Felt QX75 Hybrid

NBW

I've decided to take up cycling and can avail of the bike to work scheme. I know very little about bikes and was wondering if this Felt QX75 hybrid was a decent bike to purchase at €569

http://www.feltbicycles.com/Belgium/2010-Product-Catalog/Mountain/QX-Series/QX-75.aspx

I'm told it has a good gear system and also has disc brakes.

Would greatly appreciate any input or comments

BostonB

Look like a quality bike any time I've seen them in the shop. City cycles has a few of them down in Manor Street.

NBW

Sounds good. Is Felt a well established brand.

Tonyandthewhale

Yeah felt is a well known and respected brand and that bike looks grand. However if you want more specific advice it might help if you gave us a few more details as to what you plan on using this bike for? Is it going to be mainly used for commuting, short leisure spins with the kids or are you joining a club or training for a charity cycle or sportive or something similar?

bloke

I had a quick test spin on one of these today...

They're a nice looking bike and seem very well made, and components are decent for the price afaik.

I was comparing to a trek 7.3fx for about the same money and in the end went for the trek as it was noticeably lighter and felt (excuse the pun) better to ride. It feels more responsive and just suited me better. In saying that I would imagine the Felt would hold up to a bit more abuse - even offroad - and certainly feels very solid to ride.

The sales person suggested the Felt leans more towards MTB and the Trek towards road bike and that makes some sense to me.

One thing with the QX75 was the disc brakes were very effective. I'd never tried disc brakes before.

Hope this helps - probably best to take one for a short ride and see what you think. I went to Wheelworx in Liffey Valley and they have both Trek, Felt and a number of other brands - they were very helpful but not pushy.

NBW

Thanks for all the feedback.

I'm not buying the bike to join a club or for competition although I do hope to use it a fair bit for leisure trips on roads/tracks and for exercise at evenings and weekends.

I've also looked at a Giant which seems good value at €375 and appears to be slightly lighter than the Felt, although the Felt seemed a good solid build. Saw the Trek 7.2 too...lovely bike, nice and light but it had slick tyres for the road and I want something a little bit more versatile.

Is it worth going for a bike with disc brakes??...these seem make these bikes more expensive.
Does the brand make much difference?
Any recommendations on bikes???
I want to buy a decent bike that will serve me well for a good few years.


Thanks in advance

route66

NBW wrote: »

Thanks for all the feedback.

I'm not buying the bike to join a club or for competition although I do hope to use it a fair bit for leisure trips on roads/tracks and for exercise at evenings and weekends.

I've also looked at a Giant which seems good value at €375 and appears to be slightly lighter than the Felt, although the Felt seemed a good solid build. Saw the Trek 7.2 too...lovely bike, nice and light but it had slick tyres for the road and I want something a little bit more versatile.

Is it worth going for a bike with disc brakes??...these seem make these bikes more expensive.
Does the brand make much difference?
Any recommendations on bikes???
I want to buy a decent bike that will serve me well for a good few years.


Thanks in advance

I have a Trek FX 7.3 and am very happy - not taking anything away from the Felt. Don't worry about the tyres too much - you can change the tyres to whatever suits you and the best way to do this is to get the bike shop to do it for you so you can get a credit on the unused ones as supplied.

Disk brakes continue to work perfectly even if the wheel is slightly buckled and are also better in muddy conditions where they don't clog up so easily. They are heavier than rim equivalents but can offer better braking performance - but you may not need it; the guys doing the TDF don't have them and the last time I looked they weren't sticking their shoes out to slow down ;-)

Instead of specific makes, I recommend you look at bike types. Hybrids have many advantages but many - not me, yet - quickly come to the conclusion that they would prefer a road bike (aka "racer"). The problem with road bikes however, is that they are optimised for speed and are not always practical. Take for example my cycle to work today. On my - mudguard-equipped FX 7.3 - I was able to cycle inbetween showers on wet roads without having a lovely line of muck up my back; many road bikes don't have enough clearance for mudguards. On the other hand, what about your first fitness trip when you are pushing it a bit but still get trashed by the boys in their road bikes? If you are like me you'll be thinking that you could have had them if only you didn't have all the weight that your practical wheels comes with (ok, I only think this for a while, then I realise the reason they overtake me is because I'm cr@p).

There is an "inbetween" bike type called a cyclocross. It's a racer with knobbly tyres and a frame that has enough clearance for mudguards. Some even come with disk brakes. An example would be the Giant TCX 2.

There is also the Trek Portland which is a "commuter racer". Just made this up - infact, I don't know what class of bike it is, but it might suit your requirements, albeit a bit on the pricey side :-(

decisions, decisions ...