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From Ft. Walton

North on 85 until you come into Niceville. Howell Road is the last left you can make before the light. Turn onto Howell. Alpine Bicycles is the second parking lot on the left.

From Valparaiso/Eglin AFB

Head North on John Sims Parkway until you reach the 85 South intersection. Make a left at the light onto 85. Immediately get in the right lane and make the first right onto Howell Road. Alpine Bicycles is the second parking lot on the left.

From Destin/Niceville

Take highway 98 east until you reach Legendary Drive. Turn left onto Legendary eventually going over Midbay Bridge ($2 Toll). Continue North on White Point Road. At the State Route 20 intersection make a left. Continue West on 20 passing the 85 North cut off and onto John Sims Parkway. Make your way into the right most lane and merge onto 85 South. Make the First right after getting onto 85 South onto Howell Road. Alpine Bicycles is the second parking lot on the left.

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712 Howell Rd
Niceville, FL 32578
(850) 678-8222

Litespeed Siena

Details: Category: Custom Projects; Published on Friday, 30 December 2011 19:51; Written by Administrator; Hits: 12571

Taking a 19 pound, 6 year old bike down to a 15 pound titanium racing machine

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Component list
2004 Litespeed Siena titanium frame with carbon seat stays and fork
Full Easton EC90 carbon cockpit including crank
Easton EA90 SLX Wheel set
KCNC Super light Brakes
Sram Red drive train and shifters
KMC lightweight chain
Exustar carbon and titanium pedals
RavX super light skewers, saddle, and computer
Vittoria Rubino Pro training tires with Kenda light tubes
Vittoria Diamonte Pro racing tires with Panaracer super light tubes

I purchased this bike new, about 6 months ago. The bike is a 2004 model that was a store left over. The bike had Mavic Ksyrium wheels and a 3T cockpit. The drive train, brakes and shifters were Shimano Ultegra. The bike weighed in at a hefty 20 lbs 5 oz. By today standards the thing was a tank. I wanted to see if I could get the weight down to around fifteen pounds using up to date components. I did a lot of research on cost verses weight. The listed components were the lightest and best performing I could afford. As I was building the bike I noticed the weight dropping, especially when I got to the Easton wheel set. In the end, I beat my target weight, coming in at 15 lbs 0 oz.

The bike is very fast and the new components work flawlessly. The bike rides very smooth and the handling is superb. There is a very noticeable difference from the bike I purchased and the one I built. All the bearings on the bike are ceramic hybrid. The rolling resistance is low on these bearings and it is definitely noticeable. The Sram Red shifters and drive train make shifting fast, smooth and accurate. The wheel set is the one thing that has made the biggest difference in how the bike performs. The wheels are light, stiff and fast rolling. I recommend upgrading the wheel set first. It is where you get the most bangs for the buck. The crank and all the carbon components are light and stiff with good vibration dampening characteristics. Please be advised if you are upgrading a nine-speed system to ten-speed you will have to replace all drive train components and the shifters, as they are not interchangeable. I am very pleased with the end result a great riding bike that is technically up to date.

If you have a frame that fit and you enjoy, consider upgrading components. New frames are expensive and may stop you from getting a new bike. Update and build the bike of your dreams. I highly recommend letting the staff at Alpine bikes assist you with component selection and compatibility issues. Their staff is very knowledgeable and ride the products they sell.

Felt AR1 Build Up

Details: Category: Custom Projects; Published on Friday, 30 December 2011 19:49; Written by Administrator; Hits: 12752

Goals: Aerodynamically efficient road bike for endurance rides.

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The AR-1 is Felt's flagship aero-road frame for 2010. The frame has been significantly upgrade since 2009, with increased frame stiffness, bringing it up to that of Felt's proven race geometry F-series frames. The eye-catching frame is matte-black and red, with a few anodized red accents thrown in for good measure. The 60 cm frame weighed in at 1290 grams, with the fork adding 403 grams. In all, the frame is just slightly heavier than traditional road frames of equivalent size. I will note that Felt's geometry makes this bike comparable to a traditional 61-63 cm frame as the top tube is 2 to 3 cm longer than most. In the end, this results in selecting a small sized frame with extra drop (extra height needed can be made up by the raising the saddle), and the overall geometry results in a longer, lower, more aerodynamic body position during riding. The frame also has internal cable routing and carbon fiber dropouts.

Wheels are Flashpoint 80s fitted with Vittoria Rubino Pro slick tires, and match perfectly. Ride quality is wonderfully smooth, yet responsive. The wheels take time to spin up, hinting at their 1900 gram weight. However, once accelerated, they stay spinning. Originally purchased for solo rides, the wheels make a noticeable difference in a paceline as well.

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The AR-1 sports an wing shaped carbon seatpost, with saddle adjustment via two dualing bolts. Its head is rather stout and appears to be made of solid carbon fiber/epoxy.

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The seatpost clamp is made of steel with titanium hardware. Compression of the clamp is taken up by two thin wafers of carbon fiber, intimately in contact with the seatpost. Due to the curved geometry of the post. This area is a known problem on many carbon frames. As such, the build included friction paste being applied to the post, and to date, no slippage or creaking of the seatpost has been noted.

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Overall the carbon fiber layout is nice, but not outstanding. The complex junction between the top tube, seat post, seat tube and chainstays shows a few obvious added layers. This area, like the chain stays, simply show small carbon fiber patches not blended to the background. Felt calls the frame fabrication process a "Modular Monocoque", indicating fiber joining of pre-manufactured pieces. On the frame, there is a single blue dot in the epoxy resin, the second such time I have seen this color dot in Felt frames. While neither of these items will effect overall performance or longevity, I would expect Felt's top of the line frame to be subjected to a bit more detail.

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Shifting of the derailleur is fast and accurate. The braze-on, short cage, Ultegra SL 6700 derailleur is backed by a solid block of carbon/epoxy. I have been really impressed by the Ultegra 6700 cranks and chainrings. I was a bit concerned with shifting performance due to the internal cable routing (cable runs through more housing and is subjected to a few tighter bends than traditional routing). The Bottom bracket is an Enduro Hybrid Ceramic bottom bracket, a significant upgrade to Shimano's Hollowtech II. For powerful riders, ceramic is worth every penny and noticeable the first time on the bike.

2010 Felt AR-1 Front Derailleur Braze-On

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Lastly, the frame is finished off with 23 gram Wraptor water bottle cages from Eleven 81. The cages are minimalistic and expected given the light weight. They perform their duty without much fanfair and are among the lowest cost full carbon cages available.

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Pros: Felt's 2010 AR-1 is a beautifully crafted piece of carbon fiber. The ride is smooth enough for a century, but responsive enough for testosterone driven sprints. Shimano's Ultegra SL 6700 cranks coupled with an Enduro ceramic bottom bracket provide a solid, silky smooth platform. Lizard Skin bar tape is worth its weight in gold.

Cons: Matte frame finish shows every greasy fingerprint. Fiber lay up could be blended in a bit better.

Litespeed C1 Build Up

Details: Category: Custom Projects; Published on Friday, 30 December 2011 19:48; Written by Administrator; Hits: 12218

Goals: The ultimate aero road bike for a 200-250 pound rider.
Cutting edge materials and radical styling yeild the ultimate wind cheating road bike

Litsepeed Archon C1 Carbon Fiber Road Bike Aero

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The Felt AR frames have been ushering in a new era of road bikes for some time, but now Litespeed has thrown its hat in the ring. With the introduction of the C1, C2 and C3 frames a whole new world of possibilities has been opened. Tipping in at 2.62 pounds for a ML frame this bike comes to compete. Internal cable routing, massive bottom bracket shell, cut to length seatpost tube, help to round out this awesome machine.

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From the factory the C1 Archon has a BB30 bottom bracket. This can be converted to be used with just about any crank with a special adapter.

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Custom Ciamillo GSL brakes complete the look. The white and black design make it see as though they were built with the C1 in mind.

Litespeed C1 Aero Headtube and Ciamillo GSL tiranium brakes

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What the owner has to say about their new bike:

Ask yourself what do I want from my next bicycle? I did and this is what I got: a light weight, stiff, smooth ride and eye catching. The Archon has a few other features that are usually left for your high end car lines: curves and the ability to look fast even when standing still! NO, all of the things will not make me a stronger, faster cyclist, but the desire to ride more is what I have gotten from the Archon. After 30 years of cycling, this is the first machine that I look forward to riding from sun up to sun down. See you on the road!