Merida or Felt

[Black knight]

Hi,

Looking to buy a sportive road bike in the £500-1000 range.

Average ride is 30 - 50 miles
Average speed is 15mph (on my current boardman single speed)

I'm considering offerings from Merida and Felt.
Merida seems to have better frames. Felt, the better componets.
I'm looking for a comfortable road/leisure bike rather than performance machine.

http://www.feltbicycles.com/United-Kingdom/2012/Road/Z-Series.aspx

http://www.merida-bikes.com/en_gb/cms/1950/en_gb-road-bike

Any advice or anything I should consider?

 

[festival]

Giant Defy.

 

[smokeysmoo]

Why confine yourself to those two?

You could look at Specialized, Cannondale, Trek, Giant, Scott, Boardman, Cube, Canyon, Focus, Ribble, Fuji, Rose, Raleigh, Ghost, to name but a few.

Loads of great bikes out there, get along to somewhere like Evans who carry a broad stock range and try a few out.

 

[Black knight]

Have visited several shops, mainly independents and those are the two brands that are easily available and have been recommended to me. Those are the two brands that seem most suitable.

I did visit a Giant dealer but they just ushered me to a bike at the very top of my budget.

If I'm missing a trick, I'm all ears.

Thanks.

 

[smokeysmoo]

Have you test ridden a Merida or a Felt? They may tick all your boxes on paper, and to the eye, but there is no substitute for riding one.

You might find you just don't like the feel of it, that you can't get comfy, or a.n.other anomaly that rules those bikes out, then again you may love both and buy one of each

That is really why the best bike you can buy is the one that fits you best, feels most comfortable and ticks as many other boxes as possible.

If you buy a bike because it looks great, but you never really like the feel of it on the road you simply won't use it.

PS: I have nothing against either of those brands, in fact I very nearly bought a Felt AR2 a couple of years ago. Although I have no experience of Merida, and my only gripe with Felt is they impose a weight limit on their frames, most others don't.

 

[r80]

I have a Merida 750 Roadrace, its bottom of the road racing range but has been flawless, and still rides like a charm. I got it for £300 instead of £450 as it was from the previous years catalogue.

 

[festival]

I did visit a Giant dealer but they just ushered me to a bike at the very top of my budget

Whats wrong with that?
Why have a budget if you shy away from the top end prices?
If you want the best bike you will probably need to go to the top of your budget.

 

[Black knight]

I did visit a Giant dealer but they just ushered me to a bike at the very top of my budget

Whats wrong with that?

I don't think he listened to my requirements.