Buying 2008 Felt S32 for great deal. but wondering about parts.

[MichaelBrown]

Hello everyone! I am completely new to the higher end bicycle scene. The only bicycles i have ever own were road/mountain bikes from walmart that cost well under 200 dollars! i know, i'm a bit deprived, lol!

Well, i am here to ask your opionion on something. I am in the market for a reasonably price bicycle. Something that has a great bang for buck value. I believe i have found it in the form of a 2008 Felt S32. My local bike shop has one sitting right next to its 2009 counter-part. Because of this, they have drastically cut the price from 1,500 dollars to 875.

I believe this is perfect. its basically an entry level triathlon bike, so i think it'd make a sort of 'better than average' road bike. I've checked the specs on it and i'm kind of worried. I really like shimano parts, but on this bike they have such a huge difference in series. Dura-Ace shifter, Ultegra rear Derailleur, 105 front Derailleur, R-500 wheels and different company's make up the other parts of the bike.

Why couldn't they make it a Ultegra, or Dura-Ace shifter, derailleur's, wheels, crank sets, etc? Wouldn't that make more sense?

Well, i've been wondering this for hours now after doing a **** ton of research. The price of the bike itself is absolutely beautiful and i'm NOT going to pass it up.

But would it be worth upgrading almost every single part on the bike to Ultegra? The reason i choose Ultegra is because Dura-Ace seems like its strictly for race purpose only, where as Ultegra seems more road friendly.

Am i wrong? Should i reconsider what line of shimano parts i should get? What do you suggest to this bike rookie?

thank you so much for your time!

 

[oldbobcat]

Mixing component levels is how nearly all popular bike manufacturers balance hitting a certain performance (or bling) level and a certain price point simultaneously. They all do it--Trek, Specialized, Giant, Felt, Cannondale, Fuji, Raleigh--especially when building up bikes with Shimano parts.

Don't worry about it. The 2009 S32 doesn't even have Shimano shifters. The components work together, they're all good components. To get all Ultegra on this frame would raise the MSRP to at least $2000. For $875, your looking at a genuine bargain.

 

[MichaelBrown]

oh. i got an update. i think everyone on the board is will love this deal that i'm getting!

We're taking the entire bike apart. All we're going to leave is the frame, fork, seat post, seat and wheels. After taking all the other parts off i'm going to get a credit for each and everyone. the credit has reached about 500 dollars, and the price of the bike has gone down to 800. we're ordering an entire Shimano Ultegra group set for 1,200.

So all in all, i'm going to have a Felt S32 with all Shimano Ultegra parts and going to swap out the stock handle bars for a more relaxed position 'drop' handlebars.

So at the end of it all i've bought a bike that had an original MSRP of 1,500 for 800, and upgraded it completely and still only paid 1,500. oh! and i've made it into a sort of TT/TRI/ROAD bike.

So my question to everyone on this forum is... did i do a good job for my first serious bike?

 

[oldbobcat]

So my question to everyone on this forum is... did i do a good job for my first serious bike?

Is that 6600 or 6700?

 

[MichaelBrown]

Is that 6600 or 6700?

6700

 

[oldbobcat]

6700

You did fine.