If you read this message board at all you'll know what a proponent of Felt I am. After all, they pay my mortgage. The F45, like all of their bikes, is an incredible value, and the wheel spec on that bike is about as bombproof as you can get. You get the Dura Ace derailleur, and their premium "AC1" 2.8 pound frame to boot.

That said;

The TCR Composite is a really sweet bike. Giant has been able to put together quite an impressive frameset, and to get a complete bike for only $2000 is quite incredible. I don't want to go completely [i]Demerly[/i] on you here, but you need to take a look at the fit of the Giant.

Once fit, if you need a 50,54,58, or 60cm Felt, I'd go that route.

If a 52cm Felt fits, then a "S" Giant should be made to as well, and if a 56cm Felt fits, then a "M" Giant will likely. Given those options, I'd have a hard time not choosing the TCR if I were in your shoes. Get fit, it may help your decision.

In my case, I fit on Felt's 60cm bikes right out of the box, no stem swap, no adjusting the stem height, just put the 250mm SM-1 seatpost at the max height line and I'm dialed. I did swap out the specced 175 cranks for some 172.5s but that is my quirky preference. When I raced on a team supported by Giant, I used a "L" frame with a 135mm stem with 10 degrees of rise. The top tube was too short in proportion to their head tube height for me. Felt fits my body size better, and I hope it does yours as well.

Good Luck with this tough decision.

-SD

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https://www.kickstarter.com/...bike-for-the-new-era

I have never ridden a felt except around a transition area so I can not and should not comment on Felts.
I do own a Giant TCR composite frame. That bike ride so so smooooth. It handles rather well. It is freakin light, handles bumps well. I find that I seem a bit twitchier on it. Could be due to the fact that right now I've ridden outside 2x since Dec 1 due to moving.
All in all I give it 2 thmbs up and a big smile.

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Brian Stover USAT LII
Accelerate3 Coaching
Insta

Having never seen desert dude on his bike, the twitchy handling of the Giant can be de to its ultra-low weight and compact rear end. If you ride it forward (Thomson post, seat all the way forward) the rear end will be choppy. The super short chainstays and stiff compact rear end can keep the rear end bouncing like a ping pong ball. They can be stable, but your posture on the bike needs to be addressed. Again I'd look at the fit on the frame first.

Ok, I'm done.

-SD

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https://www.kickstarter.com/...bike-for-the-new-era

It seems that you may be able to get a better end of year deal on the F45. I went to help a buddy get a bike, and he was torn between the C'dale R1000 for 1359, or the Felt F45 for 1629 at the local supergo. Ended up getting the R1000. I rode both and can attest to how nice the felt is. The decision ended up going to the c'dale because this was a first bike purchase, and if you can save some $, then it helps with buying other accessories.

SuperDave,

Which bike do you think would be a better candidate for a conversion to a tri-bike by adding aero bars to it if I wanted to go down this road in the future? Or would this be a bad idea in general?

Thanks again.