Felt F4 -v- AR4

Amprodude · 14-07-2013 01:12PM

Brian? wrote: »

Sounds like your mate needs to clean and adjust his drive train. I have an alu bike with Tiagra and a carbon one with Ultegra. Ultegra is most certainly better.

Well i know im coming from a different perspective but I definately notice the difference coming from 2300 groupset from my alu bike to ultegra on my AR4.

I clean my chain after every ride but I don't remove cassette to clean. Should I do so? I didnt think it looked that bad from close inspection. I do have a cassette remover tool.

Cee-Jay-Cee · 14-07-2013 04:07PM

Brian? wrote: »

Sounds like your mate needs to clean and adjust his drive train. I have an alu bike with Tiagra and a carbon one with Ultegra. Ultegra is most certainly better.

Your probably right there although he's anal about cleaning the frame/wheels he possibly doesn't pay as much attention to drive train as he should.

tamaskan · 22-07-2013 08:12PM

CJC999 wrote: »

Just to update this, I had good long spin (15km) on a mates F4 which luckily was a size 56 and he's more or less the same height as me so the bike was a good enough fit.

I absolutely loved it, super smooth and no stiffer than my own bike which I was surprised at. I was impressed with the speed of it, very fast and much easier to get up to speed and maintain than my own bike which I'm putting down to the lighter wheels/tyres and 1.5kg frame weight difference.

One thing that has left me disappointed is the ultegra groupset. My bike has 9spd Tiagra and I can't fault it. The ultegra (at least on my mates bike) I found to be very similar to Tiagra, I was expecting much smoother less clunky gear changes and they weren't. I couldn't see or feel any difference between it and Tiagra. Now maybe that's down to me keeping mine clean, well oiled and adjusted and maybe de doesn't but his bike is only a year old and he's done less than 1k on it so far.

Anyway, I think I will most definitely be going for the f4.

Hey,

Took a ride on an AR4 between Kenmare and Killarney (20 miles). Took 15 minutes off my previous best time, which admittedly was on my 1 year old Alu KTM. I'm still stunned at the speed of it.

Amprodude · 22-07-2013 11:15PM

tamaskan wrote: »

Hey,

Took a ride on an AR4 between Kenmare and Killarney (20 miles). Took 15 minutes off my previous best time, which admittedly was on my 1 year old Alu KTM. I'm still stunned at the speed of it.

Good acceleration on that AR4 once you have the engine to sustain it. I put ksyrium sls wheels on my one and i find it it very fast overall. Serious bike.

_Skitso_ · 23-07-2013 12:26PM

I went with the AR4 in the end and love it, goes lovely and fits me well. I'm no expert and I didnt get a chance to ride an F4 before I bought but if you go with the AR you won't be sorry. I try to avoid standing out of saddle and I think the AR suits that although I dont find it hard at all to get out of saddle either and still have great control. I'm even getting comfortable standing while in the drops which was a no no on my old bike.
Skit

tamaskan · 23-07-2013 05:15PM

_Skitso_ wrote: »

I went with the AR4 in the end and love it, goes lovely and fits me well. I'm no expert and I didnt get a chance to ride an F4 before I bought but if you go with the AR you won't be sorry. I try to avoid standing out of saddle and I think the AR suits that although I dont find it hard at all to get out of saddle either and still have great control. I'm even getting comfortable standing while in the drops which was a no no on my old bike.
Skit

As much as I loved the AR4, I think I'm gonna plump for the F4. I just reckon it will suit the hills around here better, going up anyway. Though to be fair downhill the AR is probably quicker. On my ride to Killarney, the first 9km to Molls Gap is uphill maybe 4 or 5% and the AR was only just over a minute quicker than on my Alu KTM. The next 20km is mostly downhill or flat and I was 14 minutes faster than the KTM. A lot of that is down to the 52/36 chainring as opposed to the compact on my bike. The F4 is 52/36 as well so I'll probably go for the F4 instead. Just reckon it will be the better climber for a 90kg rider. What do u think?

_Skitso_ · 26-07-2013 08:53AM

tamaskan wrote: »

As much as I loved the AR4, I think I'm gonna plump for the F4. I just reckon it will suit the hills around here better, going up anyway. Though to be fair downhill the AR is probably quicker. On my ride to Killarney, the first 9km to Molls Gap is uphill maybe 4 or 5% and the AR was only just over a minute quicker than on my Alu KTM. The next 20km is mostly downhill or flat and I was 14 minutes faster than the KTM. A lot of that is down to the 52/36 chainring as opposed to the compact on my bike. The F4 is 52/36 as well so I'll probably go for the F4 instead. Just reckon it will be the better climber for a 90kg rider. What do u think?

Right or wrong I would consider myself an ok climber so I guess I felt I'd manage the AR on the climbs and then benefit on the flat, well that was my thinking anyway!

I live in a relative flat area too which helps a lot. At the end of the day I reckoned the differences were minimal and my LBS had a good price on the AR so that helped. Not much help sorry!

Cee-Jay-Cee · 14-09-2013 11:42PM

To update this, I ended up buying an F5 a few weeks ago. Its the 2011 spec bike but brand new and I absolutely love the colors of it compared to the 2012 and 2013 bike.

I've been out for several 30-40km spins on it and I love it. Its so much more comfortable than my aluminium Ridley and quicker by 2-3kmph. The CF frame soaks up the bumps and roughness on poor roads remarkably well.

Its got a 105 groupset with FSA gossamer crankset. I changed the 12/25 cassette to an Ultegra 11/28 as the 25 just wasn't low enough for some of the hills around me. I also changed the CXP22 wheels for my own Fulcrum Quattros.

Overall I'm delighted with it. I was originally planning on getting the F4 but bought this privately for considerably less what an F4 would have cost me. The 105 is a good upgrade on Tiagra and I like the cleaner look of the 105 hoods compared to the tiagra hoods with the cables exiting from the sides.

Cee-Jay-Cee · 14-10-2013 09:00PM

Darkglasses wrote: »

I own a Felt F5 if that's any use - 105 components and a different carbon weave.

The frames on the F5 and F4 are identical, same weave/carbon grade, same geometry. There are no differences which is why i plumped for the F5 too, I couldnt justify the €1300 extra it would have cost me to buy an F4 purely for an ultegra groupset.

Felt F4 -v- AR4

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