Which is more rad - Orbea or Felt
 

Recently I purchased an old 2009 Felt bike for $150, however I found another deal a few days later for an Orbea TT frame for $150, so I bought it too in case I regret missing out on it. Now I'm facing a crisis deciding if I should transfer the Ultegra groupset and MOst wheels on my Felt onto my Orbea frameset. Both are in great conditions and barely any signs of use.

2008 Felt F85
http://www.togoparts.com/marketplace...5329-13890.jpg

2006 Orbea Aletta TT Frameset (picture from another site. I will fix it up with a drop/flat bar and not a TT bar)
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_dGgEfl6LWY...5-9-100002.JPG
The "bad" about the half carbon/half aluminium Orbea is that frame + fork weights 5.3lbs

That's a smoking hot deal for the Felt.

If the Orbea is a true TT bike, the geometries aren't even the same. I would build up the Orbea using parts you find from other smoking hot deals and leave the Felt as is.

Felt.rode it 39,000 miles

http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/h...miSMR009-1.jpg

http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/h...inTires006.jpg

http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/h...TDC2011009.jpg

Get some wheels for the other one

This.

The Orbea is a TT bike with TT geo and has a very slack 76 degree seat tube. It could be made to work as a road bike but it is designed to go straight and be more aero over a road bike that might be more nimble and better suited for climbing. Do both bikes fit?

I am 5'11 1/2, the felt is on the small side at 55cm while the Orbea is 59cm, this is the measurement for top of seat tube to center of the BB. If I keep the felt I will buy a longer stem and slam it. I actually plan to build the Orbea with flat bars and aero clip-on bars, instead of full aero bars. What do you guys think

The felt is too small and you want to slam it? Are you Gumby?

Not sure what you would benefit from flat bars on the Orbea. The geometry really isn't meant to be ridden that way.

That looks really good! Yes, I am thinking of buying an 80mm aero carbon rear wheel for the Orbea TT frame and switch the MOst front wheels around whenever I switch bike.

I just want to slam to a 17 degrees stem, nothing too ridiculous, probably a 120mm one, so it can suit my body proportions. I just got into bicycles not too long ago so I am not very well versed in fitment etc, my height is 5' 11.5" and my floor to crotch length is 2' 9.5". Was thinking to make the Orbea into a versatile, go everywhere bike as the frame is heavy but pretty damn sturdy. Plus, a flatbar TT bike just looks different from anything else

Slamming means removing spacers and going negative on the stem angle... you're basically placing the handlebars below the top of the headtube. Are you thinking of something else?


Likewise, placing flat bars on a TT bike will play around with the geometry quite a bit. With the steeper seat tube angle you're already riding farther forward than you would on a road bike. By using flat bars you're reducing the reach even more. I'm all for experimentation but I don't think it would be very comfortable. I'd suspect you'd be riding it with your arms straight down.

I think I have made a big mistake in buying a 58cm TT frame. I have been doing some research and typically for people that suit 56cm road bikes, they would buy a 52cm-ish TT bike, I got it mixed up and went for a bigger TT frame that my size. I guess I would sell it away.... :(

Before you sell, you can mount the wheels and play-fit with the frame to see how it would feel.

I just did that, placed the saddle and wheels on to test fit. It feels quite large to me but i have no other experiences with bicycles of this size apart from the felt. My feet is about 10cm off the ground with the seatpost is mounted about 10cm in height. I measured as a comparison to my Felt F85 and the seattube is 4cm longer and toptube is 2cm longer. Im unsure if i should proceed with building it or just selling it, although the differences are just a few cm, i have no experiences with TT frames and have no idea what those few cm will translate to

Well, IMO, there's good news and bad news.

Bad news first:
1. the Felt is probably too small, based on your height. If course, depending on your build, it might be right. But, generally, 5'11.5 is too tall of a 55cm frame.
2. the TT bike hasn't got wheels.

Good News:
Given that you bought them cheaply, you can probably flip them both for profit and buy a new/nicer bike with the total haul.

What I'd do:
Buy a cheap wheelset for the TT bike and spend some time cleaning and tuning them both up.

Obviously, neither is so horribly out-sized that you cant ride them some, so, go ahead and ride them both while working on selling them. As you ride, you'll figure out what you want out of the bike you eventually purchase.

If you're lucky, you'll end up with a ~$750 profit (who knows?) and can put the $1000 toward a much nicer used bike or maybe even a new 2015 left-over or.. ?

Rad?

or, get a new F85 frame...

http://www.feltbicycles.com/ImageCac..._TNH265WA1.jpg

really. too much fail to even explain...lol.

What you are missing is that one is a tt bike and one is road bike. The orbea is not meant all day casual riding it is meant for serious time trials. The felt on the other hand is excellent for more comfortable, longer rides. Although since it is felts F series it is more aggressive than an all out endurance bike so you could even do some entry level racing on it.

Yes I know those differences as i bought the orbea after being attracted to the aggressive looks of the TT frameset. I plan to build it with a flar bar and clip-on aero bars. Reason being is that this frame is too large for me, and flatbar reduces the stretch. When i stand over the Orbea with wheels fitted, my groin is resting on its toptube

Congrats on an impulse buy of a bike that is the wrong size? Bet the seller is happy at least.

My advise to you is build it up and sell it and buy a nicer newer bike that fits you.

I just built the bike! Pardon the temporary saddle and bottle holder. Its so much faster than the Felt. I average 20-23mph for a 40 mile ride
http://i.imgur.com/RX6M9Fh.jpg

So the Orbea frame is faster? How fast were your 40 mile rides before?

technically both are are rad.

http://i.imgur.com/NFo3UU8.png

Don't forget radball...

Unlikely. How much data do you have? How many rides do you have from both bikes on the same exact route in the same exact conditions?