Aero bike choice - Felt Ar2 or Cervelo s3

[martyh]

Hey folks,
Looking at a new treat for myself and thinking either a cervelo s3 or a felt ar2.
Reviews of both seem like they are both pretty excellent... looking at the geometry the cervelo has a stack height I kinda prefer as I can run it without any spacers. Kit wise.. I can take or leave electronic shifting... no issues there. Both seem to have great reviews for handling... the aero tests slightly concern me with the ar2 as it seems it was done without any rider dummy thingy on board... yet it seems to stack up pretty well.

Looked at the propel as well... the spec is appealing, yet I hate the brakes. Venge... meh.

Looking for some opinions and ride reports if anyone has any! Thanks!

Marty

[stoney]

I have some friends that race for a shop and they have access to Cervelo and Felt bikes. They all race on the S3 and they love the bike.

[aaric]

Buy whichever fits / looks better

[sadisticnoob]

Well I was like you when I was looking for a new bike

Was looking at the
Cervelo S3 (too expensive)
Propel (had a parallel importer but he did not have a physical bike)

But saw the Merida Reacto at a Great price so I took it

[nathanong87]

Buy whichever fits / looks better

x 1000000000

[dunbar42]

I test rode an S2 (same frame as the S3) at a shop that had Felt AR's as well. I was so impressed with the ride of the S2 that I didn't bother riding the Felt and bought the S2 on the spot after a 30-40 minute test ride. Part of that is the color scheme of the AR5 which I wasn't crazy about. The other reason was ride quality. The guy at the shop told me the Cervelo rides better better than the AR (and he owned an AR1.) I don't like the way the rear brake is mounted on the Felt. I do think the AR is a few watts quicker so ideally you should take both for a 30-60 minute test ride before deciding.

[rma]

I have the S3 and gotta SAY it rides FAST, FRAME 54 (1.130g WITH BB and DH). Total weight 6,7kg without any superlight ultraexpensive itens.

[martyh]

Looking at the fit of both bikes the s3 should fit just a tad better.
Looks wise I think both look really good!

@rma - what stuff did you upgrade? I was thinking of going for the ultegra 11 build and swapping out wheels and brakes initially as they seem to be where its carrying the most easily droppable weight.

[dunbar42]

What size frame do you ride? Up to 54cm both bikes are fairly close in stack and reach (1cm or less.) That means running as much as 1cm of extra spacers on the AR and possibly a 1cm shorter stem (or shorter reach bars.) Not a huge difference really.

[martyh]

I'm normally a 56 / L type thing. Riding a spooky havocstaff at the moment. Stack on it (according to the fit I had) is 557mm and I'm using 20mm of spacers with it, so the 580mm measurement of the cervelo should allow getting rid of that I think? Reach-wise there's only 5mm in it in the 56 sizes so again I think that should be easily adjustable.

[dunbar42]

Yes, on the 56cm Cervelo S3 the stem could be slammed. But the 56cm Felt AR would only need 1.3cm of spacers to get the same bar height as the Cervelo. I wouldn't rule out the Felt on the basis of stack/reach. The truth is that the same position could be attained on both bikes.

[martyh]

Yup, hence my indecisions

[Gary71]

If the fit is the same - then go where your heart tells you( based on colour, wardrobe compatibility or whichever tickles your cockles).

I can say that I have just bought an S3 based on the reviews saying it is an aero bike with comfort (RedKitePrayer)....., I couldn't agree more. I have a Ti and an old Banesto Steel as my other rides...., an I cannot believe the compliance in this bike. I look at her and nothing about the frame says she is going to be supple. But I am still getting on Ruby and am still amazed on how she rides.

O - I bought a size 54. Built it with Sram Red with ee' brake, Enve aero road bars and she just flys !!!. Weights in at 6.26kg - so weight is not a problem.

She does have a small toe overlap - but I do ride with the cleats deepset on my shoes. Certainly, not a problem anytime other than track standing at the lights....., but I would imagine the size 56 would not have that problem

Go-on, do it ! You know you want to !

[mitchgixer6]

I test rode an S2 (same frame as the S3) at a shop that had Felt AR's as well. I was so impressed with the ride of the S2 that I didn't bother riding the Felt and bought the S2 on the spot after a 30-40 minute test ride. Part of that is the color scheme of the AR5 which I wasn't crazy about. The other reason was ride quality. The guy at the shop told me the Cervelo rides better better than the AR (and he owned an AR1.) I don't like the way the rear brake is mounted on the Felt. I do think the AR is a few watts quicker so ideally you should take both for a 30-60 minute test ride before deciding.

I'm sorry but this is just ridiculous. Why did you even bother with a test ride?


I bought an AR1 this year and couldn't be happier with it. The main reason I made that choice was the price of the Cervelo was prohibitive.

[martyh]

Huh, price-wise in Australia, or at least where I seem to be looking, the ar2 is around $1500 more than the s3?