Felt Z85 2013 Upgrades

FeltZ85

Hi All,

I,m currently riding a Felt Z85 2013 which has done me well since I bought it but I was thinking about upgrading this year (have been looking at the new Scott CR1-10 that's coming out this year.)

The question is do I buy the new bike and sell my trusty Felt or do a few upgrades and stick with the Z85, I wonder if the upgrades might give me the extra performance and better looks I'm after and save me some cash?

Also what upgrades would you guys recommend

Any advice is welcome,

Cheers

dj58

Depends on how much you want a carbon fibre bike, or are you happy to stay with aluminium, how much are you prepared to pay on a "few upgrades"? Also what are the "better looks" you are after?

FeltZ85

Wouldn't bother me too much sticking with the aluminium considering the amount if money I would be saving. The wheels are the main thing looks wise, which would probably be the first thing to upgrade, maybe the brakes as well, they've always been a bit poor in the wet.

Would the carbon fibre Scott really give that much more performance over the aluminium bike with upgraded wheels ?

Sorry for so many questions just in a bit of a dither as to what to do!

kajjal

For most people having a well maintained bike that is setup to fit their riding style well gives a bigger performance boost than buying better wheels as does rider weight loss ( my next target once the frost goes)

If you fancy a new set of wheels go for it especially if it makes you want to ride more

The same is true for a new bike which can be better value for money than upgrades if you compare. The wife has banned me on both options

dj58

OP, like you I have an aluminium bike and have not ridden a plastic bike so I can't answer that question, they are supposed to be lighter, stiffer, more comfortable amongst other things. A lot of people on BR have made the switch from alu. to carbon and will be able to tell you what they think.

Wheel upgrades can be a minefield, if you use the search facility you will find lots of posts on the subject, factory vs handbuilt, type of use, weight of rider, low spoke vs high spoke, hubs, what's your budget.

If you feel that your brakes are not as good as they could/should be, then that would be a good place to start your upgrades, along with tyres and inner tubes.

FeltZ85

It is difficult to know, i'm gonna pop into my LBS over the weekend and get their advice on it, I'll more than likely upgrade some bits starting with the brakes and look into wheels etc and save up for a new bike next year, the wife seems to think theres more important things to buy than a new bike :?

I can always swap new wheels to a new bike as and when i get one anyway (at least how i'll justify buying an expensive pair of wheels to he wife anyway )

keef66

I have an alu bike which is now a dedicated wet weather bike, and a carbon CR1-SL for the dry.
(just because Westbrooks were selling off the framesets for £500 and I'd had a CR1 on my shortlist when I chose the alu bike initially, and I wanted to see what a carbon frame was like).
The carbon bike is undeniably lighter, and it does absorb more road buzz, but I still enjoy riding the alloy bike. 25mm tyres on both means the differences aren't that great.

My son's just bought a Felt F95 which feels quite buzzy, but that's possibly because he's insisting on sticking with the 23mm tyres it came with.