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 Since
the Virtue was designed to be incredibly fast and absolutely
race-worthy, being lightweight was a top priority. One
of the many beauties of the Equilink system is its inherent
compact size and minimal weight. Since the key suspension
members (links) are contained just behind the seat tube,
there’s no need to use primitive, heavy-duty tubing
to house pivots on the main tubes. You will not see
any interrupted tubing, monstrous gusseting, or over-designed
monocoque applications. What you will see is a sophisticated
yet bullet-proof 7000 series aluminum front triangle.
The top tube utilizes the latest in hydroform technology,
allowing us to manipulate and strengthen tubing without
adding unnecessary weight. A Felt proprietary Superlight
double-butted downtube is met by an internally and externally-relieved
hourglass head tube up top, and at the bottom by a two-piece,
welded BB/lower pivot clevis, which has been machined
from the inside out, shedding significant weight. The
Virtue front triangle sets the standard by achieving
the ideal balance of lightweight refinement and long-term
durability.
 When
our engineers needed to select the ideal material for
the rear end, carbon fiber was the perfect and obvious
choice. Since carbon naturally dampens vibration, there
was no better place to use it than on the section taking
the brunt of the impact and abuse. On a typical bicycle
frame, the seatstays and chainstays usually have the
heaviest wall thickness of any frame tubes. Because
of this fact, we were able to specify a carbon fiber
thickness which provided all the off-road durability
needed, while meeting our weight and flexibility requirements
simultaneously. Carbon fiber was ideal for the Virtue
suspension design since it could be laid up in the mold
precisely how we wanted, to provide bump-absorbing vertical
compliance while maintaining lateral stiffness for efficient
power transfer.
All Virtue models feature lightweight air sprung shocks.
The Virtue 1 & 2 are specified with a Fox Float
RP23 with 3-Position Pro-Pedal for
maximum tune-ability. The Virtue 3 also benefits from
Fox’s Pro-Pedal, but in non-adjustable form. Even
the Virtue 4 gets platform damping from
Answer’s lightweight Radium R model. The Virtue
frame was designed to accept any brand of shock, around
conventional shock lengths, without
requiring specific internal factory settings. The Equilink
suspension system was designed to offer the utmost in
efficiency without requiring
platform-valved shocks to mask design deficiencies (suspension-induced
bobbing). However, we do recognize that platform valving
can be
used to smooth out unwanted rider-induced shock movement
such as choppy or inconsistent pedaling stroke. At Felt,
we believe that shock
specification and tune-ability should be a choice -
not a requirement.
The Virtue features cold-forged links for strength and
are CNC-machined for lightweight refinement. Identical
and commonly-available sealed
cartridge bearings are specified at all pivots, contributing
to the simplicity of the Equilink system.
FOR MORE IN-DEPTH INFORMATION ABOUT EQUILINK TECHNOLOGY,
PLEASE CHECK OUT THE EQUILINK
TECHNOLOGY SECTION.
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Bikes & Frames