I’m looking at getting a Felt 60/65. rather than try to upgrade my low-end road bike, I thought I’d get a decent one.
the only difference in the two is the crank: double vs. triple (and that extra half pound that comes with the triple, according to their web site).
I live in Oregon right now, but will probably be moving to Los Alamos, NM in the next couple months. I’m 5’6" and just under 140 lbs, so I’m not exactly a pedal masher.
so, what do you guys think, double or triple? I’ve looked for literature about this and actually haven’t found much other than double for racing, triple for lots of hills. if someone could illuminate the subject in a little more detail, I’d appreciate it.
Get a compact double which will give you the range of the triple with the shifting of a double.
I have a triple on a road bike and I love it. But, the short chainstays of most triathlon bikes might make for poor shifting.
If you can’t get the bike with a stock compact just order it with the regular double, take it off when you get it, post it in the Classifieds, and get an aftermarket crank. Stronglight makes a great one for a little over a Franklin, but if you like carbon FSA makes an uber sexy one for a couple times that.
Good choice - Ultegra 10 and a Felt frame. Keep the stock double if you want to road race it, but go with a compact crank and a set of FSA shortie aerobars for tri racing.
The Stronglight comes in 50/36 or48/34. Just make sure your cassette has an 11 tooth cog.
Felt uses ISIS bottom brackets, and I think stronglight makes their cranks for a traditional square BB. so I suppose FSA’s cheap compact crank is the remaining option.
I don’t know much about compact cranks, so I guess it’s time to do some reading. thanks for the suggestions.
Compacts are basically the use of smaller chainrings, normally used with mid range/size cassettes (12-23 or 12-25). Popular sizes for compact rings are 50/36 or 50/34.
Rotor Cranks were designed with a small 114mm BCD, so both large, regular size chainrings (53/39) and compact chainrings (50/34-36) will fit the same crankset, allowing the rider to use various gear combinations.
e.g., at tomorrow’s Palomar TT I am running a 53/36 (not that I will use the 53), which is basically a compact inner with a regular size outer. Cool eh?
at tomorrow’s Palomar TT I am running a 53/36 (not that I will use the 53)
Doesn’t that create a gearing gap? I though compacts were designed to eliminate the gap.
I believe cassettes take care of the gearing gap, no? Compacts take care of the no-longer-a-boy, not-quite-a-man gap. Triples are for the super-hero’s of humanity.
Go with an FSA compact crank. FSA makes the BB problem so you will have no technical issues. Go with either the FSA Gossamer if you are really tight, but if you have an extra $25, the Energy is a much nicer crank. Anyway check out this link out http://www.sheldonbrown.com/gears/
Compare a 53/39 chainring double crankset with a 12-27 cassette, with a 52/42/30 with a 12-25 cassette, and 50/34 chainring compact crankset with an 11-23 cassette.
You can see that while the first 2 have an almost equivalent low gear in the 39 w/27 and 30 w/21 chainrings and cassettes the compact crank does the same without losing the big gear. Pretty cool.
Here we are with the typical answers around here. The choice is between a 53-39 double or a triple. Everyone, that is what the question asks. Gary, he doesn't want an over priced training device, he wants a new bicycle. The rest of you, he isn't asking about the latest gimmick to come down the pike, he has a choice on the standard features of the Felt bicycle. I'm surprised that the Cervelo zombies didn't chime in with "Get a Cervelo"
Fuzzy, you don't need a triple. The Felt comes with a 10 speed cassette, right. You can go with a 12-27 cassette if you feel the need and not have any real gaps. Remember, we were all riding 8 speed rears only recently, and some people are still competing well on 8's. The gaps in a 8spd 12-21 are about the same as a 10spd 12-27. The triple will only give you extra weight and a granny gear that you will probably never use.
yeah, I wondered about the gaps. the cassette that came with my 8 speed is actually 12-26. sounds like the gaps should be big, but I won’t know until I ride something better…no basis for comparison.
one reason the compact is attractive is because, frankly, I’m worried about my ability to climb steep hills on 39x23 (the stock cassette on the F65 is 10sp 11-23t). I’ve been getting a lot stronger lately, but to have 39x23 as the easiest option still seems pretty daunting. I know, I could just swap the cassette for a 12-25 or something, but cassettes are expensive and it’ll be about all I can do just to get the bike, even if I can get the shop to give me the compact cranks for nil or cheap.
The shop should be willing to exchange the cassette for you when they assemble the bicycle. That sould not be a problem, the cassette is the least expensive part of the drivetrain.
Sometimes it is so tempting to dream with other another person’s money.
Fuzzy,
If you’re short on cash get the stock double. Try to get the shop to swap the cassette - there’s no way you need an 11 with a standard crank. When you’ve spun out 53x12 it’s time to start coasting. The gaps on a 12-27 9spd aren’t very bad, so on a 10spd I doubt it’s any big deal.
Good choice - Ultegra 10 and a Felt frame. Keep the stock double if you want to road race it, but go with a compact crank and a set of FSA shortie aerobars for tri racing.
