# The FrankenFelt



## KCTele (Apr 6, 2010)

So after five years of hinting around, the wife finally gave me the go ahead this spring to buy a road bike. 

I started shopping & quickly began choking from sticker shock, as things had changed a lot since I bought my first royal blue Free Spirit 10 speed at Sears in 1979. I was the coolest kid in 5th grade. 

After visiting every bike shop in a 30 mile radius, I settled on the Z100 because it seemed to be outfitted with better components compared to other manufacturers at that price point

Little did I realize the obsession to come.

It started with a small first upgrade of a new stem. An Origin8 Pro Fit Alloy 100mm +/- 8d because I wanted a little bit longer reach than the OEM stem. 

After that I went through four saddles and a patient LBS before I finally settled on something my arse could agree with. A WTB Devo.

Next came an Ultegra 6703 front derailler in place of the Shimano 2300, which was never to my liking.

Then I replaced the seat post with an Origin 8 Carbon Elite, for no other reason than...it was carbon & I wanted carbon.

After falling over one too many times at 1 mph due to not being able to get my foot out of the toe clips, I had had enough & I changed out to the Shimano R540 road pedals. 

I then came to despise the constant cross chain noise of the FSA Tempo Triple 52/42/30. This hatred led to my conclusion that a new groupset was in order. Shhh, don’t tell the wife. 

I found a Sram Force 50/34 compact crank online from reputable dealer that was a literal steal, so I jumped at it as it was about the same cost as the Apex crank. It was new but a couple years old, which was the reason for the deep discount. Do I need the current year’s model? No! Plus I couldn’t resist the carbon, which is beautiful.

Kansas City, MO is a hilly town & because of the gear ratio change to the Compact Crank and the loss of low end that the Triple gave me, led me to a new Sram Apex rear derailleur medium cage to accommodate the Sram 11/32 PG-1050 cassette which in turn required a change to Sram shifters. The LBS made deal on a year old new set of Rivals that he was tired of seeing gather dust. 

Then to ice the cake, I changed out the brakes to a set of Sram Apex. 

Basically, the only thing left stock on the bike is the handlebars & the wheelset. Will address the wheels next year with either a pair of Mavic’s or Easton’s. Anyway, below are the pics. Cheers!

View attachment 212920


View attachment 212921


View attachment 212922


----------



## Don4 (Jul 29, 2010)

Cool story and a nice looking Felt!


----------



## chambers078 (Sep 24, 2010)

Your wife created a monster!

Nice bike, I'm sure it rides like a dream now.

Just curious...what size is that frame? Looks tiny!


----------



## KCTele (Apr 6, 2010)

It's a 51. I am 5'5" and 54 just didn't feel right. I forgot to add that the new Crank required a new GXP bottom bracket, which saved a bunch of weight & needed a new chain because of the switch to the 10 speed cassette.

It's been fun, but think I am modded out for the year, plus I don't want to run the risk of the wife catching on. If she hasn't already!


----------



## 95zpro (Mar 28, 2010)

Where do you ride in KCMO; I used to live in Olathe and remember bike lanes around 151st area and maybe StateLine Rd but not really anywhere else. I'm down in Houston but as I recall some folks used to ride at the downtown airport for triathlon training just fyi!


----------



## KCTele (Apr 6, 2010)

I live a few block south of the Crown Center if you are familiar with that area. Just south of downtown. I am about 5 minutes from Wheeler Downtown Airport, & ride there quite often. The perimeter outer road 3.65 mi around, which is great to pound out the miles without having to worry about autos. Might encounter 1-2 vehicles per ride. The rides are great in that you just set the cadence and put you mind in neutral. 

I also have a 19 mi route that takes me through downtown to City Market and out east into the Industrial East Bottoms and then up to an area called Cliff Drive & then back home. I really dig this ride. http://cliffdrive.org/


----------



## KCTele (Apr 6, 2010)

*Frankenfelt 2011 edition*

Finally decided to give the steed a well deserved deep cleaning today. Put 1390 miles on the Z this past year. The bike held up well, though it did take a punch in the nose over the July 4th weekend. A woman did a rolling stop in front of me in a full size van. I was able to slow, but not fast enough before I had to lay it down right before her rear wheel ran over the the front wheel and fork, while I was still clipped in. Fortunately, the only damage I sustained was a scrapped up elbow, which was frankly a miracle. 

The components took a beating, but the frame was undamaged. This front wheel was trashed, so I replaced the Alexrim R-500's with Mavic Ksyrium Equipe's. The right side Sram Rival Shifter was bent, so they were replaced with a pair of Sram Force. The front Sram Apex Brake was broken, so the brakes were replaced with Sram Force, also. The Felt handle bars were bent, so they were replaced with Origin-8 Bio-form carbon bars. The cracked forks were replaced with full carbon Origin-8 forks. The Shimano R-540 pedals were replaced with Shimano 105's. 

After all of the upgrades over the last two years, the bike is now 18.1 lbs, Down from 22 lbs at the time of purchase out of the box.

Wouldn't recommend hitting a car as an excuse to upgrade components, but is better now than it was prior to the scrape. Anyway, here is the photo of the final 2011 iteration of the my Z100.


----------

