For those looking for felt tires

[necessaryevil]

I've been speaking back and forth with a guy from Felt. I told him that none of my local Felt dealers are willing to order cruiser parts, they're only interested in selling road bike stuff or ordering complete bikes. He says that ANY Felt dealer can get quick brick or thick brick tires, and he will be contacting the bike shops that I have inquired about these tires. I told him that I'm not the only one with this problem, seems like a lot of people nationwide have trouble getting Felt stuff. So if your local dealer refuses to order these tires, email Feltracing.com and report them. Hope this helps

 

[user 135]

Thanks for the info. You should just told him you wanted to order direct for you and your buddies at Ratrodbikes :mrgreen:

 

[necessaryevil]

I wish they would sell direct. We should just flood their email with this problem and maybe they'll contact all dealers nationwide about stocking these tires.

 

[sensor]

i had that happen to me about 2 years ago(at my actual lbs not college!) when i tried to get some brown felts....the guy working said he wouldnt place an order that was under $300 :roll: but i have a feeling it was just him saying 'your not worth the time' not the shop itself (and yes they are a felt dealer)

 

[Schwinnspastic]

ya know cruiser bikes in general is a small part of the cycling industry especially where I live so needless to say when I asked my
Felt dealer about the brown quick bricks he said "I need to call them...Let me take your name and number" so far no return call ?

 

[sensor]

ya know cruiser bikes in general is a small part of the cycling industry especially where I live so needless to say when I asked my
Felt dealer about the brown quick bricks he said "I need to call them...Let me take your name and number" so far no return call ?

i know you know college would order some for you and theres also a shop in chico that will also

 

[user 135]

I might have to test my LBS. I asked once if they stocked anything, but never if they would order for me.

 

[Rat Rod]

I spoke with the same rep last year.

He seemed fairly pessimistic about Felt's ability to order and stock their own parts. Since selling cruiser parts isn't their main line of business he said that their processes were undeveloped and things worked slow. At that time they were out of most of their parts and were waiting for a large container from somewhere in Asia to come in so they could start shipping stuff out again.

I asked him why the guys in Europe were able to get the stuff so easily and he acted like they just did everything differently over there and had fine tuned the parts side of the business.

 

[Schwinnspastic]

I just figured I would find some when I really need them but I did just got my order for the $4.00 Kenda flames so I guess
I will run those for a while. On a side note, I just saw Karfer today at College Cyclery and picked up a gaurd for the Phantom
The coolest bike shop in the North state hooked me up again.....I could spend a fortune in that shop ??? if I had a fortune :roll:

 

[Rat Rod]

I just saw Karfer today at College Cyclery and picked up a gaurd for the Phantom

So he is still alive...that's good to know.

I tried to get a photo of his Ratty Cycle Truck for the calendar, but never got a response.

 

[yeshoney]

Just adding my 2 cents. I get my Felts from my local authorized dealer. I just received my 3rd order and all orders have taken two weeks from the date I placed my order to get the tires. I found out the LBS has an 8% markup on the Felt MSRP. In my mind I am supporting my small business LBS and they are receiveing free positive word of mouth advertising. Look at it like this, for the few dollars they make on each tire - there is only an upside for getting them for me. It takes them maybe 10 minutes to place the order. The owner personally makes all special orders and who knows when a future sale may hinge on the psoitive customer service experience I have. :roll: :lol:

As for getting cruiser parts from Felt, I just don't buy the "waiting for a large container" thing for these parts which are indeed slow movers, but they do have an inventory of this stuff as they do continue to sell these bikes, especially tires as they need to keep current customers happy by getting them back on there bike quickly.

Check out the website. The 2009 parts list has been increased and now even includes MSRP. I think the recent Tour de France success has given the management a time sensitive need to capitalize on the marketing opportunity.

Joe

 

[Schwinnspastic]

yep he's still around, I guess just a little busy with the trials of life in the big city. he did mention poping in to promote the car and bike show
coming up in febuary. hmm I wonder if I can build a bike by then...though it is a 400 mile round trip for me, still have to try :mrgreen:

 

[Rat Rod]

When I called their sales number I got routed to some guy in Colorado I think....sounded like he was at his house.

At the time I was looking for a set of handlebars from them and he said that they were out of stock on those and to call him back in a month after their shipment from Asia had come in. I'm not sure why he would have lied about that. He said they usually get a large container on a ship that contains all of their parts and bikes. He didn't say where they went after that, but said that my closest dealer would be able to order them for me once I got the green light from him that they were back in stock.

The guy was speaking candidly and just said that their system for ordering parts was not the greatest and that they were working on making it better. He said this because I gave him a hard time about not selling the stuff directly to the public. Mentioned that we had a crowd here that would probably buy quite a few of their products if they could get to them.

He even said that techincally any bike store could call them and order their parts...they didn't have to be a Felt dealer, just a legitimate bike store. He also mentioned letting him know if your LBS refused to order parts and they were a Felt dealer.

Now...if we could also get them to lower the stinkin' price on those things. :wink:

 

[yeshoney]

Steve,

I can only tell you what my LBS (not authorized Felt Dealer but my wheel builder) said when I asked him if he could order Felt Tires and I quote " No can do as we are not an authorized dealer" and he can still get skip tooth chain and other very tough to get parts.

As for parts and some guy in Colorado it seems possible, but I remember reading an article about Felt Racing in a recent magazine and there was a picture of their manufactiruing facility in California. It looked like they had parts for all kinds of bicycles all over the place. Most neatly organized and different stations were assembling different kinds of bikes.

Not arguing here just providing the information about them that I have.

Joe

He even said that techincally any bike store could call them and order their parts...they didn't have to be a Felt dealer, just a legitimate bike store. He also mentioned letting him know if your LBS refused to order parts and they were a Felt dealer.

 

[Uncle Stretch]

Hey NecessaryEvil, Clancy would have gone that extra mile and got us a hookup on the felt tires. :roll: :roll: :roll: :lol: :lol:
Could somebody lend me some money in case yall accidently get us hooked up with felt parts????

 

[user 135]

Hey NecessaryEvil, Clancy would have gone that extra mile and got us a hookup on the felt tires. :roll: :roll: :roll: :lol: :lol:
Could somebody lend me some money in case yall accidently get us hooked up with felt parts????

Starting painting some of those bikes in your warm weather so they can be sold.

As for getting cruiser parts from Felt, I just don't buy the "waiting for a large container" thing for these parts which are indeed slow movers, but they do have an inventory of this stuff as they do continue to sell these bikes, especially tires as they need to keep current customers happy by getting them back on there bike quickly.

I would doubt having to wait on the slow boat. I waited 2 months for my replacement Xtracycle frame.

 

[necessaryevil]

Yeah, this rep gave me the impression that they had whatever tires I needed, it definitely sounds like it's the dealers who are lazy, not Felt. I'll keep in touch as to what I have to do and how long it takes to get my tires. We just need Steve to become an authorized Felt dealer :mrgreen:

 

[yeshoney]

Before I decided to try my Felt dealer I tried to get Karfer to get them for me, he said they were out of them and then when they got more they sold out pretty quickly. I imagine a place like College cyclery being able to get things much quicker being in Cali and being in a place where I am sure demand is much higher than in all our cold weather states. Karfer just couldn't keep them in stock to get me some.

Speaking of Karfer I see him on the HAMB board causing all kinds of trouble :lol: 8) over there!

Joe

 

[Rat Rod]

Call the sales number on their website and see what your results are.

I'm only going by what the guy said who answered the phone when I called.

Who knows....maybe I had the wrong number and this is a scam the guy pulls on people all day...LOL!

 

[Rat Rod]

Also...I'll mention that this was probably a year ago when I contacted them.

I see that they have changed their website and now I am not even able to find any contact phone numbers.

They get everything they use to make their bikes from China...thus the container shipment that they receive.