Felt designs its suspension and frame platforms together with the single objective of delivering the best possible ride for any conditions or ride experiences. With this approach, Felt engineers are able to fine-tune the bikes through the suspension and truly achieve an extraordinary ride for elite athletes and recreational riders alike. SUSPENSION Many riders understand that full suspension creates a smoother mountain bike ride, but an efficient suspension system can keep a rider moving faster. Felt has developed two proprietary suspension systems, which are each used for unique applications and ride experiences: FAST TM and Equilink TM. Both of these platforms follow the same overall philosophy, which is to create a suspension system that pedals efficiently and provides large impact support regardless of the shock. When FAST and Equilink are coupled with a shock that has a low compression tune, excellent small bump sensitivity can also be achieved. In addition, these suspension technologies have an added benefit of less heat buildup in the shock, resulting in consistent performance on long descents. EQUILINK: Equilink is a 6-bar suspension system that is used on bikes with more than 100mm of travel. For longer travel bikes, suspension performance becomes an increasingly higher priority. The Equilink system features a link that connects the upper and lower links, making it possible to control the anti-squat and leverage ratio more independently in the design stage. This eliminates many compromises that can be found in other 4-bar systems. Felt engineers end goal in creating this design was to have an efficient pedaling bike that maintains excellent small-bump compliance, all while having support for large impacts. FAST: FAST, or Felt Active Stay Technology, is a linkage-driven, single-pivot system with flexible carbon stays. The system was initially designed for cross-country bikes that typically have less than 100mm of travel. By replacing the pivot near the dropout with flexible carbon stays, Felt created a frame with a lighter, stiffer, and overall snappier experience. SUSPENSION 1
FAST EXPLAINED FAST relies on the leaf-spring effect of the flexible carbon rear triangle to provide additional pedal platform, increases stiffness, and decreases weight. COMPRESSED NEUTRAL EXTENDED 0% / Top-Out In order for the suspension to reach full extension, the rear triangle is required to compress. 30% / Sag At the sag point (approximately 30%), the rear triangle is neutral. 100% / Bottom Out As the suspension gets deeper in the travel, the rear triangle is required to extend. EFFICIENT PEDALING To provide efficient pedaling, FAST relies on both ideal anti-squat values as well as the flexible carbon stays. As the suspension moves away from the sag point in either direction, a force is created from either compressing or extending the stays. This force acts on the shock and helps return it back to sag. The end result is a stable, responsive platform for pedaling. SUSPENSION 2
LARGE IMPACTS Support for large impacts is provided in two ways: carbon flex and decreasing leverage ratio. Decreasing leverage ratio makes it progressively harder to compress the suspension as it moves through the travel. The carbon stays add to this by contributing an additional spring force as they are extended through the travel. SMALL-BUMP SENSITIVITY With the pedaling performance and large impact support handled by the linkage design and flexible carbon stays, the shock can be run with minimal compression damping. This frees the shock up to remain active and absorb the smallest of bumps. ANTI-BOB & ANTI-SQUAT BOB Suspension compression caused by a rider s legs oscillating up and down while pedaling. SQUAT Suspension compression caused by weight transfer due to acceleration. ANTI-SQUAT Chain tension causes suspension to extend, which counteracts bob and squat. 100% anti-squat means that the two forces are balanced, which translates to no suspension movement. SUSPENSION 3
EQUILINK EXPLAINED The Equilink is a 6-bar system with a unique link that connects the upper and lower links. This platform allows for the rotation of the upper and lower links, with respect to each other to be controlled more easily. This adds another level of tunability in the development stage (as compared to other 4-bar system) making it possible to achieve an ideal combination of suspension properties. RIDE CHARACTERISTICS: Responsive Light Snappy Stiff EQUILINK Efficient pedaling (with shock unlocked) Excellent small bump compliance Suspension remains active while pedaling 4-BAR SYSTEM SUSPENSION 4
EFFICIENT PEDALING To accomplish efficient pedaling, the suspension is designed with an ideal amount of anti-squat. A key benefit of Equilink is that it allows for a downward sloping anti-squat curve, which falls off more rapidly around 60% travel. This translates to a bike that pedals well and is able to absorb bumps at the same time. SMALL-BUMP SENSITIVITY For small-bump sensitivity, the shock is tuned with very little compression damping. Because the linkage is providing the pedaling efficiency and large impact support, the shock can remain active and absorb bumps when needed. The added benefit is that the shock is not compensating for any shortcomings of the linkage design. Therefore it is not working as hard, which leads to less heat buildup and more consistent performance. LARGE IMPACTS To provide support on large impacts, the bike has a progressive leverage ratio. This means that the suspension gets progressively harder to compress as it moves through its travel. SUSPENSION 5