Specialized Tarmac Elite or Felt Z35?

Yves has narrowed down his choices of new bike between the Specialized Tarmac Elite or the 2008 Felt Z35. Both bikes are top quality and he can buy them at about the same price, so Yves wants our opinion on which he should be riding. Here are our descriptions of the bikes and our thought on which we prefer

Question:

Hi,
I am in the market for a road bike and I have narrowed down my choices to a 2008 Specialized Tarmac Elite (56cm) and a 2008 FELT Z35. I have test-ridden both bikes and like them both a lot. The Felt has somewhat better specs, but the saddle is awful, and the Specialized rides a tiny bit smoother (perhaps because of their special seat post inserts?) They both have a slightly more aggressive geometry than, say the Roubaix line from Specialized. I have seen them both on sale for about the same price ($1600). I am torn, and would love your advice. Thanks.

Hi Yves,

Nice choice of bikes and we can see why you are having problems choosing between them, here are our thoughts:

Specialized Tarmac Elite

The frame is a great base for this bike, monocoque carbon frame and forks, lightweight and responsive, the equipment is Shimano 105 gears with SRAM cassette and FSA crank set, many of the other parts are Specialized branded goods, but they are all of good quality, the rims are from Mavic and the Specialized carbon seat post has their Zertz inserts for comfort. This is an all round well designed and assembled bike, the Shimano 105 kit is very good, but maybe not up to race quality, but not far off.

Specialized Tarmac Elite

Felt Racing Z35

Again the frame is state of the art modulus carbon as are the forks, the wheels are the same as on the Specialized Tarmac Elite, but the equipment has a Shimano Ultegra rear mech along with the other 105 parts, the crank set is also from Shimano, unlike the FSA on the Specialized. All the other parts are from Felt including the carbon seat post, tires are Vitoria. As you know, Yves, you know these bike are so similar.

Felt Z35

The Conclusion

This decision is soo hard; I can see why you asked someone else! OK the frames are made the same way and have the same dimensions. I prefer the FSA crank set on the Specialized to the Shimano on the Felt, but the Shimano Ultegra rear mech gets the vote. You say you couldn’t get on with the saddle on the Felt, saddles can be changed. This will cost more money and as you say the Specialized has the Zertz which is great for comfort, so I think the Specialized Tarmac Elite gets our vote by a very close decision, they are both brilliant bikes at a great price, enjoy.