Felt Bicycles.......

Anyone out there with any experience with this brand? I'm looking at the F70, for the money it looks good. Thanks for any help.

 

My mate has an AC1 Felt,looks awesome.There was another Felt discussion,check http://www.cyclingforums.com/showthread.php?threadid=53339

 

I have an F85, which is a 2003 Model, it was kinda replaced by the F90 for 2004 (the new one has brake levers on the Flats).

Felt are located in Lake Forest, Southern CA, you can find them at www.FeltRacing.com

I'm no expert, but I did shop for quite a while through brands such as Cannondale, Specialized, Giant etc, and in my humble (and uneducated) opinion, Felt offered the best value by far, I only gave US$460.00 for this Bike, it was on sale at Supergo.

The F85 came with a 7005 Frame, 6061 Forks, Tiagra rear, Triple Sora, sella italia Saddle etc...a really nice package for a virtual beginner like me.....very comfy for the 200+ miles I've ridden it and it just feels better and better (or is it just me)??

Just one tip, I'm 5' 10" and was measured for a 56cm, but was told that Felts come a little bigger so I ended up with a 54....

I'm sorry I can't help with the F70 you mentioned, but I can imagine it will be much better than my F85...

Jim Felt was, or still is, an Engineer with Easton, he specialized in Triathalon Bikes originally I think, and in my opinion he's doing a great Job with Road Bikes....

I'll deffinately trade up next year to a better model Felt, but at the moment my ability is holding me back, not the Bike...

Deffinately worth a test ride, let us know what you think!!

I hope this helps.

 

As a follow-up to the post above, Jim Felt was the head R&D engineer for bicycle tubing at Easton. He currently works for the company that bears his name; their first offerings were tri frames and they have branched out from there. Felt offers good bang for the buck and the ride is quite nice, in general.

 

I'll be ordering a Felt F70 next week. I'll be sure and get fitted properly. Once I put some miles on it, I'll be sure to post.

 

Please do...

I've yet to hear anything bad about Felt, I certainly love mine, but of course we all have different needs and expectations of a Bike, but I don't think you'll be disappointed...

Like I said, I'll be trading up next year (depending on how my ability improves)...and I'll deffinately go for a Felt again...

I saw one in Supergo that costs $7000.00 plus!!!

 

Just put a Felt F70 in layaway, got a sweet deal. It has all 105 components, plus shifters, continental tires, clipless pedals,and the asking price was $999.00. At the local bike shop, he let me have it for $850.00 plus tax. I had enough left in my budget, to buy some shoes, and a floor pump. As soon as I get to ride it a bit, I'll put up a post. The little that i did on the test ride, but I was impressed. Now the getting used to those clipless pedals.

 

Fantastic!! Great Price!!

By the way, I just ordered a Felt Jersey and some water Bottles etc this morning...

If I was you, I'd take the pedals off for a while and install some cheap flats, then get used to the Bike first...

Then practice with the Pedals, clipping in and out a LOT of times before you hit the road...those Clipless can be pretty dangerous if you're not used to them..in fact, some say you WILL deffinately fall at some stage because of them...

Anyway, good luck with the Bike, let us know how it goes, I still love mine...

What size did you get BTW??

 

I'm 5' 11", and a 56 felt great, and the pedal idea sounds good. Don't wanna mess up my new bike.

 

Install the clippless pedals and take the bike to a park, or anywhere with a good expanse of grass. Start off by simply standing on one foot and clipping the other in and out; you need to develop some basic muscle memory. It becomes second nature soon enough.

Once you've got the basic procedure down, pedal slowly around on the grass, where a slow topple-over won't be a major problem. You've already guessed the drill -- for starters, pick one foot as your "always-in foot." Clip it in, push off, and practice getting the other foot in within a rotation or two. When coming to a stop, stand (on the pedal) with the always-in foot and release the other, making sure you lean to set that foot down as you brake.

Once you get comfortable, you'll find non-clipless setups to be the real danger. Having your foot securely attached as you churn out those RPMs feels safe, solid, and efficient. Good luck!

 

I don't want to purchase a bike that is too much for my abilities. I have never road biked before. I used to ride my hybrid like a road bike...30-100 mile rides..and it's time for the real deal. I was looking at the FELT f90, f80 and f70. Do you think the f70 is overkill for me, I don't race or anything.
Thanks, K

 

I had the advantage of teaching my wife to use clipless pedals on my rollers, I spent the $25 and got the stabilizer just for this purpose. After a few hours at various time she mastered them without a single fall, and it was a huge confidence boost for her to know she's not going to fall if she makes a mistake.

 

I'm in the same situation. Put 1300 miles on my 35lb rigid mtb last year. I've been doing a lot of web shopping, and came to the conclusion that what I want is a less than $1000 bike with, at minimum, a triple crank, carbon fork, and non-Sora components. I'm lucky enough to have an LBS within walking distance from my office. They sell Felt, Bianchi, Specialized, and Giant.

My Internet browsing led me to just a handful of options that are available at my LBS's. There were quite a few other brands that meet the criteria, but they aren't sold in any LBS's here, so I crossed them off the list. What I narrowed the field to are these:

Giant OCR 2
Felt 80 or 70
Trek 1200 or 1500
Specialized Allez Sport or Elite
Specialized Sequoia Elite

Just this past weekend after a 23 mile ride on my mtb, I went to the LBS to do a few test rides. I tried, in this order, a Felt F70, a Giant OCR 3 (they didn't have an OCR 2 in Large), and a Bianchi Eros (it was on sale for $999).

In the 15 minutes I spent on each, these were my definite decisions 1) I really do want a triple, 2) I really don't want anything as heavy as the Bianchi, 3) I don't care much for the operation of the Sora or Campy components on the Giant and Bianchi.

Beyond that, other impressions were more subtle. It seemed like the Giant was a bit more "twitchy" to me, giving me a slight feeling of instability. Somehow, for some reason, the ride reminded me of a BMX bike (don't know why). I don't know if the twitchy was due to the compact geometry, or some other reason. It seemed to fit my body a little better, though, as I have longer legs and a shorter torso for my height.

The Felt seemed almost perfect, other than the reach to the handlebars. That can be adjusted, can't it? Anyway, every other aspect of the ride seemed exactly what I wanted.

The Bianchi just felt heavy to me (funny, since I was just fresh from a 23 mile ride on a 35 lb wonder), and I didn't like the ratcheting action on the components.

When I get closer to purchase time I still plan on doing more test rides -- I still want to try the Treks and Specialized, and I want to see if the Giant gives me that same twitchy feeling on a second ride. When I get down to the final round, I want to try to arrange a longer ride (maybe 5 - 10 miles) on the best candidate from the first two rounds of test rides.

In my opinion, test ride as much as possible, and get the most comfortable ride for you that also stays within your budget. If it happens to be a Felt F70, then go for it. On the other hand, don't buy something just because of asthetics or numerical analysis, and don't shy away from something because it's supposed to be a better bike than your abilities. If you stick with it long enough, you'll grow into the abilities, and then you'll really be able to see what the bike can do for you.

 

there are many factors that can make a bike feel twitchy.
- if the frame is somehow out of alignment or the stem isn't positioned directly straight ahead you may find yourself constantly "correcting".
- you were switching from one bike to another. a different geometry like a steeper steerer tube can do this.
- if the handlebars are narrower or the stem shorter than you're used to, smaller inputs will provide larger changes in direction.

definitely ride it again and see if it still persists.

i agree with going a bit more "upscale" than you might expect based on your current abilities. aside from providing something for you to "grow into" the slightly pricier componentry usually will last longer too.

 

Nitromike,
Which reasonably priced clipless pedals would you recommend for someone just starting out with them?

 

Depends, before my knee surgery I loved my Looks and its what I taught my wife on .. easy to clip in and out as long as you paid attention and didn't step down on the wrong side, they're slick as hell on the bottom combined with the cleat. I need to find something that has a easier release now though, I can clip out but its painful. I'm thinking I'll try my Eggbeaters off my mountain bike on the 50 miler this Sunday and see how they feel, maybe try a set of Speedplays also.

 

Thanks for the reply, I've heard that LOOK are great...

Hope your Knee gets better soon!!