Product Review: Felt F4

I don't have anything bad to say about the Felt F4.

It's light, it rides well, it has no strange quirks, and the DuPont paint is thick and shiny.

Now if I was to complain, and I'm not, but if I was this is what I'd say:

1. The derailleur housing is routed so that it rubs the frame at the head tube and curves to the underside of the frame where road crap can be kicked up from the front wheel into the barrel adjusters. Lots of companies do this and I don't understand why. Giant, for instance, has solved the problem by moving the barrel adjusters to the side of the head tube and the cables come out from there straight to the bottom bracket junction without rubbing the frame anywhere. Of course the cables are still exposed to road debris, which is why I think it's about time everybody move to internal cable routing, like on Felt's Z series. Seriously, if you're spending $2800 on a top-O-the-line racing machine you deserve the clean look of internal cable routing.

2. The stock Shimano Super SLR brakes are lame. They probably work fine, but they're cheap looking and boring. I upgraded to a pair of 4ZA Julys (great name) which don't work well at all but look fantastic. I'm a sucker for cool looking brakes that don't work.

3. Lastly, and this is just a small thing, the bike is white and white bikes look awesome on the show room floor but after the first ride look terrible. However, that Dupont paint is easy to wipe clean and doesn't attract dirt as much as on some other frames, like the new matte finish on the Cervelo bikes. 

Oh and one more last thing. I'm not even going to number it because it's nothing really, but the chain and cassette are not Ultegra, like the shifters and derailleurs, but FSA and Tiagra. I know this keeps the price low and I will replace it before the end of the season, but come on, that's just cheap.

But hey, other than that the Felt F4 is totally rad. The other day I had a stiff and steady tail wind and was able to cruise at a good 25-30mph for several miles. The bike felt planted and stable but still springy enough to react to little kids and dogs jumping in front of me (I was on the Lakefront Path). Something about the front end seemed a little limp though. I was intentionally wiggling the handlebars and doing some swerving at speed and I could feel something flexing. I don't think it was the frame or fork but probably the Shimano RS10 wheels, which only have like 7 spokes. I'll do a little more research in the next few months to make sure. After experimenting with different set ups I have concluded that the flexing was in fact caused by the Shimano wheels, not the frame or fork- 5/1/2013. 

 I like how fat the frame tubes are, especially in the bottom bracket. To get the front derailleur cable to the mechanism they drilled a hole right through the oversized bottom bracket, which looks pretty trick.

Other nice touches are that the bottom bracket is a real BB30 system, not that Press Fit 30 junk that frame makers do to save production costs. Also, the bearing seats on the fork and frame are molded carbon, which is something you used to only see on the nicest custom carbon frames.

Sad thing though is that if you're in the market for a Felt road racing bike, I say get the newly redesigned Z3. For three hundred more dollars all the things that I complained about above are fixed -internal routing, dark paint, cooler brakes- plus you get a better crank, a more aero frame, and a slight weight reduction. True, the head tube is taller, but that just means you can slam the stem down all the way and look pro. If you want to slam the stem on the F4 you're looking at a saddle to handlebar drop of over 15cm, and who in the real world can rock that day after day?

Overall, yes the F4 is a superb bike, just not the best.