Tel0004

I've been shopping for a bike for a while, and I was having trouble deciding. One week ago, I was 90% sure I would end up with a cannondale synapse tiegra for 1229. In fact, I was at my parents house working on some plumbing, and I picked up some white zip ties to install my speed/cadence sensor, since the cannondale would be white, I was 95% positive thats what I would be buying

On a whim, I decided to check out Craigslist and see what was for sale. I saw a 2013 felt Z85 54cm for sale for 1100. I'm 6'2, so I instantly knew I wasn't going to buy a 54cm, but off to Felt's website I went, the specs looked and it looks like felt gives you a lot for your money. Felt was never on the radar before, I had totally missed it. So yesterday I went to the Felt dealer, and test rode a 56cm, and 58cm. The reach was too long on the 58cm, and the 56 felt better. Since I'm used to my Trek 7.2 FX, I thought that I am just not used to a more aggressive riding position, and I would find the 56 too small in the future, so I left without buying anything (but leaning towards getting the 56).(their price was 1300, pretty much no discount)

I get home last night, and find other felt dealers, and there is one a bit closer to me. They have the Felt Z85 for sale for 950.00. That is one hell of a deal for a new bike with shimano 105. So I knew I would check it out after work today, and while at work, I thought that I should probably try the 58 with a shorter stem.

I get to the Felt dealer, explain my predicament, I didn't tell him that my idea was to try a shorter stem, since I wanted to see what he thought first. He said that his recommendation was to try the 58 with a shorter stem. He wanted to check what size stem the felt currently had. He was a bit surprised when I told him it has a 110, and I wanted to try a 90, and I told him that I was thinking the same thing and had already researched it.

He installed the 90, and it fit like a glove. Just like I want, handling is not twitchy. I know that I won't want a smaller bike, but if after a few weeks/months riding, if I want to stretch out a bit more, I can go back to the stock stem, or even 100 or 120. I imagine as I loose weight, a lower position will be more comfortable, so I will want the longer reach.

So here are some pics. I am a bit worried about the rims (I weight 270), but It was a potential problem with any bike I bought. I had a 300.00 budget for rims, but due to savings on the bike I wouldn't mind spending 500 if I had to. I'll only spend what is necessary, and only if I have problems, so I will just take it day by day.

Here is a pic as a reward for the wall of text.

PhotoJoe 

Congratulations. Very nice looking bike!

$500 will get you some nice wheels!

Want to kill some time, go play around on www.prowheelbuilder.com

SammyJ 

I had a 2003 Cannondale R800, the one with very few spokes. Sure enough, I blew the back wheel out climbing a hill. so I had 36 spoke tri-laced. They were tanks, and I lost all start up acceleration!

Tel0004

Yeah, its good to know I have a budget for wheels if needed, but if these don't give me issues then they are not going anywhere. I would rather spend the money on some Easton EA70 wheels in the spring, hopefully a lot lighter, than spend the money on heavy wheels now, that I would probably replace when I loose the weight. I'm hoping that even if the back wheel has issues the front will be fine, so I don't anticipate spending much on wheels.

jsigone

VERY sweet deal on a bike w/ 105s for under a grand and even better that it fits!! Felt makes great bikes. my 1st roadie into this game was a 05' Z90.

$500-600 will buy you custom built wheels w/ nice white industry hubs, what ever alum rim you want and in what ever spoke count you want.
https://www.prowheelbuilder.com/veloc...-packages.html with option 12 or 21 for the spoke count would be the ticket.

Pamestique 

I am right now trying to find a friend a bike - so I know that is a very sweet deal indeed - Bike is sharp looking as well. Congrats! Report back after you have some miles on it!

lenny866

Nice Bike. I have never been on a Felt but I have friends that ride them. They love them.

This may be something to consider. I bought a set of wheels from them and was happy with my purchase. It is a good set of wheels and would leave $$ left over for some other things.


https://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Shimano-...ht_3623wt_1089

Good Luck.

LexKing

Nice bike! Enjoy your new ride!

dm83

Rims should be fine as long as spokes are tensioned properly.

PhotoJoe 

This! I would take it to your selling LBS and ask them to check the tension. I'll bet you'll be surprised at how long they last you if you do.

EA70's you say? Not sure if this is still valid, but worth a look: All closeout Eastons at 60% off.

https://www.nashbar.com/webapp/wcs/st...3-_-Affil_Item

Bill Kapaun

+100

Your LBS would probably give you a good deal, since you just bought the bike from them.
Do it sooner than later.

10 Wheels

OP...go with these:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Shimano-...ht_3623wt_1089

I have put 40,000 miles on my F-85

Chitown_Mike

Hmmm....next year I plan on getting a new roadie, and that Felt looks sweet. Never thought of Felt honestly, but we will see.

Notgrownup

That is a sweet ride....

2 wheeler

I also agree! Have the shop check them out after 50 - 100 miles. A lot of trouble can be avoided by eliminating small problems before they become big problems.

lolguy

Nice bike. Congrats and ride it in good health!

bbeck

Awesome Ride!

jdevarie

nice ride. i would not worry about the wheels, just have them checked out. you'll be surprised as to how strong they are.

Tel0004

I finally got my first ride in today. Got rained out thursday, and I was too busy on Friday.

The seat was a bit too far back, so I stopped and fixed that, but it doing so, the reach was shortened a bit, so I'm thinking I might need a longer stem. I'm going to put 100 miles on this stem, and one of my friends has a 100mm stem I can try out. I like the bike, it feels a lot faster, so with a bit of trial and error, I should have the fit dialed in after a week or two.