Felt Z85 2013 Review

I’ve recently taken delivery of a brand new 2013 Felt Z85 from 1st Gear Cycles in Alton. It’s my very first road bike purchase so if you’re looking for an experienced riders review you’d best look elsewhere!

It’s a 61cm aluminium frame with carbon forks and seatpost. The Shimano 105 gears are nice with an FSA crankset which I’ve had no problem with. Brakes are Felt’s own jobbies which do the job well enough.

The ride is really nice although it’s taking me a while to adjust from the more upright MTB position I’m used to. The stem is at the highest it will go on the stearer and the frame is intended to be more of an upright position compared to the F style racing models. Even so I feel my weight is much more on my hands. But I’m very glad I went for the Z85 over the F85 as I’m not sure I’d have coped with an even lower front end to the bike.

It’s effortless to ride. You find yourself going at a real pace without even trying. The steering is responsive and feels very steady cornering at speed on steeper country lanes. You do feel a lot of feedback from the road but it’s not overly harsh. I understand a carbon frame would absorb more of this but this is an entry level road bike. I know I need to acclimatise to it.

Overall: A great first road bike. Quite light, comfortable and good ride quality. Time will tell how well things bed in and how some of the budget components fare.

I’ll write an update in the future to say how things progress.