Felt Frames ?

Shifty said:

I am in the process of buying a road bike, my budget is $2000. I've narrowed my choice down to the Felt F2C, Specialized Allez Comp, Cannondale R1000 and the 2004 Trek 5000 OCLV. My biggest question mark is the Felt frame quality? Oddly enough the LBS that carries felt, doesn't really like the bike. The sales guy infact says that the frame is peice of [censored]. Any thoughts? any help would be appreciated.

Eh, the guy's a hack. It'd be interesting to pick his brain and get a real sense of how he developed his take on Felt frames--it's likely an opinion he borrowed from a friend who knows a guy who has a teamate who has a nephew who lost a couple of races on one. Don't assume, of course, that because the guy works at a bike shop that he's some sort of engineer. Maybe he just doesn't like the way the welds look.

I've never heard a credible generalization of Felt frames being "[censored]." They aren't God's own bike company, but they're a solid shop with plenty of repute and a number of pro teams in their stable.

Shifty said:

I am in the process of buying a road bike, my budget is $2000. I've narrowed my choice down to the Felt F2C, Specialized Allez Comp, Cannondale R1000 and the 2004 Trek 5000 OCLV. My biggest question mark is the Felt frame quality? Oddly enough the LBS that carries felt, doesn't really like the bike. The sales guy infact says that the frame is peice of [censored]. Any thoughts? any help would be appreciated.

Definitely go with the Felt. It is the only choice with Dura Ace vice Ultegra. Plus, everyone seems to talk highly of them. My second choice would be the Trek because it is also carbon and has a lifetime frame warranty.

One thing I would be interested in hearing from bike shop owners / workers. What are the different profit margins on his bikes he is considering? Is the margin on the Felt the lowest? If so, it would be sense that the sales guy would be down talking the Felt.

btw why 2 carbon bikes and 2 aluminum bikes? For my last purchase, the first thing I narrowed it down to was by frame type and liked carbon the best.

My two favorite rides were the two carbon frames. I've kept the Allez Comp and the Cannondale in the mix for different reasons; Allez comp was surprisingly smooth for an aluminum bike and the component package was decent. The Cannondale is a different story ...it was very quick but extremely stiff, while my rides are not long by most standards (40 miles) I am still worried about how my body will endure the stiffer ride.

I really liked the felt but I was just worried about what the salesman was saying about the bike. I think I will go with my instinct and get the felt. thanks for your help

Shifty said:

My two favorite rides were the two carbon frames. I've kept the Allez Comp and the Cannondale in the mix for different reasons; Allez comp was surprisingly smooth for an aluminum bike and the component package was decent. The Cannondale is a different story ...it was very quick but extremely stiff, while my rides are not long by most standards (40 miles) I am still worried about how my body will endure the stiffer ride.

I really liked the felt but I was just worried about what the salesman was saying about the bike. I think I will go with my instinct and get the felt. thanks for your help

I have several friends on Felts; racers and hardcore enthusiasts alike. Lots of miles between them, with nothing but great things to say. They're sturdy, extremely light, and a good value.

Shifty said:

I am in the process of buying a road bike, my budget is $2000. I've narrowed my choice down to the Felt F2C, Specialized Allez Comp, Cannondale R1000 and the 2004 Trek 5000 OCLV. My biggest question mark is the Felt frame quality? Oddly enough the LBS that carries felt, doesn't really like the bike. The sales guy infact says that the frame is peice of [censored]. Any thoughts? any help would be appreciated.

Nobody seems to be knocking their aluminum frames.

Their CF offerings are a little more unknown (at least to me). Why does he say the CF frame is a piece of [censored]? I'd really like to know why? Sure the Trek has been around a lot longer, but that doesn't mean the Felt CF is junk.

When you rode the Felt was it flexing and doing funny stuff?

jitteringjr said:

One thing I would be interested in hearing from bike shop owners / workers. What are the different profit margins on his bikes he is considering? Is the margin on the Felt the lowest? If so, it would be sense that the sales guy would be down talking the Felt.

Could also be they wanted to move the older leftover model which is was the '04 Trek.

In my experience, unless you personally know/trust the salesman, be very careful. Commissions and kick backs skew their advice. Do you own research (such as using this forum 😉 ) and be comfortable in your own decision.

They're all nice rides, and in the end I think you couldn't really go wrong as long as the warranty's and after sales support are equivalent. Ride them all, and you'll most likely find that one of them stands out. I considered a Felt F55 and I ended up steering clear as I was worried about the frame quality(due to the amazingly low price). Right or wrong, I wanted to be confident in the choice I made.

i have some friends that ride felts and they have been happy with them and i have a bunch of friends who ride R1000's and we all race competativly on them on the team and do about 200-250 a week on them and they are not really bad if you have nice shorts.