Another first road bike advice Giant defy or Felt Z95

leevil knievil

I am going to be taking the plunge into getting my first road bike, i have been looking mainly at the Giant defy range, budget is around 600.

Visited a local Giant retailer today to try one out for size, and it looks like i need a medium in size, whilst i was there the assistant put me onto the felt z95 which looked very nice and had the basic sora set, now i am not going to be racing and will be using it to commute and mix up between mountain biking and maybe the odd sportive to see how i go.

Which would be preferable, has anyone had any experience with the z95, from views on the net people seem to lean towards giant, the last option would be to go second hand for a better specced bike but i am not sure if i will need better groupsets etc and these could be upgraded later on my choice of bike.

Thanks for your views

Trickle

Dec 12 Issue of Cycling Plus has a 4 bike £600-650 review including the Defy 4 and the Z95.

Its £3 on Android and iOS. If you already have an Android Google Play account its pretty painless to buy and read the single issue. They fixed the blurriness on magazines that was there on rollout a couple of months back, but its still unreadable on a PC - so don't buy the issue to read directly off the Play Website.

I had a hard time choosing between the Defy 3 and 4. £72 for an extra cog was going to be a tough sell but I didn't want to always be wondering what it would be like to be able to change on the drops (I'm new to road cycling so can't offer you any comparison advice).

The thing that had ruled the 4.5 Star Felt out for me was the wight difference, but looking at it now I think the 56" they reviewed would be closer to a Giant M/L which another publication had weighed in at 9.7KG. So a 1/4kg difference perhaps instead of the bigger at first glance vs the M size in the Cycling Plus review.

Pity the Felt z95 isn't available in the gorgeous lime green that the F95 is. Then it would have been a no brainer

leevil knievil

Thanks for the reply trickle, I think I am going to go for the Felt there doesn't seem to be much difference between the two, and the money saved could go towards a pair of road shoes and other bits and bobs, aesthetically I prefer the z95 over the giant.

If I am totally honest I would of really preferred a canyon but all the sale bikes in my budget have gone.

supermurph09

The bikes you mention obviously come with good reviews and I guess you are just concerned that you may buy a complete dog!? You'll be pretty safe with either and if anything like me, thrilled with the purchase of your first bike. For me it was a Specialized Allez which I've been pleased with for the last 6 months. Get the bike, get out on it, enjoy yourself and then start planning for the next one!

zx6man

I would go defy 3 than 4. Some bits are upgraded like the handle bar and stem and brakes, plus you have the new 9 speed sora.

more gears makes it less of a jump between them which you can sometimes notice the gaps on the road. And as mentioned the new sora is paddles and not the thumb downshift (although I don' t mind them, sometimes scared of breaking them off)

leevil knievil

My only concern on the bike is the tyres, they just looked like summer tyres, can anyone recommend some good all-rounders.

t4tomo

leevil knievil wrote:

My only concern on the bike is the tyres, they just looked like summer tyres, can anyone recommend some good all-rounders.

continental 4 seasons - terrific all rounders, as the name suggests

VTech

I cant really help other than that I too was looking between the Giant and Felt and I went with Felt purely for the looks, it looks quite close to my car which is a bonus but seriously, I just think they look very slick and ready to do some mileage
One thing about the Felt though that wasnt so apparent when I rode the Giant is how hard it rides, its like one of the race cars rather than a cruiser.

leevil knievil

Just a quick update, decided on the felt, first ride impressions very good, here is a quick photo.






The Felt Z95 2013 Features are:

Frame: Felt Endurance Road Superlight Custom Butted 6061 aluminum, machined threaded BB shell, DT cable routing, aluminum dropouts & replaceable rear derailleur hanger

Fork: Felt Endurance Road UHC Performance fork; 100% Carbon Fiber blades w/ aluminum 1.125 steerer tube, crown, & dropouts

Headset: FSA 1.125 Integrated w/ aluminum 25mm cone spacer, 2 x 10mm PC headset spacer, 1 x 5mm PC headset spacer

Bars: Felt VS, 6061 aluminum, ergonomic, ø31.8mm, 51cm=400mm, 54cm=420mm, 56cm=420mm, 58cm=440mm, 61cm=440mm

Stem: Felt VA 2D forged aluminum w/custom Cr-Mo bolts, +/- 8°/12°/16° adjustable rise, ø31.8mm bar clamp, 51cm=90mm, 54cm=100mm, 56cm=100mm, 58cm=110mm, 61cm=120mm.

Speed: 18

Front Mech: Shimano Sora ø31.8mm clamp-on

Rear Mech: Shimano Sora

Shifters Shimano Sora STI

Chainset: FSA Tempo, 50/34T; 48cm=165mm, 51cm=170mm, 54cm-56cm=172.5mm, 58cm-61cm=175mm

Bottom Bracket: FSA Square Tapered

Cassette: SunRace, 11-32T

Chain: SunRace 9-speed

Front Brake: Dual pivot w/cartridge brake pads

Rear Brake: Dual pivot w/cartridge brake pads

Rims: Alex R500

Front Hub: Felt Road

Rear Hub: Felt Road

Spokes: Stainless steel

Tyres: Felt All Weather PRB(Puncture Resistance Belting), 700c x 25c Front Felt All Weather PRB(Puncture Resistance Belting), 700c x 25c Rear

Seatpost: Felt SL 6061 aluminum, ø27.2mm

VTech

That it such a sweet looking machine, love it love it.

smidsy

VTech wrote:

That it such a sweet looking machine, love it love it.

It's black and says FELT on it, of course you like it

VTech

smidsy wrote:

VTech wrote:

That it such a sweet looking machine, love it love it.

It's black and says FELT on it, of course you like it

You got me

jmccabe

Just thought I'd mention, I bought a Z95 in August 2013. Love it. It was about the top end of what I wanted to pay and was competing against multiple other brands that had Shimano 2300 gears/shifters. Other than the fact it looks awesome, the Sora shifters (and the 11-32 cassette) sold it for me (and the exclusivity - I don't know anyone else with a Felt ;-)

So far, touch wood, the only problem I've had was a creaky rear wheel after not many miles; just needed the spoke tensioning sorting out and it's fine.

One thing I'm not impressed with is the UK Distributor; SaddleBack - pretty useless IMO. I went for the 58cm frame which apparently comes with a 110mm stem. After a few rides I felt the stretch was a little more than I was comfortable with so I contacted SaddleBack about getting the Felt VA 90mm one. They said they didn't import stuff like that so I'd have to get it from the Felt online shop in Germany where it was £25 or so, and about £15 shipping (might've been euros but...). So about £40 altogether! Got a Deda Zero1 for £17 instead!