2012 Felt F75 vs. 2011 Specialized Allez Comp

[badgerbike24]

I am going back and forth trying to descide between these two bikes. The Felt is running 105's while the Allez Comp is running Shram Apex. Does anyone have good enough knowledge of these two bikes to provide a recomendation of one over the other or are they so close it doesn't matter?

 

[danfoz]

Originally Posted by badgerbike24 .

I am going back and forth trying to descide between these two bikes. The Felt is running 105's while the Allez Comp is running Shram Apex. Does anyone have good enough knowledge of these two bikes to provide a recomendation of one over the other or are they so close it doesn't matter?

I believe that they may be so close it does not matter, splitting hairs as was put on another recent thread around aluminum bikes. However the subjective assesment of a test ride should never be undervalued, or if you are like me buy the one you like looking at the most and just get used to it. And from what I know the SRAM shifting functions slighlly differently than the Shimano.

BUT and here is the big but, the head tubes on similar sizes of these bikes are 130 vs 145mm. The Felt being the more agressive and putting you lower on the bars.That is a difference in riding position considering an equal number of headset spacers and similarly oriented stem, of 1.5cm. If it works for you it's no biggie.

I voted for the Felt even though my old man back prefers head tubes in the 140+ range. It's easier to get the 5-6cm diff between bars and saddle I personally prefer without too many spacers or flipping the stem.

 

[oldbobcat]

Felt F-series bikes have an aggressive racy geometry. That means short head tube. All Specialized road bikes (yes, all of them) have a more upright posture.

 

[WannabeJT]

Did you end up going for the Felt F75? i'm considering buying one.

if so are you happy?

Wannabe JT

 

[badgerbike24]

I ended up finding a Felt F5 online for sale on eBay. I won the auction and picked up a 2010 F5 for the same price as either of the new bikes I was looking at. I absolutely love it and can't wait to ride more this coming summer. I have a half ironman on the schedule!

 

[oldbobcat]

Nice find. The F5 is one swell bike. Ride it with gusto.

 

[WannabeJT]

The advice I'm getting now is to rather be patient and save for an entry level carbon? What do u think? So confused!

 

[alienator]

The advice I'm getting now is to rather be patient and save for an entry level carbon? What do u think? So confused!

There's no reason to wait for an entry level carbon fiber bike. There's nothing magical about carbon fiber bikes. If something appeals to you now, fits well, and handles as you like, I'd say buy that bike.

 

[danfoz]

Originally Posted by alienator .


There's no reason to wait for an entry level carbon fiber bike. There's nothing magical about carbon fiber bikes.

Agreed. I'm quite happy on my very snappy, very robust, relatively comfortable, and relatively lightweight alu Cinelli and I've ridden a lot of bikes made of many different materials to compare against (4 steel, 2 alu, 2 ti, 1 CF). Also contributing but not limited to ride quality are wheel and tire choices, tire size and inflation pressures, and sometimes even things like built in seat post setback and/or material and crank arm stiffness, also handlebar choice along with how padded and with what ribbon the bars are wrapped to some degree. Confused yet?

Get CF if you want to, but not because anyone told you so. You are not guaranteed any given ride characteristic based solely on material.