Felt Bicycles is pleased to introduce its 2014 Enduro team, the company’s biggest and strongest to date. The seven-member squad will ride both the 150-160mm travel Compulsion series and 130mm travel Virtue Nine series bikes. Each bike is built with Felt’s patented Equilink® suspension. The team’s race schedule begins at the upcoming Subaru Sea Otter Classic. Additionally they are contesting the North American Enduro Tour, Enduro World Series, as well as regional races.
“Felt made a concerted effort to more heavily invest in Enduro in 2014 and we could not be happier with the team we have assembled,” says Doug Martin, Sports Marketing Director for Felt Bicycles. “My colleague Eddie McDonald (Felt MTB Marketing) drove the makings of this roster and it is already clear what a great team it is. This is an outstanding squad of young riders, each of whom is supremely talented. We are thrilled to have them all as Felt athletes.”
The 2014 team includes Casey Coffman, Charlie Sponsel, Jon Wilson, Cody Phillips, Jake Dore, Jeremiah Newman and John Clark.
Casey Coffman returns to the Felt Enduro team in 2014 riding the Virtue Nine, a bike he is very familiar “I am super excited to start my fourth year with Felt,” says Coffman. “The Virtue Nine is a bike I have been looking forward to for a while now. It holds its speed extremely well, and at the same time it low enough that it doesn’t feel like a big-wheel bike. It’s an amazing bike to ride, and I’m stoked to get it on some race courses.
Coffman is focusing on the California Enduro Series as well as the North American Enduro Events and North American World Series Events.
“The new team is unreal, we have a bunch of really great guys that can shred their bikes. It’s gonna be super fun traveling with these guys this year. And with the new bike and experiences I have, this season is a step forward for me at the races.”
Charlie Sponsel, winner of last year’s Cascadia Dirt Cup, has joined the Felt Enduro squad for 2014 and is impressed with the technology of the Compulsion.
“The hardest and most important thing to get working is the suspension–and Felt’s is dialed. The Compulsion carries all of its speed through corners and chatter bumps, and I really like the long wheelbase over rougher terrain.
Jon Wilson is a returning member of the Felt Enduro squad. When he isn’t racing he is teaching fifth grade in the Reno, Nevada school district. He loves his job and home, but he was also glad to get out of the snow and visit the Felt headquarters in Southern California on a recent photo shoot trip.
“It was great to meet everyone at Felt and on the team, as well as check out the new bikes that are coming out,” said Wilson.
Cody Phillips is a student at Lees McRae College, attending on a cycling scholarship. He has thrown a leg over the Compulsion and, “it rode really, really well. The geometry and suspension are dialed.” In preparation for the upcoming season he’s been practicing his descending skills and racing cyclo-cross, which he describes as, “basically a fast, flat enduro.”
Jake Dore is a South Tahoe resident and has made some changes to his 2014 training program.
“Typically I would have been skiing, but there’s not enough snow here, but I’m lifting weights.”
Dore was top ten in last year’s Kamikaze Enduro and his goals are to continue his top ten streak in major events as well as getting on the podium at all California and Oregon races. When he is not racing or training, Dore works a full-time in construction as well as teaching avalanche avoidance at the local ski slope.
Jeremiah Newman has numerous first place finishes in the Oregon Series and the World Enduro Series in Colorado and Oregon as an Expert category racer. This is his first year as a professional and he is looking to continue his domination in 2014 aboard the new Compulsion, Virtue, and Edict.
Finally, returning rider John Clark rounds out the 2014 Enduro team. The 29-year old will be competing in the California Enduro Series on his Compulsion.
“The suspension is dialed and for a 6” bike it was easy to climb and it railed on the descents,” said Clark. “I could go over almost anything.”
This season Clark is focusing on the California Enduro Series and top-20 at the Oregon Ashland’s Enduro. To do that he is “focusing on the basics, doing road rides, going to the gym, and eliminating the mistakes I made in the past years.”
Ron is the chief cook and bottlewasher at Bike World News, doing everything from website design to bike reviews.
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