New Bike Felt F85 or Ribble Evo Pro Carbon

cearonoflynn

Hi All,

This is my first post having read here for a while. Am looking for a bit of advice.

I am buying a new bike on cyclescheme through my work (so limited to where to buy and £1000 spend).

I have a 22 mile each way commute and im looking to get a bike that i can do this on and carry out sportives \ club rides on (yet to join a club)
I have drawn up between 2 bikes (but would take suggestions on others)...

Ribble Evo Pro Carbon

Ribble Evo Pro Carbon Road Frame

Shimano Tiagra 4600 10 Spd Double Groupset
Shimano 10 Speed Tiagra 4600 Cassette 12-30
Shimano Tiagra Double 4600 10 Speed Chainset 170 39/52

Rodi Airline 4 Clinchers Wheels Pair Black 8/9/10 Shim
Vittoria Rubino 3 Rigid Tyre Blue/Black 700x23mm
ITM Triango Carbon (31.8) Handlebars Black 40cm
ITM Triango Carbon (31.8) Stem Black 70mm
ITM Headset Spacer Carbon 1 1/8" 10mm
Selle Italia X1 Man Saddle Black (going to replace this with the Charge saddle on my current bike, its comfy)
CSN Carbon S.E. Seatpillar 31.6 400mm
ITM Cork Embossed Handlebar Tape Blue
Shimano Clipless Spd A520 Pedals
Total Price inc Pedals: £939.40

Felt F85

Felt Road Superlight Custom Butted 7005 aluminum, CNC threaded shell, DT cable routing, forged aluminum dropouts & forged replaceable rear derailleur hanger
Felt Road UHC Performance fork; 100% Carbon Fiber blades w/ aluminum ControlTaper 1.125" - 1.5" steerer tube,
Stem: Felt SL 3D forged 6061 aluminum w/custom Cr-Mo bolts
Handlebar: Felt VS, 6061 aluminum, ergonomic
Felt Gel Tape w/ Felt Logos
Bar Ends:
Felt Bubble-Tech "F Wing" Icon End Plugs
Shifters: Shimano Tiagra STI
Front Derailleur: Shimano Tiagra Ø34.9mm clamp-on
Rear Derailleur: Shimano Tiagra
FSA Chainset 50/34T
SunRace, cassette 11-28T
Shimano Tiagra STI
Felt slick brake & derailleur housing
Saddle: Felt SL, injection molded base w/ polyurethane multi-density foam & steel rails (Will replace with Charge)
Seat Post: Felt SL 6061 aluminum, Ø27.2mm
Mavic CXP 22
Vittoria Zaffiro Slick, 700c x 23c (would probably replace these too)
Price £800 would need to add pedals to this so add ~£30 to this.
Also not particular keen on having a compact as i feel for the way i cycle the gear ratio is not quite right, so would need to see if i can change this for a double.

So really any opinions \ advice \ help would be most appreciated.

(please be gentle with me as this is my first time )

dmclite-3.0

I would go for the felt, although alloy, the frame will be better suited to your needs. I have an F4 and love it.

cearonoflynn

Thank you, must amend the above in as much as having recalculated the gear ratio the compact on the Felt is much better than i was originally thinking.
Tie into this the LBS isnt going to charge the £65 admin fee that ribble will and the F85 is looking more attractive....

smoggysteve

dmclite-3.0 wrote:

I would go for the felt, although alloy, the frame will be better suited to your needs. I have an F4 and love it.

+1

Would make more sense as far as overall spec. Don't get seduced into buying a carbon frame just for the sake of it. Not all carbon frames are created equal and some alu frames at this price bracket are just as good if not better.

bobones

The Felt F85 is a superb bike, especially at the price asked. The frame in particular is of a very high quality, with smooth welds, tapered head tube and fantastic paintwork. The fact that it has a traditional threaded BB shell, and not the problematic BB30 is also a boon. Shimano Tiagra 10 speed is good stuff, and the rest of the Felt finishing kit is of a high quality. The Mavic CXP22 wheels are attractive enough and ride well, but they're on the heavy side and the hubs used are pretty cheap stuff: fine for winter, training or commuting. There's plenty of scope to lose weight on the wheels and again with the chainset and square taper BB, although I wouldn't rush into replacing/upgrading anything until it's worn.

cearonoflynn

Thanks for the advice guys really appreciated. Useful stuff that helped me make up my mind.... now got to wait for the cyclescheme certificate to come through and for the Felt F85 to arrive at the shop... I wonder which one turn up first.