I’m leaning Felt right now for the reasons below, please tell me if my logic is flawed.
[https://www.bikeexchange.com/a/road-bikes/felt/wi/appleton/verza-speed-40/249327279?variant\_id=155276949](https://www.bikeexchange.com/a/road-bikes/felt/wi/appleton/verza-speed-40/249327279?variant_id=155276949)
[https://www.salsacycles.com/bikes/2022-journeyer-flat-bar-acolyte-700c](https://www.salsacycles.com/bikes/2022-journeyer-flat-bar-acolyte-700c)
I know they’re completely different “categories” of bike, but the Felt is going for $400 now where the Salsa is going for about $900. I want to take either one of these bikes on long distance (40 mile+) gravel rides (I’d say 80% hard packed 20% loose/and other stuff).
My thoughts were to ride out the Felt and slowly swap out things like seat, handle grips, and eventually the 3x up front as time and budget allows (I think what’s on there stock is mostly geared towards hybrid).
Other than that, I feel that the two bikes have a bit more in common than I’d expect:
1. Frame geometries/measurements are very similar
2. Tubeless ready
3. Axle is QR on Felt and thru on Salsa, but I don’t view this as a deal breaker
4. I’m not really looking for a drop bar gravel, though I know that’s the “traditional” setup
5. I’ve ridden a mix of full carbon, carbon fork only, and full Al, and I think I can live without the carbon fork on the Felt.
Am I overlooking something here? I *think* I’ve made up my mind on the Felt, but I’m looking for someone to raise a flag and tell me where I might go wrong.
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by VeeAyt