Review: Felt F75X

By Scott Mares | Published Sep 5, 2011

Right Out of the Box

First Impressions

The Felt F75 is a good looking bike with a classic style about it. The bike has a simple black and white main paint job with blue trim on the decals. the nice touch was the little blue annondized parts.

Ease of Assembly

The bike came ppretty much assembled right out of the box. Just a few things that I had to do. Put the front wheel on. Air up the tires, attach the front brake and put the stem on to the sterrer tube. That was it. So this bike was probble the easiest to assemble so far.

Bling Factor

This is not a bling factor bike. There are a few little things that pop but just a few. The bike's main color is black with its secondary color of white and a accent color of blue. Felt did put blue water bottle bolts along with some blue accent stripes on the stem and post. The wheels have white spokes and thats about it. This bike is not about the bling but about being subtle.

Road Test Ride

Some times the bike shins more on the road than it does off road. Some times it shines on both. In this case the Felt F 75 shines off road and was some what unremarkable on the road. And I would like to clarify what I mean by this. The bike was overall very predictable in its behavior. One way to describe this is that it was almost like the bike was disapointed that we were riding it on the road. So it was not overly spritely in the way it rode on the road. But on the other side of that coin nor was the bike unresponsive on the road either.

Out on the road here in Oregon there is plenty of climbing to be had. Head out to Mount Hood and you will find just that. The felt F75X is not a overly eager bike for climbs. I think that this is due to the fact that its a cyclocross bike and Felt decided not to make the bike overly stiff and to allow some compliance in the bike. One thing you will find is all day confort on the F75X.

As with the climbing the bike is not a razor in the corners either. Again its not a crit bike and the chance to over steer in a cross race would be bad. Yes the bike turns but you dont have to muscle it to get it to do so. The guys as Felt struck a nice balance in its handeling in the corners.

Dirt Test Ride

We took the Felt F75X out to our favorite test track at power Bute Park for our normal shake down ride on the dirt. Out there we have 2 loops that make a big figure eight. the first one is the single track and the second one is the fire road double track. The Single track loop is very tight with hard pack dirt with exposed roots and very twisty stuff. even some off camber decants are thrown in there as well. So its a lot of fun on a cross bike. The double track is a combination of pea gavel trail and hard pack roads with some gradual climbs in them. Climbing

The bike climbs pretty well for its weight. I think that this is mostly due to the tires that came with this bike. The Vittoria cx tires offer plenty of grip when the dirt turned vertical. The short steep climbs were not a problem for this bike. When I did have some trouble is was the engine room and not the bike.

Cornering

The great thing about Powell Bute park is that is has a lot of everything. Half my course is single track. This allows me to really see how the bike will behave in tight, winding circumstances. I can say that the bike took the single track really well. Even better when the bike was pointed down hill. This bike really wanted to cut loose on the descents out there. Its kinda unusual to have to hold a cross bike back on those things.

Handling

Predictiable and well behaived are two words I would use to describe how this bik handles in the dirt. This is a very good thing in a cross race as a riders gross motor skills go in the toilet when you are turning yourself inside out and if the bike was razor sharp you would surley have a good chance of crashing.

Ride Feel

Over all the ride feel was very pleasant and agreeable. The Felt F75X really has some good manners on and off the road. Nothing harsh or abrasive really came through to me while we were out at Powell Bute.

Trainer Test Ride

Ride Feel

The wether was too nice here. While most of the US is gripped in constant 100 degree thempatures portland OR has been mild with sunny sky! So forgive us we spent all of our time out side on the bike.

Race Test Ride

It was pre season so we didn't get to race on it.

We Liked

handling, the Felt F75X is a well mannered well behaved cyclocross bike. The bike does not seem overly twitchy or unstable at all.

the price point is pretty attractive for what you get. So no doubt that this bike is a good deal for the consumer and the cross racer that is just getting into the sport and will then slowly upgrade this steed.

Yes we like this seat post! not because of who made it. Its actually Felts's house brand and is not all that light. But it is a one bolt design and we LOVE that type of seat post. Its easy to adjust, you wont scratch up the post doing it and you can get some good torque on the bolt so the seat wont move.

Tires, Felt did a good job in choosing the Vittoria tires. They are big and grippy and they will work in a variety of conditions and wear really well. This way you don't have to go out and get dry tires or mud tires and keep switching them.

Shimano 105 group anchors the bike in its performance with nothing but solid and reliable shifting in just about any conditions that will certainly perform just like its bigger brother and sister Dura Ace and Ultegra. Plus you have to look close to see if its 105 or Ultegra.

We Didn't Like

headset bolt striped very easily.

Upgrades

If you are in the market for a cross bike and you have been racing road for a bit you probably have some race wheels that you can put on this steed. This is where I would start. This would bring the weight of the bike down quite a bit and increase the performance of the bike to a bit more than a local small race series bike.

The Bike is totally upgradeable once you wear out the parts. The Felt F75x uses the same frame as its top end cross bike the only difference is the top end one uses a Easton fork.

The Final Say

Felt is a great company and in the past few years they have been at the cutting edge of frame design and production. I believe that their road bikes are on the cutting edge and are very desirable. The F75X is really for the budget racer that already has race wheels to put on this steed. The bike is a stable platform and will give its owner lots of fun in the local fall series. The platform is a light weight aluminum frame with a carbon fiber wishbone seat stay. The frame set is totally upgradeable and if it was dressed out with top end components would no doubt be just that.

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