For the rider who wants the ultimate trail bike, whether you’re doing 24-hour races or doing longer cross country rides, even aggressive trail riding, the Virtue is designed to suit all of those categories. It’s a very versatile bike!
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Development Process & Achievements
The Virtue category was Felt’s first line of bikes that utilized our revolutionary and patented Equilink suspension technology, and also our flagship suspension series for the longest time. It was the recipient of Outside Magazine’s Gear of the Year award for 2007.
Every year, it’s been evolved to surpass all of our expectations, aiming to give riders a more refined experience on the bikes.
For 2008, the Virtue keeps employing some of the most brilliant manufacturing processes and materials of our time while delivering unparalleled conjunction of performance traits.
We keep introducing a lot of high-end technology to the bikes to actually improve the overall handling of the bikes whether it be for cross-country, on trail riding, to more aggressive riding. The bike has got the confidence on the trails to put it with pretty much anything you can dish out to it.
The original Virtue years ago was introduced to be an all-around trail bike. The new Virtue has been redeveloped, it has been aimed at more of an all-around trail bike to aggressive trail riding.
But on the other end of the spectrum, it can be used for lighter weight and cross-country applications.
New Changes On The Virtue Series
We have had Virtue in our line since the beginning of Felt bicycle suspension efforts. So, rather than redesign the linkage, we decided that we’re very happy with the efficiency levels of that and really needed to go on to re-finding the breed if you will, and introducing new materials, new technologies to bring new goals to the table.
- Increasing stiffness
- Making the bikes lighter
- Easier to use, and easier to maintain
Some of those things are carbon fiber in the front triangles.
We have lightweight stainless-steel axles in the Equilink that uses EU-bearings.
EU bearings are small Teflon coated Molly disulfide bearings that are very lightweight and very easy to service. They are the same type of bearings that you can find in the tops and bottoms of shock absorbers.
By introducing these things, we were able to take a lot of weight out of the chassis to bring other features into the line, such as internal cable routing or just making all the lines smoother and more efficient looking. And in fact, we’ve done building a 5.5-pound Virtue chassis with a shock absorber.
Other details that we have changed on the Virtue are less obvious, such as new upper links with a more refined stiffer shape, new hardware in general which is a lot more durable and stronger yet lighter than the older versions.
There’s an aesthetic that we have actually focused on.
We wanted to make the travel adjustable without affecting the geometry so that you can ride 120mm Forks to 130mm forks.
By having travel chips in the upper Shock link, it’s very easy now to take out one and adjust the travel.
Equilink Application
Virtue encompasses one of our most important technologies – Equilink.
You can take an upper linkage and lower linkage in our six-bar system if you will, and tie them together with the Equilink”. One common bar that equalizes the forces between those languages effectively separating suspension movement from drivetrain forces.
It makes a rider a better rider and they don’t even know it.
The Equilink itself allows the rider to decline with amazing efficiency, descend without any input from the drivetrain as far as pedal kickback. As far as anything negative, you feel back through the drivetrain, allowing for a smooth and in control ride no matter what the terrain.
Because of that efficiency out of the Equilink system, as well as its capacity to handle some larger impacts that Virtue has become the race weapon of choice.
Shocks
There are two things that, at Felt, we do believe should be a choice rather than a requirement – tune-ability and shock specification. That’s why all of the Virtue models were created to work well with any brand of shock, around conventional shock lengths, with no requirement of specific inner factory settings.
Therein, our signature Equilink plays a huge role in offering optimum efficiency without asking for the platform-valved shocks to mask bobbing induced by suspension (one of the typical design deficiencies).
At the same time, we do realize that platform valving is able to be utilized to smoothen unwanted shock movement caused by the rider, like inconsistent or choppy pedaling stroke.
Rear Triangle
There are some good reasons for making carbon fiber honestly our solid choice when selecting the best material for the rear triangle:
It remains atop of the rankings about vibration dampening capability. So, there is no better place to utilize this material than on the part that takes the brunt of the abuse and impact.
It is able to be laid up in the mold accurately how our engineers wanted, to retain lateral stiffness for efficient force transfer while offering shock-absorbent vertical compliance
Carbon fiber allows you to reduce a pivot at the rear dropout with its incredible fatigue resistance and inherent spring-like quality
The chainstays and seat stays are commonly the two types of frame tubes that feature the heaviest wall thickness when it comes to the bike frame. Because of that, the thickness of carbon fiber can be easily specified to simultaneously meet our flexibility and weight needs while providing all of the off-road durability required.
Front Triangle
By achieving the perfect balance of long-term durability and light refinement, the Virtue front triangle sets it to the standard.
What you’ll see is a delicate yet bullet-proof 7000 series aluminum front triangle with no over-designed monocoque applications, monstrous gusseting, or interrupted tubing.
The downtube is met at the bottom by a two-piece, welded BB/lower pivot clevis, and by an externally- and internally-relieved hourglass head tube up top, which has been machined from the inside out to shred huge weight.
The top tube, in the meantime, uses the newest in hydroformed technology, letting us manipulate and fortify tubing with no necessity of weight.
There is no requirement of using primitive, heavy-duty tubing to accommodate pivots on the main tubes because the key suspension links are housed only behind the seat tube. That is also one of the beauties of our Equilink suspension – minimal weight and compact size.
And it helps make the Virtue incredibly fast and absolutely race-worthy.
Frames
All the frames feature a control tape ahead to, which actually allows for about a procession on the trail with a tapered steerer tube without actually sacrificing any real weight on the front of the bike and allows for a lot more control when you are going down the trail.
There are three levels of the frame for the Virtue series.
On the entry-level, an all-new alloy frame featuring a fully hydroformed top tube, down tube, and rear triangle.
In the middle, an alloy carbon frame that complements our original Virtue design.
On the top end, we introduce a new full carbon fiber frame. This utilizes a lot of technology that we have learned from our road series’ frames and now, it allows us to meet probably one of the ultimate carbon fiber trail bikes on the planet.
The Virtue uses carbon fiber technology that we do not only use for stiffness and light but also use as a flexible component in the rear travel of the bike. Instead of having extra heavyweight and pivots at the dropouts, we use the carbon as a flexible component to allow the suspension to move through its travel without having to use pivots.
Some Highlight Models
The new Virtue Sport is our entry-level model which features a RockShox Tora TK Coil fork, a full alloy frame w/hydroformed top tube, down tube, and then the 7005 double-butted Aluminum rear triangle. It features a full Shimano 9-speed drivetrain on a nice entry-level bike for attention-level consumers looking for very high-end performance.
The Virtue Expert features a RockShox Recon fork and Felt Equilink Trail Adjustable aluminum/carbon frame. It is one of our top-end models of Virtue series for 2011, constructed with a quick-shifting SRAM 30-speed drivetrain and brakes, along with sweet Mavic/SRAM wheels that add up into an ultimate trail bike package.
We also offer the Virtue LTD, featuring the same geometry, inside technology, control type-ahead tube, and dynamic monocoque construction as the other carbon fiber carbon Virtues. But it also features the UHC ultimate plus nano-carbon fiber, aluminum, and titanium hardware to help reduce swaying further.
The Virtue really is the one bike to do everything. If you can only have one bike in your garage, that’s the one going to be the most capable of all conditions.
Price ranges
In general, the price points of our Virtue series are somewhere between $3000 and $5000. Compared to other similar counterparts out there at the moment, they are one of the most affordable as we’ve tried our best to keep the price budget-friendly.
While it is not the cheapest option, we confidently assure you that any of the Virtue series will definitely achieve your 100% satisfaction.
Where to buy
The constant growth of e-commerce levels recently has made it a lot easier for customers to buy anything, even as big as a bike.
Aside from purchasing directly from our website – Feltracing.com, you can easily find and buy the Virtue series on popular e-commerce sites like eBay and Walmart.
At the current, we also incorporate with some well-known and reliable websites like Singletracks.com, Bikeradar.com, and mtbr.com, aiming to provide our worldwide customers with more chances to experience our products.
How to choose the right Virtue for you?
The Virtue series includes three versions that we consider are not overwhelming for our customers, especially the beginners. To know which version is the right for you, consider two key elements: your budget and your needs.
Long story shorts, our Virtue 1 does indeed have plenty of virtues to be the right choice for those who want a light yet tight XC/trail 29er with great power that can climb up hills like a champ.
The Virtue 2 is an in-between option of the lighter Virtue One and the more affordable Virtue Three. It’s a new generation of trail bikes that really likes to be hustled up the climbs but is still able to meet long travels.
The Virtue 3 is our latest version, with an emphasis on the industry-leading carbon-fiber construction that allows it to conquer any rugged trails like a breeze. Plus, its price tag is extremely competitive.