Felt F95 - any advice welcome
Discussion
Have decided after a day in the saddle doing road miles on an old jump bike with the saddle slung up high that I need a road bike.
Having had a look around I'm thinking about plumping for a Felt F95 from Merlin cycles downmarked from £650 - £429. Only thing is I don't know what size I should plump for (no felt stockists locally). so far I've tried the following and they all seem fine:
Giant Defy 3.5 - M was too cramped, M/L felt right (which according to their site measures up as a 53.5cm)
Specialized Allez - 54cm was too small 56 felt right
Trek 1.2 - 56cm felt right
Fuji Roubaix 1.0- 56cm felt right
Cannondale CAAD9 - 58cm felt pretty good.
So on the back of this, I though a 56cm would be just the ticket, but the Cannondale's now got me thinking perhaps otherwise. A major part of me is thinking fudge it, just get the 56cm and you'll be fine, but another nagging part of me is thinking I don't want to buy a bike and then find it doesn't fit.
Thoughts?
Having had a look around I'm thinking about plumping for a Felt F95 from Merlin cycles downmarked from £650 - £429. Only thing is I don't know what size I should plump for (no felt stockists locally). so far I've tried the following and they all seem fine:
Giant Defy 3.5 - M was too cramped, M/L felt right (which according to their site measures up as a 53.5cm)
Specialized Allez - 54cm was too small 56 felt right
Trek 1.2 - 56cm felt right
Fuji Roubaix 1.0- 56cm felt right
Cannondale CAAD9 - 58cm felt pretty good.
So on the back of this, I though a 56cm would be just the ticket, but the Cannondale's now got me thinking perhaps otherwise. A major part of me is thinking fudge it, just get the 56cm and you'll be fine, but another nagging part of me is thinking I don't want to buy a bike and then find it doesn't fit.
Thoughts?
Hi Mark, Im 6' 4 1/2 and have always plumped for smaller frames. My tt frame is a 21 inch!!!
I commute on a 56 allez, 20 miles and its lovely and comfy. The only thing I changed was to ditch the oem 52 big ring, and put in a 53, even so chasing a lorry on thursday last week I ran out of gears.. at around 41mph...
Nick
I commute on a 56 allez, 20 miles and its lovely and comfy. The only thing I changed was to ditch the oem 52 big ring, and put in a 53, even so chasing a lorry on thursday last week I ran out of gears.. at around 41mph...
Nick
I'm not gonna be there for somewhile yet. My 18 mile ride took me about 2 hours if you take out the breaks.Riding a bike is very much like making love to a beautiful... sorry off topic... 
The best way is to try them, then you know if it will click. I see you can't get to a dealer. Buying a bike you can test and missing out on one you cant is never a problem. You could keep on trying bikes and never buying one, to just try another...
Pick one you can test that you like and go from there. If you like it, it wont be the last one you buy, trust me. My current 'stable' is the allez for commuting, an italian with campag group for sunny sundays, and a pared down TT bike. Theres always room and the need for another bike.
According to my height, I should have gone for a 60 frame, but the 56 suits me better, plus I like small frames with a long seat post..
Nick
The best way is to try them, then you know if it will click. I see you can't get to a dealer. Buying a bike you can test and missing out on one you cant is never a problem. You could keep on trying bikes and never buying one, to just try another...
Pick one you can test that you like and go from there. If you like it, it wont be the last one you buy, trust me. My current 'stable' is the allez for commuting, an italian with campag group for sunny sundays, and a pared down TT bike. Theres always room and the need for another bike.
According to my height, I should have gone for a 60 frame, but the 56 suits me better, plus I like small frames with a long seat post..
Nick
Bear in mind that one company's size 56 might be smaller than another company's 54, as they are often measured differently. E.G. Some measure top tube, some measure seat tube, some measure stack and reach, etc. The only way is to compare your measurements with a diagram of their bike with accompanying geometries (usually in the description on their website).
you need to define how it doesnt fit, are you stretching your arms, thus the top tube is too long or is it the step over height and the problem being the seat tube.
for races, i turn the seat post round 180 and have it pitching me a bit closer to the front of the bike, this helps with aero bars as you can get into a better position but i also find it a bit comfier on longer rides on the hoods.
for races, i turn the seat post round 180 and have it pitching me a bit closer to the front of the bike, this helps with aero bars as you can get into a better position but i also find it a bit comfier on longer rides on the hoods.
Cheers for the advice on this one guys. As in doesn't fit on those frames mentioned, I was referring to how stretched or not I was on the bike. A little more digging has lead me to understand that effective top tube lenth is probably a more critical factor in working out from paper whether a frame is likey to fit and it seems that all those which I tried which fitted had an effective top tube length of approx 560mm
I'm gonna take a punt at the 56cm version. Will post pictures once it arrives.
I'm gonna take a punt at the 56cm version. Will post pictures once it arrives.
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