Ai_1 wrote:
Very expensive compared to the IA16 at $2999.
An additional $500 for the groupset incl brakes, cockpit, wheels and saddle.
The only thing the frame has going for it is if the fork steerer will come uncut as Dave suggested before - to allow use of conventional 3rd party stems rather than just the Felt Tri155 and the TriRig stems that fit the cut steerer. However the picture shows it with the steerer cut and the Felt stem installed which is confusing. The "Technical Specs" on the website has the stem listed as n/a and I see no mention of steerer length. Perhaps the picture is a bit misleading and it actually comes with a long steerer tube and no stem?
The additional $500 isn't well spent if you already have your own parts to swap onto the bike or you want to use this to "build your own" to exactly what you want. The parts supplied are functional but pretty low end and not in high demand on ebay, you could come out even or a little ahead but that would also be quite a lot of work and not worth the hassle for some of us. Really only makes sense to buy the built up bike if a significant part of the build is of use to you.
Not many manufacturers are offering framesets any more and usually the economics aren't great compared with built up bikes for most people, but for the minority that is very particular, it's very handy to have the frameset option available. Not for everyone but nice that Felt offers this option.