With the recent theft of my bike, I have been looking at the price of completes or piecing a bike together from scratch (which I would rather do but need to save more) Has anyone seen one of these in person, or ridden one? (I did a search and didn't really find any posts on it)

https://www.feltracing.com/09-catalog...-brougham.aspx



the components and price-point look similar to many entry level bikes (tt,pista,etc)

I know not too many people were excited about the dispatch because of the up sloping top tube and gimicky tt pad, wheel/bottle opener wrench, etc

i hate matchy color schemes on anything other than dunks or lingerie, but i have to say-- black and white like this looks sick on a fg.

Mismatched wheels on a stock bike? hmmm...

Is that a regal?

on a more helpful side, the components-- while not listed-- look like junk parts, on par with what you'd expect from a big factory manufacturer's response to the consumer trend towards "sporty" urban track bikes.
if you're going to buy a new bike with junk parts, get something from bikes direct.
if $600 is your price range, spend the left over benjies on upgrades (hs, fork, bb) that'll make it decent.

weird wheel and tire contrast.

the felts are great bikes. find a dealer and ride one as soon as you can.

if you like that, check out my kilo.

your bike actually came to my mind when I saw this

the components do pretty much look like the normal bs on a stock kilo

I was thinking of building up a bikeisland (kilo) frame from scratch, this would obviously allow me to select better components if only dp18s or v's and messenger cranks, i think cranks and wheels are big part of the sturdy/strong feeling of the bike.

the wheels are definitely a huge part of the feel. cranks... well... i don't think very many riders can tell a HUGE difference. the bb is probably more of a difference than the cranks for more people.

much better idea.
though don't neglect parts like HS and BB-- they can be pretty important parts of the way your bike handles. those two components and a decent fork takes a blah bike a long way...

this was one of my initial thoughts, sell off the wheels, crankset, etc then upgrade

then I kinda think I should just build a frame from the ground up because I'd be happier in the end

ahhh decisions I wish I just still had my bike

definitely, when I think cranks I usually think replacing the whole package (BB included for sure), decent cranks and a crap BB don't make for a nice ride, HS also, a good quality HS is much smoother than a bunk one

it'll probably come down to price.

lay out your build with the frame + components, then compare it to the complete kilo + components - a few bucks for selling the parts you're replacing.

it's possible that you'll come away cheaper with the complete, or at least get the luxury of upgrading a part at a time, albeit while riding blah parts.

smart way to look at it

even building a complete with a new kilo frame my build is still coming out around ~800-850 (hopefully sourcing most parts without tax)

the nice thing about picking up a tt or tt pro is it would be complete from the getgo and ready to ride, but i know i would already be wanting to switch out parts (more so on the tt then the pro)

building a bike is a huge part of the fun.

well look the only thing the kilo lacks that the brougham has are wheels saddle risers and maybe crankset.

if you think you can build a kilo for less that's fine but unless you have a hookup on parts, i really don't think you'll get a great deal. i mean, dp18's and soma low-end components are going to push you to 530 easily and it won't be much of an improvement- and you have a bike with stickers on it.

if you build a frameset from bikeisland you've got 340 dollars more to spend before you get up to the bro, and it's gotta be split between wheels, tires, tubes, cog, lockring, chain, crankset, bb, pedals, seatpost, saddle, collar, headset, spacers, stem, bars and grips. that's a lot to buy. pricing it out at msrp gives you access to clearance low end parts at best, and you have a bike that, while personalized, has to be built up and has no warranty. pressing the headset is the only expensive tool needed but you really don't have room to buy tools in the msrp part list.

i built up my kilo from the frameset a long time ago and it took me four saddles, three seatposts, three stems, two headsets, two cranksets, two wheelsets, and two pedalsets to get it to where i wanted it. i'm not saying i couldn't have done it better the first go around but i will say i spent way more on it than i ever thought i'd spend, or really wanted to put into a kilo.

if i get another fixed gear i'll buy it complete, or spend a fortune on it. and it will either be dura-ace equipped with free shipping, say "tk3" on it, or say "sonik" on it and i'll be rich.

Headset and bottom bracket probably have the least difference in performance comparing mid grade parts to high end parts. You probably can't tell the difference between a cane creek s3 and a chris king when you're on the bike. Spend some of that leftover money on good tires and a good saddle that fits well. Those 2 things will make far more impact on ride quality than a BB and HS.

Absolutely, my Kilo cost as much as a Fuji Track Comp after adding up the invoices.

The Felt is, IMO, way nicer looking than the Kilo. Whether or not you are going to swap out parts is kind of irrelevant. I bet that Felt will be a fine ride that feels and looks good for less money than building up a Kilo. I'm having this problem now: while building up a bike, it is tempting to get really nice parts that you may or may not appreciate. I bet if I would have gotten a pre-fab bike, I wouldn't have noticed the mediocre cranks/headset/bb, but when building up my frame, i wanted all sugino, chris king bs. I really like the way that Felt looks, I think it's cool and I know some people with Felt F series road bikes that LOVE them.

i was also thinking about buying the Brougham, but maybe i can spend a little more and get a Surly steamroller instead but that's almost 200 more than your budget.

Damn the rise in sales tax in CA

ahhh I know the sales tax increase blows

I went to a local felt dealer yet and they're still waiting for the brougham to come in, the bikes were supposed to be in-stock in february, I emailed felt and they said end of march and it's now the middle of april

jackass right out of the box

Hah, typical company, giving the public exactly what they want... ed last year. Tarck in a box.

Is that front wheel machined? Doesn't look like it. Scary. C'mon felt, staying alive is in this season. Get a brake on that thing.

whoops, must be. Just looked at the specs.

I think over here in the SF bay area they have them in stock, where are you from? And yeah sales tax increased from 8.25% to 9.25%, makes me not wanna buy anything anymore

is that seat photoshopped in? it looks way silly.