Sexy bike or better groupset

Paul057

I'm torn between a Felt F5 that looks really good (to me anyway) with 105...
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/felt-f5-2011/

...and a Giant TCR 0 - not quite as sexy (although still pretty nice) but with a mostly Ultegra groupset.
http://www.rutlandcycling.com/29747/Gia ... Bike-.html

The Felt is more heavily discounted, but the Giant seems like a really good deal.

Choices, choices, choices!

anto164

If its just between those two, then i'd keep in mind that the Giant has a very light alu frame.

Daddy2Coull

which would you notice more whilst riding?

ultegra group set or a carbon frame? i've just bought a bike with full 105 on, it works perfectly and is so smooth a precise that i'm not sure i could tell the difference between that and the ultegra bikes that i road tested.

i'd go for the carbon frame

sloppyschleckonds

If that Felt F5 shares the same frame as the F4 & F3 then with a set of decent wheels that looks a gem of a bike.

Almost tempted myself at that price.

Redhog14

Frame over components everytime, if you do the miles then you can upgrade the bits over time. Having had a similar conversation with my LBS they said the difference in the grade of the components is only a weight saving, so the frame contributes more to the experience than the group set. Good quality wheels do help though.

giant_man

Redhog14 wrote:

Frame over components everytime, if you do the miles then you can upgrade the bits over time. Having had a similar conversation with my LBS they said the difference in the grade of the components is only a weight saving, so the frame contributes more to the experience than the group set. Good quality wheels do help though.

+1 - they both do the same job and they both change gear the same way. The biggest difference you'll feel is the frame, the Felt for me every time. I've tried the F4 and it was a sweet ride, extremely light handing on a climb, nice ....

Monty Dog

Prioritise your spend in terms of the following order:
Frame, wheels, groupset and the rest. You're likely to upgrade contact point i.e. Saddle, bars etc to accommodate your position/comfort

HowardG

I have a Felt F4 and absolutely love it. Not much to compare it to except an old steel thing. I use it for general Sunday runs, laps of Regents Park, Swains Lane ascents and Triathlon racing. Everything infact. Get the Felt.

Just a question for a previous poster - I have a full Ultegra groupset and Shimano RS20 wheels, is the bike under-wheeled and would I benefit from RS80's that everyone on here raves about?

Go for it, you won't regret it.

night_porter

Prioritise your spend in terms of the FOLLOWING order:
Colour, bling, colour, rarity, colour, how envious your mates would be, colour.

As everyone says the components do what they are supposed to do whatever level they are but don't underestimated the speed gain of riding something you love!

You will even adapt yourself to make it "feel" more comfortable if you think it looks the mutts nuts.

Paul057

Cheers all. That's settled it then - the Felt it is. I'm planning on upgrading the wheels pretty soon anyway, and that frame just really floats my boat.

Slimbods

night_porter wrote:

Prioritise your spend in terms of the FOLLOWING order:
Colour, bling, colour, rarity, colour, how envious your mates would be, colour.

Quoted for truth. Buy what you like the look of and will enjoy riding. That's worth far more than the spec on paper.

Love the way that felt comes with more 'cred' wheels than Askiums too.

Rodu

I would go for the Felt too but maybe with the Scott gearing, it has a 28 at the back! Just love an easier gear for the hills, especially when you like to ascend gently and save enough energy for the ride back.

If you wanted to change the casette it might cost up to £40 plus fitting fee.

letap73

http://www.merlincycles.co.uk/Bike+Shop ... ELT-F4.htm

Just in case you are huge!

10% discount can also be applied!

Note it has an F1 frame!

jamespiggot

That is all good advice, frame is expensive to replace so that should be first, then second on my list is shifters/brakes because they are expensive to replace. Never used 105 but heard good things about it so should be OK.

Wheels are the most important component but they are easy to upgrade/replace, you can always use the wheels that came with your frame for winter/training and buy some lightweight sexy wheels once your bank account has recovered from the shock of buying the new bike.

So I'd go for the Felt as well, that would be my choice, but enjoy which ever bike you end up getting!

Nuggs

jamespiggot wrote:

Never used 105 but heard good things about it so should be OK.

I have 105 on my winter bike and Ultegra on my good bike. I have no problems with 105 at all.

Ultegra is definitely better made and as a result is likely to have greater longevity.

Ultegra is smoother, but I actually rather like the more positive feel of 105.

I think that groupsets have come on a long way in the past few years as the top three manufacturers have all had to up their game to keep up with the competition. OP - you shouldn't have any issues with 105.

Paul057

Rodu wrote:

I would go for the Felt too but maybe with the Scott gearing, it has a 28 at the back! Just love an easier gear for the hills, especially when you like to ascend gently and save enough energy for the ride back.

If you wanted to change the casette it might cost up to £40 plus fitting fee.

Exactly what i was thinking. I've looked into changing the cassette for an 11-28 and i've come up with the same figure. Might even have a crack at doing it myself. :?

Rodu

Paul057, I went to a local bike shop and they charged me £10 for fitting. I got the 12- 27 casette from an online bike shop for soemthing like £27.

You could do it yourself, I think you need to buy a casette tool, the more knowledgeable on here can advise or try the Workshop sub-forum for info.

Good luck and when you get strong and mighty on the bike maybe you can change back to the original gearing - FYI, I have kept my 12 - 27 on. I just love it.

night_porter

Rodu is right your will need a cassette tool but....

You will also probably need a very large spanner (I use a large adjustable spanner) and most importantly a chain whip.

Without the chain whip you will just be turning the freehub around so the chain whip will hold the cassette still while you undo the lockring. This is usually a very tough job and needs plenty of BF&I to get it undone. Brute Force and Ignorance!

It might cost more to buy the tools than to get the shop to do it for you but you do get to keep the tools and can use them over and over.

merak

night_porter wrote:

Rodu is right your will need a cassette tool but....

You will also probably need a very large spanner (I use a large adjustable spanner) and most importantly a chain whip.

Without the chain whip you will just be turning the freehub around so the chain whip will hold the cassette still while you undo the lockring. This is usually a very tough job and needs plenty of BF&I to get it undone. Brute Force and Ignorance!.

If you need BFI to undo the locknut on your cassette, someone has way overtorqued it. It should come undone quite easily.

Changing cassettes is a reasonably regular job and I find that even if I'm not changing them I still need to disassemble them regularly to clean them properly - I think all keen road cyclists should have access to a chain whip and cassette tool and know how to do this job which is incredibly easy. BTW, different makes of cassette use different cassette tools.

ride_whenever

merak wrote:

night_porter wrote:

Rodu is right your will need a cassette tool but....

You will also probably need a very large spanner (I use a large adjustable spanner) and most importantly a chain whip.

Without the chain whip you will just be turning the freehub around so the chain whip will hold the cassette still while you undo the lockring. This is usually a very tough job and needs plenty of BF&I to get it undone. Brute Force and Ignorance!.

If you need BFI to undo the locknut on your cassette, someone has way overtorqued it. It should come undone quite easily.

Changing cassettes is a reasonably regular job and I find that even if I'm not changing them I still need to disassemble them regularly to clean them properly - I think all keen road cyclists should have access to a chain whip and cassette tool and know how to do this job which is incredibly easy. BTW, different makes of cassette use different cassette tools.

If you don't need BFI to get your lockring undone then it wasn't done up tight enough. Shimano specify 40Nm as a torque value which is very very tight indeed. There is a crush washer in there for a reason...

fludey

I have that very same felt from wiggle and love it, if you have not ordered it yet try entering tour20 if it's still valid it's below £1k with that voucher. I also have a felt ar4 with ultegra and besides the carbon frame I can't say there is much in it on the shimano group set for me.

Ooops correction I have the f75 same bike Ali frame :roll:

merak

ride_whenever wrote:

If you don't need BFI to get your lockring undone then it wasn't done up tight enough. Shimano specify 40Nm as a torque value which is very very tight indeed. There is a crush washer in there for a reason...

40Nm is 133N on a 12 inch wrench which is 13.5kg - hardly BFI. It's common for a 275mm torque wrench to be specified up to 110Nm or 41kg or about 90lbs - now that's getting quite tight but still not BFI which implies putting all your weight on the wrench.

13.5kg to torque up your lockring with a 300mm wrench - it should be less to undo it.

I quote the late great Sheldon Brown: "After replacing the cassette, the lockring should be tightened until it is snug, but not tightened with gorilla-like force".

I repeat, if you need BFI to undo your cassette lockring you are over-torqueing it.

Steve_b77

I'd go for the one with the better frame as it's the least likely thing to wear out.

I've just gone from Ultegra 6600 gruppo to 105 5700 gearing with FSA gossamer cranks and to be fair there's next to bugger all difference between them.

Wheels are a good upgrade, I went from the RS10's the bike came with to RS80's and there superb wheels.