of this picture, your brain tells you that all bikes are the same and paying several times more for a frame makes no sense. But I categorically disagree with this statement. When we eat food, the first thing we definitely feel is the smell. Then visual perception and taste. Even the most wonderful smell of food will not make us eat it if it looks bad. It’s about the same here. Despite the heavy frame (weight, for a moment, about 18-20 kg, I couldn’t find exact data), modest wheel diameter (26″ is still normal, there were such bikes with 24″ wheels) and what else are the minuses? Probably, that’s all, the bike feels somehow in its own way. It’s about the fit or weight, the shape of the frame. I don’t know what, but you want to ride it. You don’t think about speed, because your happiness is not in it, but in what you do to cover the distance.

When I read the forums and came across a person who was waiting for Felt to release a bike with an aluminium frame, I thought “guy, what the hell?!” When I picked it up from the post office and felt the weight of the box, I thought “Sa, what the hell?!”. After only a little ride on it, I understand that this bike will lose two things in aluminium – its charm and its stability. Experienced IT guys will understand me when I tell them that it’s like taking an old Chieftec case and comparing it to most modern computer cases. Put motors on it (electric or gasoline – it doesn’t matter), but believe me, it is in steel that this bike feels complete, and not a stump like the Ardis Cruiser 26, which looks like a cruiser, but I’m sure it feels like shit. But enough about the frame, let’s move on. Planetary !

Electra bikes most often come with 1, 3, 7-speed models. Even more often, it’s either 1 or 7 speeds. I haven’t seen Felt cruisers with 7 speeds, but with 1 or 3 – please. Even my model in the initial photos was without a planetary gear. Until we fully ride it somewhere, I refuse to say anything about whether three speeds are enough. I have a preliminary feeling that 7 would be better, but perhaps the right selection of the gearing in the stars will allow you to achieve the desired result with less labour. After all, three speeds are much better than one! 🙂

Are you curious about how a saddle feels ? Stop. Not so. Are you curious about how a saddle that costs $80 to $90 in stores feels? What is a saddle for $80-90? The Selle Royal SCIENTIA, which I had before, costs $20 less. The famous Brooks B17 (which I also owned) costs about the same money as a Felt saddle. So what the hell is it, take it away?! It’s good. Yes, without riding it for a few dozen kilometres, I can’t tell you how it feels. It’s quite pleasant to sit on, it’s wider than standard bicycle saddles (but still, than Schwinn Town & Country and closer to the width of the Tango Tandem saddle), although you can’t tell from the photo right away, and it’s made very well. The first thought that comes to your mind a day after the GT Avalanche saddle is “damn! Why does my ass hurt so much?!”. The first thought I had when I arrived home from Rivne on the Donut (Pride) was “But I rode my own saddle?! What the hell!”. Felt Little Bastard is the first bike in my life (we’re getting rid of Schwinn’s, even Chinese ones), on which I don’t want to change the saddle. Potentially, this is 70-80 bucks saved, and that’s a lot. Over time, I’ll do a full test, write another article with my impressions, and for now, let’s move on.

The sweetest thing about Felt LB is, again, the frame. And the wheels . And to hell with the wheels and tires (you won’t find native 50 mm rims anywhere, even on the official website for sale, the tires in new condition are a little oaky), the main thing here is the gap between the wheels and the rim. I read somewhere that the norm of the width between them is about 4-5 mm on each side. On this bike, the gap is about 1.5 cm on each side, which will allow you to put in an even wider rim and tire if you wish, thereby bringing the width of the wheels closer toBatman-Batman light fat bike (Electra Fat Lux, which is classified as a fat bike, has a wheel width of 3.5”). I wouldn’t take this as an end in itself, but in an electric or gasoline conversion, this moment will be a clear plus in the piggy bank of possibilities for customizing your bike.

Cruiser is a cruiser, convenience is convenience. Mere mortals also need a bike to carry things, so the manufacturer did not play God and added brackets for mounting the trunk . So if you wish, you can always attach a couple of bike trunks or just personal cargo to it. The only downside is that not all Felt models have the original trunk and LB will have to work hard to make this element of the bike fit into the overall concept.

The handlebars are initially turned downwards, which indicates the manufacturer’s desire to classify it in a slightly different class – cafe racer bikes, which imply a more horizontal fit. I’ll be honest – I didn’t play with the fit, but I believe that with the engine I would probably prefer it myself. Less wind resistance – more comfortable and faster to ride.

The pedals of this bike are the element about which, if we follow the logic of a slightly different industry – “say good or nothing”, I would like to say good, but with moments. The main moment is plastic instead of rubber (or I haven’t tasted it yet, but it tastes like plastic) on the surface and metal sidewalls. The latter take us back to the times when pedals were rubber and steel in one or another proportion of these materials. The pedals are wide. I will write here that the cranks fit very well into the design. But the pedals clearly lack style and quality for such a cool bike.

I haven’t told you about the frame yet . The frame, as mentioned above, is made of steel (it’s easy to check with a magnet, and you can feel the weight). The pipes are thicker than on most bicycles, the frame itself is made using hydroforming technology, which made it possible to make an unusual shape of the frame without a single seam (especially the top tube). A clear advantage of a steel frame is the ability to assemble an electric bike without worrying about whether the fork and frame will withstand the increased load. And although I see the ideal option for good bicycles as installing a gasoline engine, in my case a case with a battery will be hung on this frame and an electric motor with a modest power of 250-300W will be installed, which will be more than enough for a speed of around 25-27 km. /h and, more importantly, a comfortable ride uphill.

Design . I can’t help but write a few words about the design of the LB and other Felts. I would like to draw a parallel with Lego figures – they are all so similar and so different at the same time. The fact is that the design of most cruisers of this brand has its own history. A clear example is the Felt Shelby

which was released with an official Caroll Shelby license and is a kind of younger brother of the car.

The Red Baron, which you could see above, is a tribute to the legendary fighter pilot Manfred von Richthofen, who painted his plane in the same colours, for which he received the appropriate nickname.

As for my Little Bastard , the story is even more prosaic and legendary, because the number and colour on it are a direct reference to the story of James Dean’s cursed Porsche 550 Spyder, which was called “Little Bastard”. The story is very interesting and unusual and is found many times on the Internet, so I don’t want to rewrite it again. Felt sometimes produces models that are commissioned by certain organizations. One such bike was a bike commissioned by New Belgium Brewing.

Despite the fact that the company most clearly manifests itself in the release of a different class of bicycles, it is very nice to watch how its cruising direction is gradually developing. Unfortunately, now it is very difficult to find a bicycle in a classic style, while the quality of workmanship is visible literally in every detail. There are small flaws, but from my point of view they are quite forgivable, if only for the reason that otherwise Felt produces very affordable bicycles in its class with a unique design today.

Even though I just bought this bike, I fully understand that I probably won’t be able to ride it long distances. But the quality of this bike has allowed me to clearly decide which brand of bike I would like to see in a semi-mountain version. Most likely, it will be something like the Felt Cruiser Burner or Felt Cruiser Rail, which have 29″ wheels and can be used as a mountain bike for difficult roads, and cruisers with large wheels. And no, I’m not saying that it will be able to downhill like a full-fledged bike designed for this style of riding, but forest trails should be more manageable for it.

Buying the Felt Little Bastard was a kind of revelation for me. I’m not at the age (ho-ho, I can say that now) when you justify any of your purchases, even the most ridiculous ones, so I’ll tell you what it is – at first I was confused by its weight (when I picked it up from the post office), then by the oakiness of the rubber, then again by its weight (taking into account that I changed it to a very light one, which now seems like fluff, Pride), but in general, if you want exactly such a bike with exactly such a frame, components (a planetary gear, for example), stylish (yes, it sounds almost hipster) and comfortable – in the end you will be satisfied with it. I would call it an affordable expensive bike, in which the high cost is not so much expressed directly in the price (it costs as much as the cheapest branded mountain bike, to be honest), as in the appearance and the very feel. In the modern world, there are many bikes that are similar to each other and have neither history nor soul, and it is a cruiser like this that is not just a means of transport that takes your ass from one point to another, but something like a good old legendary (oh, comparison) car, while riding in which you don’t think about how much it emits exhaust and eats gasoline, but simply enjoy the fact that it takes you somewhere lucky. That’s exactly the feeling this two-wheeled friend gave me.

When I wanted to electrify Pride, I had the idea of ​​making it look like Bio-Mutant or something similar. To give it a name and personalize it. But the number of Felts like this on our roads is so small that even the original name is more than enough to make it stand out. It’s like the Kona Ute that we (unfortunately?) didn’t pick up from the post office because of scratches on the frame.

Of the pleasant moments – the bike came with a can of paint to paint the frame in places of abrasion (if any occurred during delivery), but the bike arrived in perfect condition (slight abrasions on the disc are not taken into account). Of the unpleasant moments – the wheel has a very slight figure eight (I do not exclude that the rubber simply did not fit), but I will still put a motor instead of it, so I am not worried. In everything else, I was very satisfied. I plan to put an electric motor on it, without spoiling the appearance, so I will have to try very hard, but I am sure that in the end it will be a full-fledged comfortable transport for any tasks.

Author: Sa Crea

Hellmin