https://www.feltbicycles.com/USA/2012...X/Cy/F65X.aspx

So, I'm 56 years old and I've been riding for almost a year! Ha! I can ride 50 miles pretty comfortably on my Mendota, well, comfortable enough and I've ridden a metric once and was pretty worn out but OK. Got in 3400+ miles last year and I don't know that my conditioning is going to get a whole lot better. One of my goals is to ride a century and right now I'm not sure that's even a reasonable goal on the hybrid if I want to be done in a 'normal' time period, that is to say ride it in a sanctioned event with support lasting a finite time.

So this Cyclocross bike really caught my eye. It has the same disc brakes and the same tire size as the Mendota. Nice! I like disc brakes and if I'm going to get a road bike I'd want it to have them. Don't care about the weight. Heck, my own body weight fluctuates 10 pounds or more so why worry about half a pound in the brakes? So, I'm thinking jerk off the cross tires and put some Michelin Pilot Sports on it and just use it as a road bike to gain enough speed to make the century an easier realization. My concern is how comfortable I'd be riding a road bike and drop bars and all. I had to get the bars on the hybrid up a good bit just to make it comfortable for me. Neck pain mostly.

Maybe I should see if my LBS would loan me a road bike for a week or so when it warms up and test ride the platform and see what I think. That's probably a good idea before I drop $1800, huh? In any event, this Felt looks like a sweet ride and is my current lust object. What'chall think?

For Faster get this or the F-85

https://www.feltbicycles.com/USA/2012...eries/F75.aspx

If you really want to go faster, do interval training twice a week.

Yes, but mainly by getting you into a more aero position. Upright = wind resistance. Not sure about your neck pain but it did take time for me to strengthen my neck muscles when I first rode drop bars (and I'm going through it again as I've been off the bike for 3 months and have lost a lot of muscle strength). FWIW, I ordered a CX bike last weekend (Fuji Cross 2.0) to replace my commuter that was totaled in October. Looking forward to returning to commuting by bike and really looking forward to getting back into some kind of decent shape.

Yes, it will. You will go much, much faster.

Frankly, although it looks very nice, it also looks a lot like the Mendota but with drop bars. Small changes will yield small differences in results.

or Z85

Nope. Wrong color. Get one in red for an immediate .5mph avg without even pedalling.

Think outside the box.

Test riding a road bike is definitely a good idea. However, the big advantage is a more aero riding position that lowers your torso and makes it necessary to hold your head up so that you can see ahead. If you're having difficulty with neck pain already it might not work out very well for you.

Have you ever considered a recumbent? That will give you a more aerodynamic riding position and let you hold your head in a more normal, comfortable position.

Do what to the tires?

Yep. And all the chatter about babes liking roadies who shave their legs is utter nonsense.

They dig guys who ride recumbents.

And it is much easier on the neck. And you go faster, except uphill.

Speed on a bicycle all comes down to the engine. The real key for making you go faster is to turn the pedals faster in a higher gear. Better investment at this point is a bicycle computer with cadence, put that on your bike, then train yourself to pedal faster, you should be pedalling at between 80 and 100 RPM. Two of the best training techniques are intervals and hill training.

Intervals, you pick a point, when you reach that point, you pedal as fast as you can, until you reach another point then repeat this cycle. This could be distance or time based, for example pedal at over 100RPM, sustained for 1 minute, then at normal pace for 4 minutes, repeat 12 times.

Hill training, find a hill where you can't quite pedal to the top, in your lowest gear. Every few days you make sure you try this hill, eventually you will be able to do it, you keep doing this, until you no longer need to think about what gear you need for that hill, then you go find a bigger one. Your in Tennessee, finding bigger hills, shouldn't be a problem.

You can combine the two, find a smaller hill, ride up pedalling as fast as you can, coast down, repeat.

Yes, racers do run with lighter bikes, but that is because they have already got the engine in the best shape possible and they need that extra .1% because the difference between first and forth is often a few hundredths of a second.

I am always a little faster on a new bike.

Yes.

The posts above are generally true - i.e. it's all about the engine etc. etc.

But it's FAR more fun pedaling a light, purpose-built road bike than slogging away at a tank.

Yes, you need a lighter nicer bike. But if you can do 50 miles or a metric and your goal is to get to a century, then your goal isn't really to get faster, per se. It's to increase your endurance. Sure hill climbing and intervals and a more aero position will make you a better cyclist, but to increase your endurance, work on upping your weekly miles. It's good that you can do long rides now and again (I'm assuming on the weekends?), but managing a century is mostly about having tons of miles already in your legs.

I'm 55 and and went thru my first season last year like you. I put 2500 miles on my hybrid (Trek 7300). I sure hated riding into the wind. I set a goal to ride a metric century and when I did it in June I rewarded myself with a road bike. My discomfort was in my hands from the constant vibration of riding oil and chip roads. After riding most of the major relaxed geo road bikes I bought a Trek 4.5 Madone. I ended up with 3700 miles total last year. I called around to test a cyclocross bike but none were available so I can't say I wouldn't have liked one.

The madone was about 2 mph faster on average than the Hybrid but it's more than just speed. The Madone was funner to ride, much quicker to accelerate and I felt more "at one" with the machine. I got a deal on it and it was only $200 more than the bike you're interested in. It isn't a machine for gravel but my hybrid is still available for that. If you ride mixed surfaces perhaps the cyclocross bike is a better choice that's what it's designed for.

My first year was all about weight loss and getting in the miles. I asked one of the fast guys on this forum about training last spring and he gave me good advice. He said "The first year just ride, don't train. Learn to love cycling. It'll take 5 years to achieve your potential. Plenty of time next year for training." Good advice. I also do resistance training and all summer I was pretty well flat lined in strength. I'm a farmer so when October came the riding season was over for me for the most part. Actually sitting in the tractors/combines for a month was what I needed. I was somewhat over trained. When I resumed resistance training in November I was down 15% in strength. I'm now 30% stronger overall than last summer and up 50% and climbing in my quads.

My point of all this is that is there's no reason to think that we won't be even better next year and for the next few years. The real question is whether we have the discipline to train for whatever area we wish to tackle. I want to get faster in the 20 mile distances. If you want to do centuries then you'll train differently. Or maybe you'll just ride for the love of cycling.

That felt is certainly a good choice if a CX bike suits your needs. Are you giving up all off road riding or even most of it? With a spare set of wheels and tires the CX is a viable choice and a great bit lighter than a MTB. Why not keep the MTB and get the F-85 or Z-85 mentioned if you really like the Felt bicycles or even another road bike that isn't a compromise. The CX is a good all rounder, with extra tires for the road if you are keeping only 1 bicycle, however remember the motto in bicycling is N+1 forever.

Bill

Road bike = sports car

Hybrid = Buick

Mtn bike = jeep

Nothing = recumbent

And remember, people on bike forums, like politicians are most entertained when spending somebody else's money

A general rule for a new bike, if you already have one, in today's economy, only buy, when you can pay cash....

What's that?

You can gain a few mph on a road bike over a hybrid without changing anything but that is only because most hybrids have smaller chain rings than road bikes. The larger chain rings will increase your speed some. However, since you have a pre-existing problem with your neck, as mentioned, a road bike or CX bike may give you problems. There are a couple of things that you can do before buying and that is to see a sports therapist or physician for exercises that you can do for your neck (if any) and actually ride a road or CX bike to see how it affects your pre-existing condition. Since I really don't know how bad your neck condition is, I won't tell you to go and buy one until you know for sure that you can ride it comfortably, without pain or other problems.

??

I guess I am totally confused by this statement. I thought the critical factor was chain inches and cadence.

I would appreciate other viewpoints.

The two bikes are so similar that I would be tempted to just have drop bars installed on the bike you currently own. It would mean new bar and brifters but thats a lot less expensive than a new bike. You can always ride on the top of the bars if you don't like riding down on the drops. You can also change gearing later should you wish to.

Why go cyclocross though?

One for one, I believe they tend to be more expensive than a good road bike. Second, you are going to have to change the tires and tubes, and pay for new ones. And third, you really don't need disc brakes for straight road riding. Standard brakes when well adjusted will stop on a dime and they are lighter which is a good thing no matter how you slice it. And last, aren't cyclocross bikes geared abit differently than road bikes?

Unless you have your heart set on a cyclocross, I'm thinking a straight road bike might be better. Jusy MHO...

Excellent