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I'd been toying with getting a road bike for a year or so....mainly because where I live (Cheshire) there's lots of good road riding from my door. Far less gravel or MTB.
Anyway, after a thread on here a few months back, people were saying what a good deal the Felt Breed at Merlin Cycles was. They'd had one returned in my size due to a small mark on the head tube.....so not only did I get a further £50 off, but the bike also came built as opposed to 'boxed'. Absolute bargain at £999.
It arrived literally the day that I left for a month long tour of Europe so it's maiden ride didn't happen until today. The plan is to run two wheel sets and sell on my flat bar gravel bike. I've got some nice Hunt gravel wheels so will run those with gravel tyres on (need to get another cassette as this is a 2 x 12 setup, prior setup was 1 x 11).
Anyway, first ride today was absolutely awesome: I'm yet again 'rediscovering' riding this year after a couple of years of basically zero riding. It's been sporadic this year, so no great bike fitness as yet. I whacked road tyres on and did 27 miles of mainly flat road and absolutely loved it. Bike feels very fast, first time in 11 years riding drop bars, so a bit of getting comfy on them again will happen hopefully. It's GRX 2 x 12 and probably the first time in my life that I've ever had a bike with more than entry level equipment. The shifting is insanely good. My last road bike was a battered 2004 Specialized Allez with 8 speed Sora, so quite the step up!
Once I've got the gravel wheels setup I'll get it off road and see how I feel about it then (half tempted to keep my flat bar gravel bike as it's soooo good off-road!).
I'll pop some pictures below if I can!
Link to bike: https://www.merlincycles.com/felt-breed-30-grx-gravel-bike-boxed-bike-316151.html
Nice looking thing.
I'm more interested in how close your hose is to the BBQ - do you often need to put out flames?
Ha good spot!
Where about on Cheshire are you Tom? If it's near Northwich, Weaver Valley cycle club are doing a beginner road ride on Sunday you might enjoy. Bit less than 30 miles, cafe stop and a bit of company.
Nice bike too.
I'm in Eaton (Congleton) so probably a bit of a schlep to Northwich really. I do fancy riding with a group again you know. Pretty much all my riding is solo these days, about to lose my climbing partner to parenthood meaning I'll be doing more riding I reckon.
That price is insane. I've been keeping an eye on the market as I am planning on getting a gravel bike via ride to work (Evans), and even with the discount this is a real bargain.
Better deal than the Silex 400/4000 (on sale) and Sonder Camino (on sale), which were the best bang for buck.
I see yours has 3 mounting point on the fork, but all pics in websites only show 1.
@spaniardclimber yeah it feels like a real bargain. Mounting points everywhere. 3 on the forks. 2 on the toptube, 4 on the down tube. 2 on the seat tube. Can't say that I'll be mounting much on them actually.
Fab deal, will be a cracking bike with that wheel upgrade.
I have bought one too, loving it, absolute bargain for the money.
mine came boxed too, but the brakes were the wrong way around so bare that in mind if you order one. You may need to swap the brake lines around.
at the same time I installed cable sleeves to stop and rattle.
I'm just about to pull the trigger on one of these. £1099.00 on sale. I wanted a Sonder Camino but with a 69 deg HA etc its too slack for my needs: I want a dual wheel set up with something that can handle off road but I can have road days out with it not being too sluggish.
I'd prefer a single ring as I hate front mechs but I spose double ring gives me more road suitability.
The Breed 20 looks nice but only available in size 61 (I'm getting a 58)
I'm just about to pull the trigger on one of these. £1099.00 on sale. I wanted a Sonder Camino but with a 69 deg HA etc its too slack for my needs: I want a dual wheel set up with something that can handle off road but I can have road days out with it not being too sluggish.
I'd prefer a single ring as I hate front mechs but I spose double ring gives me more road suitability.
The Breed 20 looks nice but only available in size 61 (I'm getting a 58)
@Tom B. your bike looks great but it looks brilliant white? the spec colour is 'putty' which was a nice sandy off white
I'd say 'off white' rather than 'brilliant white'. First pic is probably a bit overexposed....
I got mine about a month ago and I really rate it, really good VFM. My brakes were reversed but I'm not going to swap them until I replace the bar tape, that said I'm sure there is legislation that prevents a bike being sold like this? The tyres aren't amazing in mud but are fine on tarmac, I will look at changing them come next winter. I don't think the Merlin listing mentions the carbon post and Pro Logo saddle which I'm not getting on with.
I don't think there is anything out there that can beat it right now.
Been using mine as my winter road bike and am more than happy. Swapped the brakes when it arrived . Currently using 35m Schwalbe road slicks on some Superstar wheels with axle converters. Not keen on the bars which have a slight rearward sweep and the tape is rather bulky.
I've ordered mine. Can't wait. Although they're US brake set up ? American manufacturer I suppose. Is the 38mm tyre okay for light gravel and road or do I immediately have to get plus 40 tyres?
I put something bigger on, but my gravel riding locally is often quite muddy. For fireroad style stuff I'm sure the stock tyres are fine. I'll be popping them on for the summer season, looks like they'll be fairly quick!
check the cables closely
my felt came with inserts under the tape. basically release the inner cable, pull them out. then the outer pulls away from the under tape sleeve, so you can shorten or swap sides easily
ah yes, my brakes are mechanical.. i wasn't thinking too much re hydraulics, ignore that
you've not ruined anything if the axles pinch up and nothing is rattling around