Felt AR3 maybe?

jpower

My first road bike Spec Roubaix Sport has served me well, but too much net browsing has finally killed me and I want to change up, would be nice if I could keep the Spec but that ain't happening in my house.

I'm no pro and racing is way past me, however extremely active on the bike, swim, gym take part in sportive rides and group rides with my local club and the odd sprint tri.

Mainly I want something to stop me looking at even more bikes thinking I want to change, gladly 4,5,6k bikes are wasted on me, so I was looking towards 2k price bracket, planning to use bike2work scheme to fund the purchase and the sale of my spec.

Was quite loving the Canyon aeroad but out of budget, came across the Felt AR range, the AR5 jumped out due to price, but then I have 105's now and always keep wishing for Ultegra, so AR3 is appealing, not a fan of the orange bits, but last bike I had got ride of colours with some peel spray.

My only concern I guess is if this is okay for longer distance riding 80-130k and if there other options to consider? Any info on the AR or something else in that kind of price range much appreciated.

jpower

After a good read on 105 vs Ultegra am siding towards the AR5 (prefer the paintwork) and with saved funds getting a set of carbon clinchers wheels from wheelsmiths. Now the fear is that I have to ride this in winter too, looks to nice.

jpower

Any alternatives to consider?

ptlk66

Go for it.....I have the Felt AR FRD with Wheelsmith rims....its a very agile and fast bike and more comfortable than my Trek Domane which I think is due to the wide Wheelsmith rims coupled to Michelin Pro 4 25's....the Michelin are known to come up large at near 28s...for winter riding beware you will not get a mudguard on it. Also note Wheelsmith tyres pressures are circa 75 front/80 rear.

jpower

Good to hear, U use Pro 4 25's myself, wasn't sure if it was going to fit the narrow track, never use mudguards anyway.

Know the issue I'm left with is size. At 5'7 felt size matrix says 51 or 54, i like the sounds of getting the 51, smaller giving more control to myself, but i fear the 51 might put into a very low position not ideal for longer rides for me, 54 I think would allow for higher positions. Any thoughts on sizing? (If it was for tri and flats I would be 51 all the way, but in the chilterns we have hills)

Garry H

What about the electronic version? The Felt AR5E










Sorry

jpower

Ha ha, for a second I was think I never saw that, censored did I miss it, then the lightbulb turned on :-)

AR5 51cm ordered. To my shock I found out I was closer to 5'6 then 5'7 and I thought I was short before, only benefit was it made picking the size easy.

Wheels tomorrow.