help with bike choice - felt or specialized

icarus2009

Hi

Just joined this forum and already in need of some help.

I am going to get a bike on the cycle lease scheme. My aim is to bike in to work 2 or 3 days a week (its 9 miles each way witha big hill in the middle).
im not fit and weigh in region of 14 stone, so im hopeful that i can lose some of this and get fitter.

Anyway, the bikes im drawn to on the scheme are the Felt F85 and the Specialized Allez.
Our company uses cycle solutions so the bike will have to come from them.
Here are the links to the two:

http://cyclesolutions-shop.co.uk/p49293 ... -2012.aspx

http://cyclesolutions-shop.co.uk/p48291 ... -2012.aspx

I would be very grateful if you could advise me which of the bikes would be best suited to my needs, also which would represent best value for money.

Many Thanks

smidsy

I am sure others will be along soon with different ideas but the best thing is to try them out and see which one fits you best/suits your body most.

icarus2009

thanks for your reply.

i went to one of the local bike shops on the weekend as they had both, and you cant test ride them from cycle solutions.
i only rode up and down the road but i was pretty comfy on both tbh. the felt probably didnt quite feel as fast as the specialized but then the felt is a better looker imo.

i dont have much idea about the different gear makes etc so any opinions on which of these has the best would be appreciated.

thanks

smidsy

Biggest difference I see is that the Spesh is only 9 speed and the Felt is 10.

9 speed is old hat now (I have one) and if you want to be able to upgrade shifters etc then 10 or 11 speed is far easier to source.

Both have similar levels of kit (105 rear mech) but the spesh is mainly Sora groupset (bottom half of Shimano range), whereas the Felt has FSA chainset and micro shift sti's (which can be fiddly with winter gloves due to the extra lever)

I would edge to the Felt if it were my cash (which it is obviously not).

friedpizzainbatter

You can get the Specialized Allez Elite for £799 now, both Evans and Edinburgh Bike Shop are doing the red label deal on that bike. I just bought one, it's very nice.