Bike Search Felt F1R vs Specialized S-Works or Venge

Roadkill3 said:

Looking to upgrade from my Felt F2C...6 years, 35K miles....needs refreshing. I rode the Specialized Tarmac with Di2...smooth and good climber but not as fast as the Felt. Has anyone ridden the F1 R, AR1, Specialized S-Works and the Specialized Venge and can give a general comparison and preference? Your inputs would be much appreciated.
R3

You know that the ride impressions of other people are not necessarily going to leave you with similar impressions. With that said, the ride quality of aero road bikes (Venge, AR1, and etc) will tend to be more harsh than the ride quality of bikes that aren't "aero". The difference in speed at a given power output between aero road bikes and non-aero road bikes isn't going to be huge. You can expect that these aero frames will increase your speed, at a given power output, on the order of 0.5mph . Again that difference is the speed of an aero bike compared to the speed of a non-aero bike, and when I say aero, I'm not referring to TT or Tri bikes. Note that 0.5mph is just an off-the-cuff approximation. Also, without looking at their computer, most folks won't sense that extra 0.5mph. If I were you I would see if an LBS near where you live has any of these frames for you to test ride. Yeah, that's the usual advice to people when their asking about which frame to buy. If bike weight is important to you, then you'll need to evaluate whether or not the weight penalty of aero frames is worth the extra speed. You should consider how much climbing you do as aero frames tend to not climb as well as non-aero frames. That's another broad generalization and doesn't mean that you won't like how aero bikes climb. FWIW, in person the Venge is good looking bike.

Quoted post said:

Originally Posted by alienator [IMG]/img/forum/go_quote.gif[/IMG]

FWIW, in person the Venge is good looking bike.

Of course, the first thing you might notice about a Venge or Tarmac is the handlebar being about 4 cm higher. Confession--I dislike tall head tubes. If I was happy with the fit of a 6-year old F2, a new F2 would be at the top of my short list. And if an aero frame was important, I'd either be including the Scott Foil or waiting to see what Trek will do with Kamm airfoils and Madones.

oldbobcat said:

Of course, the first thing you might notice about a Venge or Tarmac is the handlebar being about 4 cm higher. Confession--I dislike tall head tubes. If I was happy with the fit of a 6-year old F2, a new F2 would be at the top of my short list. And if an aero frame was important, I'd either be including the Scott Foil or waiting to see what Trek will do with Kamm airfoils and Madones.
 

I suspect bikes like the Venge and Cervelo's S5 will proportionally more riders into a lower frame size to get the handlebar height that such riders want. As for looks, at least the Venge isn't the S5. The S5 one fugly bike.

Quoted post said:

Originally Posted by alienator [IMG]/img/forum/go_quote.gif[/IMG]

I suspect bikes like the Venge and Cervelo's S5 will proportionally more riders into a lower frame size to get the handlebar height that such riders want. As for looks, at least the Venge isn't the S5. The S5 one fugly bike.

No argument here. I can see these bikes causing a shortage of 14 cm stems. Or 17-degree drop stems. Or they'll all get bought by Boomer and Gen-X dentists and lawyers.

Except for the profile, the Venge is pretty good looking. Oh why can't the world of bike design settle around my head tube standard, H1.5?

Thanks for the info. SInce I am not going for Olympic gold ... and I want some comfort since most of my "racing" is at 100 miles, the F1 or S-Works SL4 may be a better fit. I will still test ride as many as I can find. Thanks, again.

bp

Roadkill3 said:

Thanks for the info. SInce I am not going for Olympic gold ... and I want some comfort since most of my "racing" is at 100 miles, the F1 or S-Works SL4 may be a better fit. I will still test ride as many as I can find. Thanks, again.
bp

I don't know about the F1, but reviews of the SL4 don't exactly glow about its comfort.

Quoted post said:

Originally Posted by oldbobcat [IMG]/img/forum/go_quote.gif[/IMG]

If I was happy with the fit of a 6-year old F2, a new F2 would be at the top of my short list.

Or an F1. F1 and SL4 are very different bikes.

The Cannondale SuperSix Hi-Mod is a very comfy bike - very light too... The newer Evo model is apparently even lighter and even more comfortable yet retaining the massive lateral stiffness that you'd expect from a tree trunk like set of tubes. Aero wise it's on a par with the Empire State Building. Enve did some comparitive tests on several bikes - Cannondale Hi-Mod, Specialized SL3 and CerveloSsomething and the 'dale required a fair few more watts to achieve a given speed. It was hardly one or two either...

But I love my crack'n'fail to bits. An awesome bike.

swampy1970 said:

The Cannondale SuperSix Hi-Mod is a very comfy bike - very light too... The newer Evo model is apparently even lighter and even more comfortable yet retaining the massive lateral stiffness that you'd expect from a tree trunk like set of tubes. Aero wise it's on a par with the Empire State Building. Enve did some comparitive tests on several bikes - Cannondale Hi-Mod, Specialized SL3 and CerveloSsomething and the 'dale required a fair few more watts to achieve a given speed. It was hardly one or two either...
But I love my crack'n'fail to bits. An awesome bike.

A friend in Auckland got a discount frame from C'dale because of a fracture in his CAAD9. He had the option of getting a CAAD10, but so loved his CAAD9 that he just got another. There's naught you can do when you've found the right bike.