Felt Z75 (turning a fatty to a racebike)

JesseD

Thought I would post my bike in winter guise (minus lights), bought this last year to train on with the intention of buying a new bike this year to race on, however the boss/accountant/fiancé decided that I couldn’t afford to buy a new bike as we have a wedding to pay for so I changed my plans and have decided to upgrade this on a very strict budget and race on it instead!

I weighed the bike this morning and was shocked at actually how heavy it is at 9.61kg (including pedals and pump) :shock: , so this will change over the next couple of weeks as I upgrade bits and bobs to make it more suitable to race, I also need to chop the steerer tube down as my position is now dialled in and I am very happy with it!

The main issues I have with the bike is that it seems very flexy under power, this may be the wheelset/tyres/tubes/bars/stem etc so these will be changed out, the drive chain was worn so I have already replaced most of it with just the rear mech to go, this will be very much a budget racer!

The bike is about to go on a small diet but with an eye on improving stiffness where I can.

Spec is below

Frame: Felt Z75 Aluminium (56cm)
Forks: Felt Endurance Road UHC tapered carbon fork
Bars: FSA Wing Pro Compact (44cm)
Stem: Pro PLT 110mm
Headset: Felt Integrated
Bar Tape: Bontrager Cork Tape

Shifters: Shimano 105 5800
Callipers: Shimano 105 5800

Cables: Shimano Steel
Front Mech: Shimano 105 5800
Rear Mech: Shimano 105 5800 Medium cage

Seat: Fizik Arione R5 Black
Seat Post: Felt Endurance Road Carbon Post

Cranks: Shimano 105 5800 50/34 172.5
Chain: Shimano 105 5800
Cassette: Shimano 105 5800 12-28
Pedals: Shimano 6700 Ultegra
BB: Shimano 105 5800

Front Wheel: Felt RSL3
Rear Wheel: Shimano RS11
Tubes: Continental
Tyres: Schwalbe Durano 25mm
Accessories: BBB Speed Cage x 2

Weight: 9.61kg

step83

Think youll need to get the scales out (not the accountants kitchen ones) an start weighing bits. Flex wise best bet is going to be getting a friend to watch you get the power down see where its flexing.

Looks good either way though, wouldnt get super hung up on the weight only so much youll be able to loose on it before it gets expensive. That said new wheels are always nice

JesseD

I think the main area is the wheels flexing, especially the front which despite having 32 spokes seems to flex easily under pressure with a lot of lateral movement (by hand I can get it to deflect side to side by around 5-10mm), I was looking at a set of Handbuilts from the Cycle Clinic and at some point I will get some, but to keep costs down I have bought a set of Fulcrum Racing Quattros with the wider rim for £160 which will be delivered this week, they aren't super light at around 1750-1800g but will be considerably lighter than the wheels on it already and from talking to club mates and reading reviews, they are stiff!

I have also bought some Zipp alu bars and a Zipp stem, will they be stiffer, probably not but my old bars were too wide fro me and I liked the drop/shape of the Zipps so bought them, plus I got them cheap.

At the end of the day its a cheap aluminium bike and was never designed to be raced (like a CAAD10 etc is), it will do me to race on this year (I hope) and once the wedding is out of the way I am going to put my foot down and buy something really nice (unless the boss says I cant in which case I will sulk for a bit and end up buying some curtains or wotnot for the house)

step83

Was going to suggest if you hadnt got a wheelset see about getting the existing ones re tensioned they sound a bit loose. I picked up a cheap set from Superstar about 1500g for £100 needed some tensioning but for the money I cant complain.

Bar wise I like the shape of Zipps, If I hadnt got the Dedas on mine id be after a set. You right, its an alu bike but doesnt mean it cant be a good bike. Few tweaks should see it closer to 9Kg. After that its going to start getting harder to shed weight.

JesseD

Did think about that but the front wheel is knackered now and almost ready for the bin, its done lots of miles and the barking surface is worn badly, the back is fairly new so I am just going to buy a front RS11 to match for about £50 and chuck it on there as a training wheel and then the Fulcrums can go on the new bike as training wheels.

I think 8.5kg – 9kg is realistic for an alu 56cm bike without spending lots of cash, what’s more important to me is it being stiffer and fit for purpose.

The Zipps arrived last week, so I am just awaiting new bar tape and they will be going on the bike over the weekend if I find time as I have a road race on Friday and a crit on Sunday.

Once all built I will weigh it and see what the diet has done 

IrishMac

Seems like a lot of messing to me tbh. Upgrading piece by piece is expensive in the long run...

I'd be selling that and buying something like this http://www.wiggle.co.uk/felt-f75-2016/ or a ribble/planet x/dolan/etc

JesseD

Spent around £300 in total on wheels, tyres, bars, stem etc so a lot cheaper than buying a new bike in the grand scheme of things.

I am not keen on buying a complete bike as I would end up replacing the saddle, bars etc to ones i prefer, and the wheels on factory built bike are always the place where they scrimp to save money!

Made the changes last week to the felt and it lost 600g which is not a lot but what has changed is how the bike feels, the wheels are much stiffer than the stock ones they replaced and I really prefer the slightly narrower bars!

Took me to a 3rd place in yesterday's crit which I am really happy with considering I moved up a division this year

IrishMac

JesseD wrote:

Spent around £300 in total on wheels, tyres, bars, stem etc so a lot cheaper than buying a new bike in the grand scheme of things.

I am not keen on buying a complete bike as I would end up replacing the saddle, bars etc to ones i prefer, and the wheels on factory built bike are always the place where they scrimp to save money!

Made the changes last week to the felt and it lost 600g which is not a lot but what has changed is how the bike feels, the wheels are much stiffer than the stock ones they replaced and I really prefer the slightly narrower bars!

Took me to a 3rd place in yesterday's crit which I am really happy with considering I moved up a division this year

Fair enough.

Nice one on the third place 8)

JesseD

Cheers IrishMac, enjoyed the race, bike still feels s little soft but that's the frame flexing, new bike next year will sort that!!!

JesseD

Next race tomorrow so have stripped the bike down and changed a couple of the parts so I could give it a shake down and get it dialled in.

Swapped the bars to Zipp SC 80’s and went narrower at 40cm instead of 44’s I had before, the Zipps come up wide though so are more like 42’s, I also changed to a Zipp SC stem to match, added some Supacaz bartape, new Jagwire cables, new Fabric Saddle (been testing one for a couple of weeks and can’t believe how much more comfortable this is for my behind than the Arione. Wheels are the wider Fulcrum Racing Quattro LG’s, they are stiff and ok they aren’t the lightest but they can handle a corner at speed as do not flex when sprinting  8)







Full spec as per the rules:

Frame: Felt Z75 Aluminium (56cm)
Forks: Felt Endurance Road UHC tapered carbon fork
Bars: Zipp Service Course 80 (40cm)
Stem: Zipp Service Course (110mm)
Headset: Felt Integrated
Bar Tape: Supacaz Neon Blue/Black

Shifters: Shimano 105 5800
Calipers: Shimano 105 5800

Cables: Jagwire Road Pro (Black)
Front Mech: Shimano 105 5800
Rear Mech: Shimano 105 5800

Seat: Fabric Scoop Elite
Seat Post: Felt Endurance Road Carbon Post

Cranks: Shimano 105 5800
Chainrings: Shimano 105 5800 50/34
Chain: Shimano 105 5800
Cassette: Shimano 105 5800 12-25
Pedals: Shimano 6700 Ultegra
BB: Shimano 105 5800

Wheelset: Fulcrum Racing Quattro LG 2016
Tubes: Continental
Tyres: Schwable Durano Black 25c

Accessories: BBB Speed Cage x 2

Weight: TBC - will weigh it when I get a chance

Other info: Garmin 510 + sensors and a BBB alloy speed cage.

term1te

That's a nice looking bike, good colour coordination, and some nice photos too. Good luck in your race tomorrow.