I've found myself in an interesting position and I was wondering what the group thinks about what I should do. It requires a little explanation:

I am a casual rider that, by the standards of this group, doesn't get out very much. I try to ride once a week when it's nice out, but that doesn't always happen. I don't do many group rides, although I enjoy them when I do, because generally I'm not in good enough shape to keep with the group past 30 miles or so. Strava tells me that, in the 3 years I've been using it, I've ridden about 1,600 miles and I have logged about 350 miles so far this year.

I've had a 2011 Felt F5 (low end carbon, 5700 105) that I bought as NOS in 2012, which I later upgraded with a set of Pacenti SL23's that I got from Psimet. I decided on the bike and the wheels after many, many hours of research on the internet, and I felt that it was a good, non-embarrassing bike for someone who genuinely enjoyed riding without breaking the bank (plus, carbon fiber!).

In late-August of this year, after a long ride in the heat, I accidentally drove my car into the garage with the bike up on the rack. Frame was toast, but everything else came through unscathed and was checked over by my local shop, which I trust. I asked them what I should do about a new frame, and they said that before anything, I should call a Felt dealer (they are not a Felt dealer, and the nearest one is far away) and see what they could do about a crash replacement. If I was really in a pinch, they had a few-years-old aluminum Giant TCR frameset that they would part with for $500. I really wanted to keep the repair/replacement around $1,000, reasoning that I could buy a new low-end carbon bike with new 11-speed 105 for around the $2k mark anyway.

I elected to call the Felt dealer, and he called Felt and told me they could get me an Fc (what they call their crash replacement frame) for about $1,100, and he could build it up with the old components. It was a little more than I wanted to spend, but I decided to go for it. He called me back the next day, and said that Felt was out of Fc's in my size, but that they would part with an F1 frameset for a couple hundred bucks more. I was really on the edge about the extra money, but I reasoned that this was a super-amazing, electronic-ready frame, and after a couple of years I could throw Ultegra or Dura Ace on it, and basically have a bike that I would never be too good for. I ordered the bike, and after a couple of weeks for shipping and his shop to take care of things, I was out the door.

First ride was a mess. The front shifting was miserable, the brakes barely worked, and overall the bike was not what I expected. I took a closer look at it, and it looked to be totally built incorrectly. The FD had no clearance, the brake pads were rubbing on the tires, the cables weren't finished off, and it generally looked like it was built by a 4 year old. Also, he left my computer and sensors on the old frame, and after I called about it he said it was already in the garbage and he was "sorry."

I took it to my LBS, who totally tore the bike down and re-built it (for another $200), and I bought a cheap cateye computer, bringing the total expense of the bike to around $2k, which is what I was trying to avoid in the first place. I understand that nobody could have foreseen the Felt dealer being an idiot, but it was an extra delay and expense that I didn't really need.

The main problem now is that the bike is so so so stiff, it's uncomfortable to me. It's not terrible, but it's not as supple as the old F5 frame. I've been fiddling with the fit for a while and been on a few rides, since the original garbage bike shop didn't even put my saddle in the same position, and even though it's the same geometry it just doesn't feel like the same bike. Of course, I also didn't ride at all for 4 weeks while this was getting sorted out, so it could just be the muscles in my back/shoulders getting re-used to riding. Also, as stated above, I don't ride that much and am not that fast (although I have been setting some PR's on the new frame), and now I feel like a total dweeb getting dropped off of the back of a 17mph group ride on my wonderbike. It's also a sin to have 5 year old 105 on a frame this nice.

All of this has me thinking that I should have just cut my losses at the beginning, gotten the $500 aluminum bike, and been done with it. I haven't ridden in 3 weeks now, partially because it's getting cold, partially because I'm sick of stopping every couple of miles and fiddling with things, and partially because I'm thinking of selling the bike/frameset and I want to keep it as new as possible. So, what's the advice here? Keep the bike, ride more, get a fit, and HTFU? Sell the frameset on ebay and build up that TCR with my old 105 stuff using the proceeds from the frameset? Give up the sport because I can't ride enough to be any good?