I'm really new to road biking, I have ridden for a couple years now on an old bike to see if I liked it. Now I have decided to get a nice bike to use for commuting and possibly racing. I went to the local bicycle shops and have it down to 2 choices. One carries Felt and the other Specialized. They both said they can get me and "Entry Level Racer" for around $650 - $700, which is my price range. I have tried to look at both compaies and they both seem to be good bikes. Any comments on one vs. the other? With either bike I will be getting a helmet, shoes, pedals, shorts/shirt/gloves, and probably a rack for the back since I will be using the bike to ride to school (about 6 miles each way). I really don't know much at all so any advice would help.

Thanks,
Jarrett.

I almost bought a Felt F60, but I ended up getting a Cannondale because of the American made frame and better components. With Specialized I think the top tube is at a greater slant than horizontal. It really depends on what feels most comfortable for you. Ask your LBS to fit you too, change out the stem, stuff like that. If you buy all your gear from them WITH the bike, you should ask for a discount on the stuff. Usually they'll give you 10-15% off the gear with purchase of a bike.

I haven't tried any specialized road bikes, but I've had my Felt F90 for about 3 months now. For the price I paid for it (570) I'm really impressed. The only issues I had with the bike was the shop not setting it up right. Anyhow, I thought it rode smoother and more comfortably than the Giant OCR3 that I tried.

ive said it once and ill say it again, once you know your fit stats, i would rather go to craigslist to hunt for bikes.why? because you can possibly score on a better deal over ther, especially with your future thought to go racing

Both bikes are probably made in Taiwan. The question is how much attention is given to the construction of the bike. I had a Felt F55 and the fork broke when I was on a training ride. I crashed and three days later was out of the hospital with over 70 stitches and a severe concusion. I now ride a Specialized Tarmac. I am an big 200 lb. aggressive rider. I felt it was my duty to inform you of my experience with Felt's construction quality. I assume your looking into the aluminum frames that Specialized offers given the price range you mentioned. If your only going to spend that much I would get a Trek 1500. It is the only bike at that level thats made in the US rather than by some Taiwanese framebuilder selling bulk to companies like Felt that throw great looking bikes together and put good groupsets together and then sell the bike dirt cheap. Now I understand why you can get a F55 for like $1500. Because you are really only paying for the DA and FSA parts hung on a really shotty frame.
If I sound angry with Felt thats because I am and I am up because I can't sleep due to headaches from the crash............that was a great post to vent on.........Thanks!

I agree with omniviper. If you intend to get into racing or even just more serious recreational rides, it might be a good idea to find a used ride that would be out of your range if it were new but a deal on ebay or craigs or even the rbr classifieds.

That sucks that you had such a bad experience with your Felt frame. I've been riding an F80 for over a year. This was my entry-level road bike. I've put over a thousand miles on the bike with no frame problems whatsoever. Maybe you got a bad batch, but I'm very happy with the Felt - at least at the price point I paid for it.

I ride an F55, weigh around 175-185 depending on the season, am very aggressive, and have had no problems and personally love the bike. Sounds like it could have been a fork that was damaged before you got it or had a flaw in the carbon. I have about 600 miles on my Felt now and so far have no complaints whatsoever. Construction is sound, rides smooth, little bit soft/flex but I like it that way, sprints easily and smoothly and is fast, and have crashed once on it (little five year old pulled out in front of me so I decided to ditch literally into a ditch rather than hit him, ouch). I have never heard of any other Felt forks breaking and I hang around the LBS quite often that sold it to me. I personally recommend the Felt bike line as far as my experience with them goes.

As far as Speciliazed goes, my wife rides a carbon Roubaix and has a lot of miles on it with no problems either. She loves it and has crashed several times and the bike has remained sound except for a couple of minor scratches. She loves it and tells all her female friends about how good it is.

Personally, I don't think you can go wrong with either brand if it fits well. Good luck.

Both bikes are probably made in Taiwan. The question is how much attention is given to the construction of the bike. I had a Felt F55 and the fork broke when I was on a training ride. I crashed and three days later was out of the hospital with over 70 stitches and a severe concusion. I now ride a Specialized Tarmac. I am an big 200 lb. aggressive rider. I felt it was my duty to inform you of my experience with Felt's construction quality. I assume your looking into the aluminum frames that Specialized offers given the price range you mentioned. If your only going to spend that much I would get a Trek 1500. It is the only bike at that level thats made in the US rather than by some Taiwanese framebuilder selling bulk to companies like Felt that throw great looking bikes together and put good groupsets together and then sell the bike dirt cheap. Now I understand why you can get a F55 for like $1500. Because you are really only paying for the DA and FSA parts hung on a really shotty frame.
If I sound angry with Felt thats because I am and I am up because I can't sleep due to headaches from the crash............that was a great post to vent on.........Thanks!


But, if a Trek or Cannondale is what you ride it probably has a Taiwan carbon fork on it. And at this point, Taiwan is putting out some darn good frames so I wouldn't automatically assume they are shotty. But, I don't want to start another Taiwan vs. U.S. vs. Italy thread so please, don't think of this as an act of war. I'm just saying find out where your fork comes from. I have a feeling it was pressed in Asia.

Also, man sorry about the crash. That truely is the crapper and I hope to heck the same thing never happens to me. Good luck in getting over the headaches.

shwillsy, how exactly did the fork break? I just got a Felt F80, so I am worried... 200 mi. so far with no problems, however.

i have a 2004 felt f60. i like it a lot. it has between 1500-2000 miles on it and i have no complaints other then problems with the front derailleur. its a shimano 105 and sometimes it drops the chain. i have had it adjusted by multiple bike shops multiple times. anyway aside from that i really like my bike. its been crashed once and the frame is fine. so is the fork

My friend has a FC2.

He's done extensive research and figured that this is the best bang for the buck where it was comparable to Trek and other major brands costing much more.

I've been riding on Specialized bikes since 2002 and their prices are very reasonable compared to other brands they don't mix components you get the entire Shimano 105, Ultegra, or Dura Ace package upon the model you choose. Many manufacturers like Felt mix different brake sets & cranksets where I prefer to get the same entire group.

I've owned a 02' E5 SLX comp with over 8K miles and zero problems and this season I picked up a leftover 03' E5 S-Works and have logged a little over 3K miles with zero complaints. I recomend before you shell out any cash you go to your LBS and try both bikes and possibly a few others in the same price range before you make any decision based on other riders. Also check and see what type of warranty they offer and get information about the companies customer service again, I've heard very good reviews on Specialized but like I'm biased towards Specialized, as you can see by the attached image.

I've been riding on Specialized bikes since 2002 and their prices are very reasonable compared to other brands they don't mix components you get the entire Shimano 105, Ultegra, or Dura Ace package upon the model you choose. Many manufacturers like Felt mix different brake sets & cranksets where I prefer to get the same entire group.



Not true, my 03 Specialized Allez Elite did not come with a full 105 package. It was mostly 105 but the cranks were Specialized house brand and the brakes were generic maybe Teckno(spelling?). My buddy's 05 Specialized Allez Sport came with mostly Tiagra components except for a 105 rear derailleur, Specialized cranks and generic/Teckno brakes.

Even so, I think the Specialized makes a great bike and I wouldn?t think twice about recommend them to anyone looking to get into the sport.

BTW, sweet ride you got there.

it is really strange to see how people will label bikes as bad or good based on brand name; even if they come from the same factories - which exactly the same level of quality

same goes for forks; most of which used to be made in Taiwan - but now many have moved to China [so your fork is no good if it says Felt - but would be great if it is Reynolds from the same factory -- just plain silly]

I can not wait to see all the uninformed comments about a dozen brands of carbon frames coming from the same factory in China next year -- and all the advertising to explain way you should love one and hate the others


I cannt decide if its funny or sad actually

Nevermind. Should've read the whole thing first.