Weight for the price point.
Ultegra Shifters/F&R Ds.
Frame stiffness / response.
Price.
Good customer service from Felt
Decent stock tires (Rubino Pro Slicks)

The stock brakes - still living with them though
Shimano WH-550 wheels - heavy
Heavy stock fork (2007 brings a carbon steer tube)

Purchase Price in Canadian Dollars
1500 km review

So this bike accompanies my entrance in to Road Racing. I transitioned into Road biking from being a XC rider middle of last summer, put my first 4000km of road riding on a 1979 vintage Benotto Paris-Roubaix, and decided I liked the sport enough to warrant a better bike - but without breaking the bank.

At the $2000 CDN +/- price point I was looking at there were not many bikes that were Ultegra equiped. I tried some full carbon frames a few other mixed material frames and found that without going over my budget or sacrificing down to 105s or Mirage parts, I could not beat the Felt F65.

In terms of ride, the bike exhibits a good degree of stiffness in the bottom end (not that at 155 lbs I'm a big power rider) Ride is reasonable, although a little more harsh than my vintage steel (no surprise).

Ultegra components (including a Ultegra cassette are predictably reliable and snappy. The wheels WH-550s, although a little heavy, have stayed in true and given no trouble - none of the broken spokes others have talked about.

Felt factory components have all lived up to expectations, the odd seatpost adjustment hardware actually works quite well.

In terms of finish, I can see that maybe Felt saves some money (passed on the customer) in the paint shop. However the simple under clear-coat decaling and natural brushed aluminum is quite sharp looking (not over done like some other bike paint jobs). The minimal use of paint probably even saves some weight. It's not as pretty a frame as a Guru but definately does the job.

Geometry wise, Felt is bit of an odd ball. I like the aggressive headtube length (54 cm frame), and the long top tube allows for a slightly steeper virtually seat tube (I run my saddle slightly forward of neutral). Overall the bike is maybe a little (tiny bit)longer than one would ideally have in a crit, but feels great at speed and on descents.

Overall, I don't think there is anything about the bike that is holding me back and it, so far, has met my expectation.

Similar Products Used:

-Guru Racelite / Centaur / Easton build/wheels - so beautiful I was scared to ride it in a crit, too many $$
-Guru Flite / 105 / WH-500 wheels / Easton build - didn't feel as responsive, heavier
-Trek 5200 (stock) dead feeling, heavier
-Opus Allegro (stock 105) also dead feeling, heavier
-Look AL384, similar feel to F65, but lower spec'd (105)
-Giant TCR3 Carbon, flexy, odd geometry for me
-Giant TCR 1, same
-Bennotto Paris-Roubaix, Shimano Light Action 6sp, Wienmann Rims, ITM build - heavy, flexy, but still loved.

Price makes it easy to upgrade the down spec'd parts that one would upgrade anyway

Shimano R-550 Wheels, stock tektro brakes

Bought this as a new 2006 left over stock. Upgraded parts mentioned above within the first two weeks of purchase. Bike is smooth and really fast. Test road specialized, bianchi, giant, cannondale, and Scott prior to purchasing this bike. No other bike came close to price/spec as this one. Great bike so far.

Similar Products Used:

Devinci Stockholm Hybrid

stiff yet suptle
good looks
carbon stays and forks
price

So far This bike rocks! I built it up as a 9 speed ultegra, compact ritchey cranks with Mavic Ksyrium wheels so I'm realy just reviewing the frame, but it is stiff in the sprints and climbs while smoothing out the harsh potholes and rough surfaces quite nicely.
I think it is one of the best looking frames around and the finish is of very good quality. I'm sure if I spent an arm and a leg I could find a frame I like better, but why?
It took some playing with saddle position and a shorter stem to get a fit that was comfortable, but once I got it set up its great.
p.s. my price paid was for the frameset, forks, carbon seat post, saddle, headset and stem.

Frame seems responsive and snappy. Lightweight setup. Ultegra all-over, after changing out brake calipers.

Crappy calipers came stock. Gone before I bought it. Wheels are nothing to write home about, having now broken 2 spokes on that rear wheel.

I've enjoyed this bike so far. I've traded bikes a good bit the past 4 years, so I needed to settle down on something that I didn't have to tie $2K in. While the bike is spec'd a bit cheaply, the frame has been compliant so far, and the shifting has been spot on and predictable. Been on some longer rides, 90+ miles, and the bike seems to wear me down a bit. Anything around 50 miles however, I barely notice.

Similar Products Used:

Cannondale R1000, R600, Trek 2200, 2300.

All the componets on my bike are top of the line and and i would rather have metal underneath me than anything else.

We'll see if those joints for the carbon and aluminum hold out.

Just purchased mine and so far feels pretty good. Brand New to the sport but With the gas and all will probably stick with it and I'm pretty happy with my decision. Just didn't want to stress that everyone would be eyeing my stuff.

Similar Products Used:

tested a plethora of other bikes.

Good spec for the price.

Frame failed unexpectedly.
Aggressive and twitchy geometry.
Lousy non-drivetrain components (brakes, saddle, seatpost).
Harsh ride.

I bought this bike because it seemed like a great value -- nothing else in the price range had a similar component spec AND carbon seat stays -- but in the end, I got what I paid for. After a little over a year, the aluminum frame CRACKED just above the joint where the carbon stays are joined. This wasn't the result of a crash, impact, etc. -- the frame just cracked. (Thankfully, I discovered the crack while cleaning the bike rather than riding it!)

The frame failure was simply the last straw -- I was never a big fan of the bike. I was never truly comfortable with Felt's aggressive geometry: steep seat tube, long top tube, short head tube (although the head tube was lengthened by 2 cm in subsequent model years, probably due to fit problems like mine) ... this possibly one of the longest and lowest bikes out there. The Selle Italia XO saddle and house brand seatpost were junk, as were the Tektro brakes. The integrated headset required repair after only a couple of months, when it wouldn't stop coming loose. The finish was cheap and chipped easily. And the carbon stays really didn't seem to dampen the harsh ride all that much, if at all.

I'd take a Trek, Cannondale, Specialized, Giant, whatever, over this bike any day. Granted, it did a passable job of getting me through my first year of real training and racing, but that's the bare minimum any bike over $1000 should do (which is the only reason I'm not giving the bike 1 star).

Similar Products Used:

Trek, Cannondale, Specialized, Giant, Cervelo (test ridden).

Price includes pedals!!!
Can't find any weaknesses as of yet

I found the sizing to be a bit awkward, but my bike shop worked with me to assure a good fit (inch the seat forward a bit and get a shorter stem)

After deciding that I wanted to get into biking, I realized that if I was in, I'd be in for a pretty large financial committment. That being said, I wanted to find the best value I could. I look all over creation and on several internet nites (even contemplating building a bike from scratch) before I found the most ridiculous value I had seen for any brand.

I stopped at Sirois Bicycle Shop (on Landry Street in North Attleboro, MA) figuring that they wouldn't have much I would be interested in as they are a very value/family oriented store. To my surprise, they had some reasonably priced Felt bicycles. I decided that, for the money, it was worth a test ride. I found it to ride just as well as an $1800 Cannondale I had test-ridden the week before. It's light, responsive, and looks great too. I'll be sure to give a full review after taking it on some training rides

Similar Products Used:

Cannondale something or other (forgot what it was I looked at once I rode this)
A Trek at about $1100 (105s, carbon fork), and a Specialized Roubaix w/ full Ultegra, carbon frame

carbon fork, seat post, seat stays.
New Ultegra 20 speed
Low price/ best value possible. handles like a dream. Read review in Bicycling. I love my bike.
18 lbs

brakes.
Me riding it.LOL
seriously. The review in bicycling says it well. This bike will not hinder you in any way.

sweet ride
Can't buy a better bike at this price

Similar Products Used:

n/a