I’m in the market for a new bike and I can’t spend much. $1500 is what I’m hoping to spend, although I’ll go a bit more and I’m hoping to find some sales and pay a bit less. The Felt S22 and the Cervelo Dual seem to be the two bikes in my price range. The Felt has Dura Ace components the Dual Ultegra. Assuming I can get a good fit on either of them, is there any advantage to paying a bit more for the Felt? One of the shops in town is having a sale on their Cervelos and the Dual is going for $1200 right now. Not sure I can beat that - if they have one in my size. Any thoughts? Any other bikes I should be considering? Thanks for any insight.
My 12 yo daughter gave me some advice this past weekend when I was signing up for PrarieMan 1/2 IM. She said “Dad, dump the Felt (I have a Felt S32) and get a Cervelo.”
According to her, she’s smarter than I am so maybe you should get the Cervelo.
Personally, I think the aerobar set up on the felt looks clumsy. But components are not as important as the frame and can always be changed. Personally, I just bought a Cervelo and absolutely love it. So I am pretty biased. I would go with the Cervelo because they have consistently been leaders in aero development, and I think that’s cool.
The Dual is an outstanding bike. It is more aerodynamic than many 5K bikes out there. Cervelo got all the details right. Felt also makes fine bikes but at 1200 bucks, you cannot beat the Dual.
On Sale at Cronometro in Madison. Got an email from them the other day. (I assume this is what you were referring to in your original post)
Dual Ultegra Silver 54cm was $1500 now $1200
Dual Ultegra Yellow 54cm was $1500 now $1200
Dual Ultegra Yellow 58cm was $1500 now $1200
Dual Ultegra Yellow 61cm was $1500 now $1200
Bought my Dual in 2004 and have considered “upgrading” to another bike but have been upgrading components (wheels, drive train… ) instead. I guess the really important question is which one fits you best?
I’ve been riding an S22 for the last couple of years and have been very happy with it. Sounds like they are close in $. How about the bike shops? Would you trust one to fit you over the other? I got a good fit on the S22 and haven’t had to adjust a thing since I left the shop. How about the shops reputations? If you’re not going to do all the maintanence yourself, how do the shops compare in terms of offering free tune-up, etc.?
That said, if I were to buy a bike today, I’d probably get a Dual. Main reason is that a new local bike shop opened up since my previous purchase. This is the shop I’d want to work with and they carry Cervelo, but not Felt.
This post reminds me of my first year on Slowtwitch where everyone post was
“FELT vs CERVELO”
I thought, I was getting ready to watch a boxing match!
BY the way there is nothing better than dropping a Felt with a disk on raceday! Too bad my engine does not have enough horses to get it done all of the time.