Felt versus Trek, or otherwise

[Koronin]

No real help here as I don't know much at all about the Felt bikes. I have tested a Lexa, but not the SLX. The Trek store in Raleigh that I most likely will be buying my new bike from started carrying Felt last year and were still learning about them at that time. (I have a good 2 hour drive to that store so don't visit it too often.) Basically since I do not like my local LBS it's get bike in Raleigh (2 hrs away), Charlotte (5 hrs away, but our old LBS that is awesome), or my hometown in Ohio (12 hrs away, but they will sell it to me at cost, I just have to let them know ahead so they can order it and have it there when we visit my family. They are my old, old LBS, grew up riding bikes we bought from them).

[Orange utopia]

My husband was a big trek fan for years and that was pretty much all he looked at. Last year, kind of on a whim he bought a Felt z85 and fell in love with riding again. His other bike was a OLCV 5200 that he lovingly rebuilt over the years but wasn't a good fit for him because of his lower back issues. The Alu z85 was a better ride for him then the carbon trek.

He missed the feel of carbon though, so this year he started looking at the Madones that have the more upright H3 geometry. He liked them and was getting ready to buy one but then we went to the felt dealer and he road the Z5 and there was no contest. The Z5 rode just as nice as the Madone and was considerably cheaper.

I rode a wz6 and didn't care for the micro shifters but liked the frame a lot. I am not looking to buy right now but when I am I will seriously consider the wz5.

[TrekTheKaty]

I'm a Trek fan. I haven't ridden the Lexa, but our store had quite a selection. Apparently, Health magazine just did a write up.

Ride them both and see which one wants to go home with you Ask questions--i did a lot of homework, but found the people at the various LBS's very helpful. Be honest--"i'm also looking at a Felt. What are the differences?". You may hear a little trash talk, but a good LBS is knowledgeable about other brands (poor manufacturer support, poor quality, poor wsd r&d).