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Zac and Terry have each been riding their Feskta One framesets for about eight months. The wet winter has interrupted their time on their “sunny day” bikes but they have nice sampling of the performance and sat down to share their impressions of the newest brand in the studio.

Zac – The Festka One is the best carbon bike you’ve never heard about.   It’s hard to give credibility to a round tubed carbon bike from a manufacturer that isn’t a household name, but Festka has done their homework. First off, a Festka carbon bike is fabricated in a very different way than most carbon bikes.

Rather than using a bladder mold, a Festka uses filament wound carbon strands to create a tune to exacting ride specifications. This winding of carbon fibers give the bike a lively acceleration, all day comfort, and metal-bike durability. The handling of the One is intelligent and intuitive. The acceleration is like driving an electric car….no lag, no hangups, pure speed.

Terry – Yeah, I think Zac sums it up very well. Each time I ride my Festka One I am just blown away that the bike has no short comings. No trading this for that. All five boxes are check; light, stiff, comfortable, great handling and beautiful aesthetics. It is the kind of bike you forget is there when you are riding tempo on a great day, it becomes apart of you.

If you are real bicycle geometry wonk you look at some of the numbers that will affect handling and you think, “the Festka One is going to be a bit of nervous bike that needs to be tended too.” I have ridden other bikes with similar geometry and found this to be true. I was really pleased to find this was not the case with Festka One. The bike is very stable but can just rip fast corners and descents. When we did the Festka Tour in Portland and San Francisco we rode some very demanding descents. I have never leaned a bike over so hard and had it feel like it was on a rail stuck to the road. Total command.

I mentioned my initial observations about the geometry and my actual experiences on the bike to Michael Mourecek, co-founder of Festka, when they visited in Seattle. He shook his head with acknowledgement and a big smile. Then he went on to explain that the tubing supplied by CompoTech are so resilient to pedaling and corner forces they can build a bike with more aggressive handling while creating greater underlying stability. I can personally tell you the results are awesome.

We believe in the Group Ride. We respect the Group Ride. We teach the Group Ride. We enjoy the Group Ride.

We enjoy the Group Ride more than many things in our life when done “right”. Our way embraces the group ride as an art that is performed based on a set of techniques and expectations. Here’s a glimpse:

-We set expectations for safety and technique.
-We teach people.
-We ride a good tempo.
-We ride together.
-We communicate about pace: slow or fast.
-We stop for mechanical issues.
-We don’t attack.
-We don’t try to drop people.
-We respect that some climb slower than others.
-We respect that some descend faster than others.
-We re-group at the top and the bottom.

Re-group? What does that mean?

-The group is a shoulder-to-shoulder, double pace line whenever possible.
-The group is wheel to wheel, front-to-back, with no gaps larger than 12”.
-The group rides tight to the right side of the road.
-The riders in this pace line calmly point out unfortunate blemishes in the asphalt to each other.
-The riders in the pace line take a steady pull at the front of this pace line for 30 – 120 seconds depending on the pace, wind and traffic.
-The lead rider on the left of this pace line drops back at the end of a pull on the left side of the pace line.
-The lead rider on the right of this pace line drops back at the end of a pull on the right side of the pace line.
-The riders in the group move left just a bit to make room for the rotation.
-The new lead riders tap the pedals just a bit harder then before to overcome the wind now in their faces.
-The riders from back to front of this pace line with a calm but audible voice let each other know when a car is back, “CAR BACK”.
-Most times the car passes the double pace line but other times leadership needs to single up the pace line and will indicate “SINGLE UP”.
-Single pace lines are ridden wheel to wheel (no fanning out or staggering).
-Riders look through the rider in front of them, not at the wheel in front of them.
-Riders on the front pull for 15-30 seconds and drop to the back on the left when they feel safe to do so.
-A double pace line is reformed when leadership feels it is safe to do so again.

When we Group Ride this way we move along at a pleasantly brisk pace.
When we Group Ride this way we visit with friends.
When we Group Ride this way we learn to trust the riders around us.
When we Group Ride this way we enjoy each other and stop for coffee at the end.
When we Group Ride this way we can’t wait for next Thursday.