Felt Bike Question

shuffles03

Hey all,

I live in Spain and I’m looking to get a bike for general fitness plus trails.

My brother showed me a second hand Felt bike today in our local bike shop.

It’s front suspension, carbon fiber frame with Shimano XT gears and brakes.

They’re selling it for €750 and new it was €2,200

Unfortunately that’s all I know (I’m new to the biking scene) and don’t know the exact model or year.

Does that sound like a good deal based on the spec?

My budget is around €1K and my brother said I’d be better off getting a second hand bike like the above than spending €1K on a new bike (as the second hand would be a far superior bike).

Any recommendations for alternatives or is the above the way to go?

I’m happy to spend more than €1K.

I looked at the Trek site but there’s so many options I don’t know where to start.

Tony04

That does sound good. What fork does it have? Does it have thru axles? Does it have a 1 x drive train?
Xt stuff is really good though.

Do you want to ride jumps? if so that bike is probably not the best for jumps. Where that felt would shine would be uphill as it is in xc bike.

If your buying a new xc bike the best value bike out there is the merida big nine limited, I was looking for a xc bike for around that price at the start of the year and that one was by far the best. Also vitus rapide is worth looking at aswell.

If you want something that would be better for jumps and stuff look at the radon cragger, virus sentier and the nukeproof scout.

Something in between would be the Grand Canyon.

All those bikes I mentioned are probably a little bit over 1000. But if I was buying new they'd be the 'cheapest' bikes I'd go for as they'd be specced with all the latest standards, so easier to replace/upgrade parts. Even at that so many bikes are out of stock at the moment.

You brothers right though at that price your much better off looking second hand, only downside with second hand is you dont get a warranty but the value you get easily makes up for that.

shuffles03

Cheers for the detailed response!

I don’t know about the axle etc etc but I’ll find out tomorrow and post the info here.

Not looking to do any jumps (well, not yet anyway).

I’m primarily using the bike as a form of fitness. I’ll be riding on roads and up nearby mountains and trails.

Haven’t cycled properly for about 15 years.

It has a couple of scratches (to be expected I suppose) and I also noticed that the screws on the handles were rusted.

Again, I don’t know if that has any bearing on it.

My brother and his friends are massively into road biking here and they swear by this store - they say the guys are really decent, genuine and offer great after service too.

Part of me wants a new bike (silly I know). I was telling my brother that I get that €750 is not expensive in the bike world but as a non biker, a new bike for that price or above would be great.

But then he hushed me and said the spec on this was great 😂

Tony04

Yeh it does sound like a good deal. A carbon hardtail with xt would cost 2000 new easily.

If you were getting new youd have to go with an aluminium bike. The carbon bike would be a little lighter so it would be a little faster, and if your brother rides road I can see how he likes it. The advantage of aluminum is the cost and it's a bit more durable to collisions, I always would go with aluminium for mtbs.

Is a shiny new bike a motivator? Or would you be less protective of a used bikes and get more use out of it?

The used bike is going to be serviced and should feel new, only downside it probably doesnt have warranty, but usally manufacturing faults shouldn't be an issue with older bikes.

Budget wise for a new bike youd be talking about 1300ish. Bikes for 800 or so are grand bikes but they do have some compromises such as thru axle vs quick release and a load of other things I wont confuse with. When I bought my first mountain bike I bought a cheaper one thinking I'd never really use it much but i regret it now as because it was cheaper the parts weren't really capable and were diffucult to upgrade.

What brands does your local bike shop stock?

shuffles03

They sell mostly Trek and Specialized.

They don’t have many used bikes that’s why, when my brother saw this today he brought me around straight away.

Where we live: Javea/Dénia, cycling is massive - a lot of pro teams train here daily.

The general consensus is that a used bike that crops up is usually high specc’d based on the caliber of local riders

Tony04

Yeh that bike does sound good but I'd have to see the spec list just to see how good it really is.

Over here your usally made buy new as the used market is a bit of a lucky dip

Those two brand are probably two of the most expensive in terms of what you get.

Specialized chisel would be a nice bike though if you could get it on a discount, if you were to buy new from them.

shuffles03

Bought the bike.

€875 all in which included a helmet, water bottle, under saddle bag with a tube & C02 bottle as well as a pair of flat pedals

mad turnip

Looks like from the picture to be in some great condition and with XT drivechain. For sure a good deal if theres no issues.

shuffles03

mad turnip wrote: »

Looks like from the picture to be in some great condition and with XT drivechain. For sure a good deal if theres no issues.

Cheers! Yep, plus if there are any issues my brother and his friends know the guys in the bike shop really well so all should be good

Tony04

Looks like a 2014 felt nine 5, yes my curiosity got the better of me and I had to do 5 minutes googling.

Seems like the owner upgraded some parts on it so must have been well looked after. Nice.

shuffles03

Tony04 wrote: »

Looks like a 2014 felt nine 5, yes my curiosity got the better of me and I had to do 5 minutes googling.

Seems like the owner upgraded some parts on it so must have been well looked after. Nice.

Was it a good price for a 2014 bike?

mad turnip

I'd consider it a fair price with the helmet, pedals and all the other bits maybe a tad on the higher side but if its coming from a shop thats to be somewhat expected. Since its an XC bike its geometry seems decent for 2014. Everything on the bike has been upgraded which indicates its been well looked after.

Tony04

Yeh considering the bikes seen about 500€ in upgrades, the bike is fully serviced so should work like new and you got extras. Carbon frames dont degrade, and acctually id be more suspicious of a newer one used as it could of been crashed, rather than upgraded. Only downside is that you dont get a warranty but that shouldn't really be an issue.

I've even bought 20 year old bike parts unknowingly that work perfectly fine.

fatbhoy

Tony04 wrote: »

Yeh considering the bikes seen about 500€ in upgrades, the bike is fully serviced so should work like new and you got extras. Carbon frames dont degrade, and acctually id be more suspicious of a newer one used as it could of been crashed, rather than upgraded. Only downside is that you dont get a warranty but that shouldn't really be an issue.

I've even bought 20 year old bike parts unknowingly that work perfectly fine.

Where are you getting that from? I didn't see any mention of that in any of the OP's posts.

Lemming

fatbhoy wrote: »

Where are you getting that from? I didn't see any mention of that in any of the OP's posts.

Sram X5 drivetrain swapped for XT. Whether that's a full swap or not we have no idea, but certainly both derailleurs & cranks (and probably the shifters too; visible one looks to have Shimano rapid-fire levers, i.e. thumb + index finger rather than the SRAM 'thumb everything' setup). Brake calipers have also been swapped out for Avid numbers. €500 worth may be a bit of a stretch but there has been some upgrades certainly.

shuffles03

Lemming wrote: »

Sram X5 drivetrain swapped for XT. Whether that's a full swap or not we have no idea, but certainly both derailleurs & cranks (and probably the shifters too; visible one looks to have Shimano rapid-fire levers, i.e. thumb + index finger rather than the SRAM 'thumb everything' setup). Brake calipers have also been swapped out for Avid numbers. €500 worth may be a bit of a stretch but there has been some upgrades certainly.

So......it’s a good bike? 😂

Another question, I’m looking to get a bike for my girlfriend in the next few weeks. MTB.

She’s 1.65 tall.

Any recommendations for what I should look out for?

Again, want to get a good bike so used is probably the best bet (I didn’t see anything in the bike store from a used point of view for her).

I can also buy new too but budget would be about the same as mine - €750

Lemming

shuffles03 wrote: »

So......it’s a good bike? ��

Looks a decent XC bike. Whilst I think the asking price for the bike was a little bit on the high side (although not by much I should add), with the extras you bought you have probably come out about the right price point all told. In any case, the most important question is whether or not you are happy with it. If you are, then it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks; get out, ride, and enjoy your new bike [safely & responsibly in these times].

Another question, I’m looking to get a bike for my girlfriend in the next few weeks. MTB.

She’s 1.65 tall.

Any recommendations for what I should look out for?

Ask her what she wants and what she expects to be able to do with the bike first.

deathbomber

Would of went for a full sus myself and indeed have 3 of them, the bike you bought is nice but you will be envious if you try out a decent full sus. Fantastic country for a bit of XC, enjoy

Tony04

shuffles03 wrote: »

Another question, I’m looking to get a bike for my girlfriend in the next few weeks. MTB.

She’s 1.65 tall.

Any recommendations for what I should look out for?

Again, want to get a good bike so used is probably the best bet (I didn’t see anything in the bike store from a used point of view for her).

I can also buy new too but budget would be about the same as mine - €750

Vitus(order online through chain reaction) have really good entry level mtbs for the price, I think with the current circumstances they're all sold out but I saw somewhere they'd be restocking mid June. It might be difficult to find used for her given the price.

shuffles03

Well, I’ve had the bike for 10 days now and cycled every morning so far.

Going from not cycling for the last 15 years, let’s just say, my ass was a tad on the sore side.

I’ve been using Strava to track everything and so far I‘ve racked up 190KM (mostly flat road).

Pretty chuffed with that! Onwards and upwards!

Wanderer78

shuffles03 wrote:

Going from not cycling for the last 15 years, let’s just say, my ass was a tad on the sore side.

Get yourself a pair of padded shorts

Lemming

Wanderer78 wrote: »

Get yourself a pair of padded shorts

Endura do nice padded liner shorts that attach inside their shorts/trousers via "click-fast" system (four sets of three little stud-press buttons; works very well at keeping the liner & shorts or trousers 'together'), or you can just wear them like, well, a padded liner for shorts or trousers that don't have said click-fast system.

Also consider making sure your saddle fits you. First order of business is to check the width of your sit bones which will give you an indicator of how wide (or narrow) a saddle you are likely to be best suited to.