Felt F1X

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BSUdude
Posts: 15
Joined: Wed Apr 04, 2012 1:26 pm

by BSUdude

Looking at a new cross bike for this coming fall. I prefer a bike with a higher BB, and my bike will also be canti, not disc. My current list of candidates includes:

Ridley X-Fire
Stevens Carbon Team
Giant TCX
Kona Major Jake
Felt F1X
Raleigh RXC

I know some of these frames are no longer made with a canti option, but I am open to looking at well cared for used bikes.

My question is, what is the deal with the F1X? Any feedback from anyone that has ridden the bike? Does it excel at aggressive cross racing? How does it handle? Just can't find much info on the bike from users, and it isn't exactly that common of a bike at the races I attend. Just trying to solicit some feedback.

Any feedback on any of these frames would be appreciated, especially from folks that have raced them in CX races. Thanks.

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simon
Resident Pro
Posts: 1718
Joined: Mon Apr 18, 2005 9:34 am

by simon

hi!
just saw your post and it has been a long time since you wrote it, but still some time left before cross season starts so maybe this is still useful info...
i'm sponsored by felt and have been riding for 2 seasons with the f1x(canti and disc). my post could be influenced by this fact, but so could be my choice for felt as a sponsor by the quality of the products.
the frame is very stiff, light and what i would describe as an agressive, racing-oriented geometry. it's pretty much the f1 road bike with canti bosses.
it has many details that make your life as a racer/mechanic easier such as:
external cable routing(di2 is internal with the same frame, but some different small parts),
mud clearance is by far enough for anything you are allowed to race nowadays(my mechanic rides his f1x with 36 mm dugast rhinos and there is still 3 mm clearance left and right in the bb area),
slightly shaped top tube for shouldering,
frame shape and finish is very smooth so the mud/grass/snow has a harder time to stick to the frame,
the enve fork that usually comes with the f1x frameset is the best fork i've ever ridden. super stiff, and not once i had brake chatter, even if the brake cable hanger is included in the headset cover(which is the reason for brake chatter on about every fork-brake-frame-wheel-combination)
the frame has a slightly sloped top tube, but it's still no problem for me(180 cm, 55 cm frame, 300 mm seatpost extended to the max)to get the arm through the frame when i put the bike on my shoulder without constantly banging the elbow on the seattube
cool thing about the geometry and stiffness is that you can even race this bike on the road(just put a bigger chainring on), no slow handling or bad geo measurements that make it impossible to replicate your road position on the cx bike. you can mount 2 bottle cages, so a gravel grinder or fender training bike is another option you have.
iirc the enve fork uncut is already below 500 grams, the frame is just over 1000(i have pics somewhere but i'm on holiday at the moment and don't have access to them(because we're on weightweenies, after all).

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