# Felt Z85 Or Specialized Allez Elite



## trev2 (24 Feb 2010)

Hi buying my first road bike after riding Boardman Hybrid.
Any body ridden both or with any views?
Felt Z85 got a good review in Cycling Active recently.
Trev


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## colinr (24 Feb 2010)

Felt, because it looks great and the Allez in that red is ugly as hell. I very nearly made the exact same decision but got something completely different second hand at the last minute.

They're very similar on paper and for that money you can't really get a bad bike, so the more sensible answer is to ride them both and see what suits you best. Though finding anywhere near me that stocked Felts proved difficult.


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## trev2 (24 Feb 2010)

Colinr i keep looking at going down the second hand route but just a bit wary!What bike did you end up with?


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## colinr (24 Feb 2010)

I got an Orbea Gavia, same groupset (tiagra / 105 mix) as both the bikes you're looking at. Honestly, I mainly bought it because I liked how it looked 

Plus it was local and the guy selling it was my height/build so I was pretty confident it would fit me.


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## andyfromotley (24 Feb 2010)

i started of with a spesh allez about 5 years ago, never regretted it.


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## Maz (25 Feb 2010)

I've got the Allez Elite. It was/is my first road bike. I can't fault it.


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## Sh4rkyBloke (25 Feb 2010)

I too have the Allez Elite. I've only ever had one road bike prior to that and it was the basic Allez... seems fine for me, but I have nothing really to compare it with.


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## fossyant (25 Feb 2010)

I've seen Sh4rky's Allez and it's very nice. Certainly very smart.....


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## Sh4rkyBloke (26 Feb 2010)

fossyant said:


> I've seen Sh4rky's Allez and it's very nice. *Certainly very smart*.....


Me or the bike? Oh... okay...


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## trev2 (26 Feb 2010)

Just been to look at the Orbea Aqua TTG CT.Very nice anybody ride one of these?


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## colinr (26 Feb 2010)

I like the look of Orbea but I'm told they're often specced a bit lower than similarly priced equivalents (in this case all Tiagra instead of Tiagra/105 mix). Me, I wouldn't notice the difference.

Don't know what size you are, but if you can find a 2009 Cube Attempt they're similar looking to the Felt and Orbea and well specced: http://www.winstanleysbikes.co.uk/product/21207/Cube_Attempt_Bike_2009.

Have you considered the Boardman Road Bikes? They're also very well regarded. The most important thing is how cool it looks and that was the sole reason I didn't get the Allez, I just don't like the red at all


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## DannO (26 Feb 2010)

Allez all the way


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## shippers (27 Feb 2010)

I'm looking at replacing my giant defy 4, but I really can't see anything that significantly better about any bike until you get up to about £650 from £475... do the upgraded groups sets make any realistic difference? Saving 100 grams here and there isn't going to make a lot of difference when I weight 100kgs!


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## matt.cartwright7 (2 Mar 2010)

*Felt Z85 v Spec Allez Elite v Scott Speedster S30*

Hi,

I am looking at these bikes as they are options on my cycle to work scheme and are at the right price point for my first road bike. I am going to sort out a test ride of these at my local evans cycles ASAP but some advice would be much appreciated.

They are all pretty similar in spec (almost identical) and if I am being honest I like the look of the *felt* best of the 3 BUT they come with Alex R500 rims as standard and from looking at various reviews of these bikes there seems to be an issue with these rims (or alex rims in general!). Some situation with continually breaking spokes. These rims are on Felt hubs (if it makes any difference to being on other hubs) and to be honest it is the only thing I am dubious about as I dont fancy forking out straight away on new rims if the standard ones are naff and break easily. Does anyone know if this is a known issue?

The *Scott* is spec'd well for the price and has tiagra groupset throughout (as do the other bikes) but the scott has a 105 rear derailleur (bonus!) and Alex race 28 rims (possible downside?!).

My head says go for the *allez *but for looks I cant help but like the felt and scott. I'll ride them soon but as I say, anyone with any advice would be great!

Thanks,

Matt


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## trev2 (4 Mar 2010)

I had alook at the Felt Z85 but did not like the chicken levers that i think come as standard.In the end went for Orbea Aqua TTG CT with a choice of 4 colours,Double or Compact chain ring and the forks cut to a height to fit me i felt alot more in control of the build.Also the only bike to come with pedals LOOK KEO EASY.


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## colinr (4 Mar 2010)

Now we need pictures


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## Rob3rt (4 Mar 2010)

Im guessing your budget is about £800-1k?

I heard the Scott speedsters werent all that good, but I never seen one or rode one and cant remember the source of this "opinion". So dont go by that comment, ride one.

I'd look at Trek's in that price range, they give good bang for your buck. Or look at the Boardman range, they do a very nice aluminium framed bike for £800. The Allez is clearly a very nice bike but I personally think they look ugly, the curved top tube is grim. If you can up budget to 1k you could look at the Cannondales or the Trek 2.1, or the equivalent Specialized, giant or even a Planet X carbon bike or the Carbon version of the boardman bike I mentioned above.

If you really like the Felt, get it (If you love the look of your bike you will want to ride it more), and then change the wheels if you have issues? £200 should get you a nice set of wheels some point in the future and thats probly one of the 1st upgrades you would want to make to a bike anyway.

Ride before you buy.


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## mossy (4 Mar 2010)

Nt an aqua but have an Orbea.Very underated bike.as you would expect from their heritge they are good on hills.


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## Hutch 75 (6 Mar 2010)

trev2 said:


> I had alook at the Felt Z85 but did not like the chicken levers that i think come as standard.In the end went for Orbea Aqua TTG CT with a choice of 4 colours,Double or Compact chain ring and the forks cut to a height to fit me i felt alot more in control of the build.Also the only bike to come with pedals LOOK KEO EASY.


I,m also looking at the 2 same bikes, how do you find the Orbea, be interested to know what it's like.


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## matt.cartwright7 (7 Mar 2010)

What are chicken levers?!?!?!

As for the trek and boardmans they are not an option as the shop doing our C2W scheme dont stock them. I tried the giant and allez and although they both felt good I am not a fan of the curved top tube on the allez and the giant was a little 'uninspiring'. Have been trying to find a felt anywhere to test ride them but not many places stock them and evans wont have any in stock til mid April (after the closing date of my C2W scheme!)

I figure I like the look of the felt, the 50cm giant and sized allez fitted my midget stature fine so going for the 51cm felt (smallest one they do and geomoetry looks very similar to the giant and allez I tried).


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