New Felt Bike

[Custardcup1]

Hi, I rode the past 2 years on a Trek 7.2 with a 13 inch frame. If you can believe it that bike was to big for me. I am 4'10' with a 26 inseam. Anyway, I wanted to upgrade to a road bike and the only thing that fit me was the Felt ZW75-650. I love the look of the bike and it seems to fit me perfect. My problem is, I rode it for the first time today, just 10 miles and I'm finding it hard to adjust to the road bike position. Also, it doesn't seem to differ much from the Trek as far as speed, ease on hills, etc. Could it be the fact the tires are 650, or that it is a compact? I'm alittle discouraged right now, and need a pep talk.

[Owlie]

There is a bit of a learning curve to road bikes. The handling and the position are different. The gearing is likely different too, so it takes you and your legs a little time to get used to that. You'll probably feel faster. The thing with hills is that a hybrid/flat bar is likely to have lower gears than the road bike (which has "go faster!" gears), so you may feel that it's initially harder to climb on the road bike. Compact doubles feel weird to me, but that's probably because I'm not used to it (I have a triple).

[TigerMom]

I'm sure all the other TE members are going to ask...did you get a certified bike fit yet?
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2012 Specialized Amira Elite, upgraded carbon handle bars, Jett saddle 143mm switched to 145mm 2012 Selle Italia Max SLR Gel Flow saddle

2011 Specialized Ariel Sport,suspension post,Serfas Rx Women's Microfiber saddle

[goldfinch]

Hi, I rode the past 2 years on a Trek 7.2 with a 13 inch frame. If you can believe it that bike was to big for me. I am 4'10' with a 26 inseam. Anyway, I wanted to upgrade to a road bike and the only thing that fit me was the Felt ZW75-650. I love the look of the bike and it seems to fit me perfect. My problem is, I rode it for the first time today, just 10 miles and I'm finding it hard to adjust to the road bike position. Also, it doesn't seem to differ much from the Trek as far as speed, ease on hills, etc. Could it be the fact the tires are 650, or that it is a compact? I'm alittle discouraged right now, and need a pep talk.

I am maybe a half an inch taller than you are. I went from a 13 inch hybrid with 26 inch wheels (Cannondale Quick) to a 43cm Trek Madone, which is almost the same size as your Felt and also has the 650 wheels and a compact double. The wheel size isn't going to make much if any difference. There is a learning curve. Be sure you have a good fit and just keep riding. I find that I am a bit faster on the Madone but not by much if the hybrid has slicks on it. But I can go a lot further and remain comfortable because of the variety of positions. I especially go faster on the Madone if there is a head wind. The more upright position on the Quick slows me down a lot in the wind. Uphills? I'd guess I am about the same slow self on both bikes. I believe if I went all out I would be much faster on the downhills on the Madone but I have a touch of downhill fear.

Interestingly, in the last two days, using each bike, I did a 6 mile ride which included a fairly long 8% hill grade. There was no wind. My Quick currently has 1.7 inch tires on it and the Madone has the skinny 23s. My uphill speed was about identical on both bikes and my downhill was faster on the Quick because I let it fly--it is a very stable bike. I chickened out on the Madone and braked on part of the downhill so I ended up a few miles per hour slower on the downhill. On the flats I was maybe 1.5 to 2 miles per hour faster on the Madone. FWIW.

[Custardcup1]

thanks so much for the reply. I did get the bike from my LBS and did get a fitting. I guess it is just a matter of getting used to the road bike position. I also tend to keep on the break going down hill because I just don't feel real secure on the Felt yet. I guess it's just a matter of miles

[Koronin]

For me I actually much prefer the road bike position to the upright position of other bikes. My husband, on the other hand, has taken much, much longer to adjust to it. As for the compact double to the triple, I have a compact double on my Felt as well (F-5) and have a triple on the Trek 2000. I much prefer the triple and am considering seeing if I can have a triple replace the compact double. Otherwise I love my Felt. I'm just much more comfortable on the road bike than I've ever been on any other type of bike.