Felt correctly understands a trend and a truth the rest of the bike industry is slower to grasp: The more the price of a complete tri bike exceeds $5000, the more Di2 elbows its way to the forefront of the discussion.

Cervelo is to tri what Colnago is to road: a storied headbadge with a tradition and a caché unmatched by any bike brand. But the cycling world is catching up, or has caught up. How does the P3 fare in 2011?

Like the resuscitated Dodge Challengers and Chargers, and Ford’s Mustang, the mid-price, $3500 Felt B12 is reminiscent of muscle cars of the 1970s. It’s all go and no show (well, there’s a little bit of show).

Quintana Roo’s Seduza remains a potent buy for 2011, maybe even more so as other manufacturers set their attention to tri bikes higher in price. But are the geometric changes for 2011 a plus?

“Life moves pretty fast,” noted Ferris Bueller. ” If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” You could miss the new swim skins legally usable in Kona, Cancun, Cozumel, and elsewhere.

The industry has chosen pitched battle at a price range between $3300 and $3700. The Slice 3 sits right in the middle, and it holds its own admirably. Plasmas, Transitions, Speed Concepts, this is your worthy competitor.

It used to be that a brochure was enough. Not any more. A superbike without a white paper just doesn’t seem that super. Here’s the authoritative guide on the 2011 DA.

It’s been just 3.5 years since Felt remade its tri line-up, top to bottom. But you can’t stand pat these days. Here’s Felt’s new mold, the DA for 2011. Felt’s stab at a superbike hits its mark.

Prior to this year, the major bike brands, in particular those selling more than $150 million a year, were asea in the tri market, because of ambivalence and indecisiveness. Now, they’re focused. But can they compete?

This Plasma is the longest in the tooth of the three Plasma framesets. It’s still got plenty of life and relevance. Even so, it would benefit from a couple of design and spec upgrades.

Is this bike the last of an era? The bike aboard which Levi, Lance and Alberto won so many grand tour TTs prepares, perhaps, to slide off into history. The Equinox TTX 9.0 is part of that lineage.

Cervelo’s juggernaut P2 moved out of the $2500 neighborhood, selling this year for $280. Felt’s B14 nicely slotted into the P2’s hand-me-down $2500 category; it’s a great value for the money.