If you're looking for an aero, alu bike - consider the Felt AR15 and the Giant Propel SLR for two more options.

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ZONE3 - We Last Longer

I've had the Specialized for about a year now. Race on it all the time. Good solid frameset. No complaints at all.


I didn't like the color so I repainted it myself with a spray can. Great thing about a low end AL frame is you pretty much don't care much about it so you can do what you want to/with it

Cannondale CAAD 10 (used) or 12 (used or new). If you can find the Black Inc model, even better.

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Just to clarify, you have the DSW SL Sprint frameset, not the regular Allez?

The colors are not great, especially if you buy the frameset only. I was leaning toward buying the cheapest complete bike (only $200 more than the frameset anyway) and selling all the parts except the frame (I would probably come out ahead, I should be able to get at least $200 for a full Tiagra build including wheelset).

See that't the thing, this is not low end Al. From what I see on the market this is basically a top of the line Al frame. Everything is all carbon now, nobody is really building much in Al, but this really is a high performance frame as far as I see it, just not made with a sexy material. I'm an engineer, so I'm all about max performance at the most reasonable cost and F sexy.

Yes I have the AL frameset.

I didn't mean to imply it's low end performance wise just cost wise. I never feel like I'm at a disadvantage riding it against guys on carbon frames

Is there even a way to acquire one of those in the states?

Good question, I'm not in the States so I've no idea. Local Giant dealer lists them, but I know some markets like the Europeans don't get the SLR models. Weird as hell, Giant UK for example doesn't list the 29er MTB models either.

From the looks of things, the alloy Felt AR models were discontinued, too.

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ZONE3 - We Last Longer

I tried to have a Felt AR15 shipped from a couple different European sellers. No one would do it.

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"They're made of latex, not nitroglycerin"

Santa delivered one of these frames to me to December. I built it up with 9100, tririg front brake and DA C50 wheels. It's not a featherweight, but it is very stiff and with 25C tires @ 90psi, it's plenty comfy. I know it was designed as a crit bike, but the handling isn't nervous at all. The only weird thing about the bike is the internal cable routing is actually external around the bottom bracket requiring another length of cable housing for each derailleur cable. I'm really happy with the purchase. It's a great race bike, stiff, handles well and cheap enough that you won't cry if it gets wrecked. I was able to get the baby blue one with the metal flake. It's actually a really good looking bike.