Sigurdd50

After a week on an ALU felt, with no real need for speed, I'm thinking a modest steel frame cycle will cover my needs and be easier on my hands and body. The Felt is sweet, but towards the end of a week-long tour, it was starting to wear on my hands a butt.

The Jamis Satellite is abundance at the LBS at a nice price.
It's lower end with Sora components (the Felt has Ultegra)

Does anyone ride one primarily and can you comment?
The riding I do is 20-60 mile easy day rides (12-13.5 MPH Avg)
and the ocassional supported tour, maybe commute.

Tak!

Patriot

Well, the Sattelites are nice rides for themoney, that is for sure. However, my wife has an aluminum bike with a good EC-90 carbon seat post, and it honesty rides just about as nice as my old steel Centurion, whioch is a really nice ride with alloy bars, and alloy seatpost. The seatpost on my wifes bike is what made all the differance in the world. Another great upgrade for an alloy bike is to get some carbon bars. They really do help alot with absorbing vibration.
If you can't afford, or just don't want to invest that much into upgrades, then you could easily downgrade to the Jamis.
The question is, since you already have the Felt, is it really worth the financial hit if you trade it for the Jamis? Especially only after a week of riding. I'm not sure I would do that, unless the bike was really bad, and wasn't the proper size/fit.

Patriot

Ok, I saw your pic of the bike, It has carbon stays and everything. i am not sure it would be wise to downgrade to the jamis. That Felt is a really nice ride. I think i would try to upgrade a few things first. With as much carbon as it has, I really don't think downgrading to a cheaper steel bike will be the answer. However, to each his own.

webist

I too think it would be odd for a steel downgrade to improve the circumstances you mention. Are you certain your body position/fit is correct? Perhaps some minor tweaking is what is really needed.

Patriot

That's exactly what I was thinking. You did a full week of touring, that's alot of riding, no matter what the frame is made of. I would think you just got worn out, which happens to everybody eventually. Take a break, have a cold one, rest up, then go hit the road again.

Happy Riding.

Patriot

You know, after looking at your bike, I might make one suggestion for an adjustment. Not sure what you prefer, but your saddle does look like it is nosed up a bit. I would level it off a bit, and see if that helps your bum a bit. Also, with your hands, I think maybe if you get a better pair of gloves with good padding in the right places, may also help.

Sigurdd50

Agreed.
I'm not going to be hasty... one of the things that has me frustrated is not being able to add a rack to the ride. yeah, it's a fast road/racing bike and one is not SUPPOSED to add weight... but it would be nice to have a rack for those day/week rides. The wishbone rear tube is not conducive to any type of standard rack, and I'm just not sold on the clamp-on seatpost racks. Plus i don't see clamping the carbon stays.

I did plan to return to LBS and go thru a proper fitting and that should help... but it's the limited application of the bike (road/racing) that may be hanging me up... something I could only realize after trying out this type of ride (first new bike purchase since 1979!)

Patriot

Actually, post a pic of your ride in the commuting forum. I know for a fact there are racks out there which are made for that style of frame without built in mounts, and are much more stable than the seatpost type. Especially if you want to haul alot of stuff for a LONG tour.

bkrownd

"Downgrade"? You people are so judgemental! A "downgrade" would be a dimestore cruiser. Call it a "sidegrade". Sometimes we want apples, and sometimes we want oranges.

PinkFloyd

If your LBS has them, you might want to look at the Jamis Quest as an alternative to the Satellite.

I'm thinking that you'll be happier in the long run, especially if you ride it frequently.

Patriot

I'm not knocking the Jamis bikes at all. But, to go from a Felt with Ultegra to a Sattelite with Sora, IS a downgrade. The steel frame is the only good thing going for it. The bike itself is fine, but not as nice as an alloy Felt frame w/carbon stays/forks/seatpost, and a full Ultegra group.
But, as you said, a sideways trade into something better with similar components would be nice, if he is specifcally wanting steel. However, the Felt frames are very comfy frames with the carbon setup, so I am questioning whether or not it would be worth two major factors...
1. The Jamis will weigh a bit more, as it is steel.
2. He will take a sizeable financial hit on the trade-in for a bike with similar or identical components.
I would normally say that the steel bike will win out for longevity (which technically it will), but for how long are we talking? Most good quality alloy frames will last for well over a decade or longer with no problems. In all honesty, I wouldn't worry about it. I would probably just go for an upgrade to carbon bars with some good gel tape and padded gloves to ease the wrist pain on ultra long tours.
For the length of tours he's mentioning, I really don't think going to steel will be the end all solution to all of his problems.

bkrownd

Satellite seems like an odd choice for touring/commuting anyway. He needs the Fuji World.

Sigurdd50

okay okay... you convinced me. Guess I was just getting a little frustrated with the racking limitation on the Felt, and the recent ride/fit issues. I was being hasty

Looks like tubus (gulps...$$) has a 3-point rack mounting system that might work on this frame. I do have a new B-17 to break in, and I'll return to LBS to tweak my FIT.

Guess I already have a couple old steel frame bikes if I feel that itch

thanks for all the nudging and suggestions
After a few days off from the tour, I needa get out on the road again