Anyone have any experience/opinions of the Felt 29ers?

Not with the 29ers. Nor any MTB for that matter. But for what its worth, I own a 2005 F90 roadie. I haven't had a single problem with it. My next MTB is a Felt, no questions asked!

The Nine Pro on their site looks pretty nice. I may have to check one out. I actually did not realize that Felt was making 29ers.

Yes, I'm 6' tall, the 17.5" bike I tested was stock except for a 685mm wide Monkeylite handlebar. It had the cone washer and one 10mm headset spacer - the fit felt good.

yes

funny you ask...but yes I do have experience and opinions on a felt Nine

Would you gentlemen (or ladies) mind sharing your opinions/experiences of/with Felt
29ers with the rest of the class.:drumroll: Gracias.

As I just got one in today, I can tell you this. The spec for the money is typical Felt. A whole lot of bike for the money.

I built a Large Pro this afternoon and toddled it around the parking lot. Feels really solid.

What I like about it: Feels solid, has some BEEFY seat and chainstays. Nice parts spec for less than 2000 bucks.

What I didn't like about it: A derailer hanger bolt that was too short to fully engage the T-nut, the same cheap assed NARROW (23") riser bar they are putting on everything this year ( including the entry level Q series) on a 110mm 25.4 stem sitting on way too many spacers in the stack.

It is pretty though and with some cockpit changes could be an absolute winner. the actual weight was also near enough to what the website states that it surprised me.

I need to really ride one though, the parking lot test just isn't where it will stand or fall.

Hi RueBourbon,

I can see how the earlier responses weren't helpful, but in defense of said responses, Furious George, the Lime and I laughed hard about all being idiots and posting simultaneously. OK, joking over, we look stupid, but I'm still smiling...

I've ridden the Nine Solo all of about 10 miles, compared to my other 29er,(which is quite stiff) the Nine Solo was noticably better at damping trail shocks to my rear end, and most notably the new bike really shone in high speed twisty singletrack.

My other 29er has a real disposition for "Going Over" stuff, the Nine Solo encourages "Going Around", but still felt capable in the rought stuff, honestly it's a much better all-rounder than my other 29er.

The new bike has a pretty stretched position, roughly equal to one size larger on the Felr 26er hardtails.

I normally dislike singlespeeds (I know, sacralidge!), but I was quite pleased by singlespeeding on the Solo, perhaps rolling on big wheels was making life more acceptable when speeds got beyond my spinning speeds. Perhaps I was simply happy because I made it up a hill which defeated me 9 out of 10 times on the 26er singlespeed which put me off the singlespeeding.

Please forgive my vagueness when refering to my "other 29er". I wrote about it here http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=190926 but it's not a very helpful point of reference for anybody other then me.

Furious George went for a back to back ride comparison with another 29er last weekend. Perhaps he'll tell of his experiences.

Cheers, Tim

As I just got one in today, I can tell you this. The spec for the money is typical Felt. A whole lot of bike for the money.

I built a Large Pro this afternoon and toddled it around the parking lot. Feels really solid.

What I like about it: Feels solid, has some BEEFY seat and chainstays. Nice parts spec for less than 2000 bucks.

What I didn't like about it: A derailer hanger bolt that was too short to fully engage the T-nut, the same cheap assed NARROW (23") riser bar they are putting on everything this year ( including the entry level Q series) on a 110mm 25.4 stem sitting on way too many spacers in the stack.

It is pretty though and with some cockpit changes could be an absolute winner. the actual weight was also near enough to what the website states that it surprised me.

I need to really ride one though, the parking lot test just isn't where it will stand or fall.



We got in a few of these yesterday. 2 Nine Pro's, 2 Solo 9's and 2 Nine Elite's. Got the Elite built up today. Very large frame. I normally ride a 19" frame....but on these, it's going to be a 17.5". Yeah, the bar is waay to narrow. This is my number one complaint.....even on the Virtues. Otherwise a becent/typical Felt build. However, at $1600 I would like to see Juicy 5' instead of the Juicy 3's. 28.4 lbs on the scale with 520 pedals.

We have a demo 17.5" Elite coming in shortly, so I can't wait to try it out. I'll let you all know.

John,

Glad they arrived ok. Unlike the bars, if the steerer is too long for you, it can always be cut, or the stem lowered below the spacers. I don't know that the rear derailleur hanger bolt has to do much beyond holding the hanger when the wheel is removed. It doesn't support any load on the trail.

Trails drying up yet?

-SD

John,

Glad they arrived ok. Unlike the bars, if the steerer is too long for you, it can always be cut, or the stem lowered below the spacers. I don't know that the rear derailleur hanger bolt has to do much beyond holding the hanger when the wheel is removed. It doesn't support any load on the trail.

Trails drying up yet?

-SD

Mr. K.

Yeah, your home state is drying up nicely. The issue with the hanger bolt is there were not enough threads on the bolt to adequately hold it in place. It was a bit floppy. Well, more than a bit. Bolt pulled out of the T-nut before the wheel slid in. It was that short. Dropped a longer bolt in, problem solved.

The bar issue is one I'd love to see Felt address, as it really takes a nice bike down several notches. I really like these Nines (and the Virtues for that matter), but coupling a longish stem to a narrow riser bar makes the bike feel like it's steering you, not the other way around. Your website specs state a size specific bar width, I wish you would have stuck to that. Knocking the stem length down 10mm per size would also help.

Yes, It's great you guys are giving a lot of steer tube for height adjustment, but by using the shaped 20mm (?...didn't measure it) with 2 5mm spacers on top puts it square into the dealers lap to replace the thick piece (at our cost. Little things add up quick in the LBS world) should a lower height be neccessary.

Overall, I think it's great that the company is making strides on the off road side. I was impressed with the product the first time you walked Ron and I through it long ago and have enjoyed it where I'm at now.

But there's some fine tuning that the product needs to have done.

Say hi to Andy for me....I"m going to miss talking to Penny for our inside stuff...and you Super Dave...well, have a good day.

I've never ridden one. Hubby recently purchased a Felt Z25 road bike that he's happy with.

I did just check out the specs on the Nine Pro and that looks like an awesome deal for less than 2k! And it's less than 26lbs stock. I'd definitely try one out if I got the chance. Might have to talk the LBS into getting one in since they're really big on Felt right now!

my shop supposedly has a couple on the way, haven't seen them yet though.