I have a 2009 Felt F75. I originally had the same bike, only the '07 model, but it got stolen from the shop I took it into to get a tune-up (I now do my own). The dude is awesome and obviously replaced it with the '09 model. Okay, an upgrade. Problem? It's a fucking tank. Last time I weighed it, the scale read 22.5 pounds.
Stock wheels: Felt Hubs/DT Stainless Steel Spokes/Mavic CXP-22 Rims, 28H front/32H rear. I did the Death Rid on these babies. Please note that I am not a climber by any means of the word. I suck at climbing. I love climbing, but I suck at it. I have the ass of a quarter horse. But for not being a climber and riding a tank, finishing the Death Ride is one of my proud moments.
I also upgraded my crank to a compact full speed ahead. I never knew that carbon cranks were so effin' nice.
Now the question: What wheels did I get? I got a set of Williams 19's. Not the "fanciest," but I'm cheap... and I have books to buy... and a horse to take care of. Okay, enough with the excuses. My main concern was, "What if I made a mistake." These wheels were the perfect first buy for a rookie like me. They don't break the bank, which is cool when you're going, "OMFG I DON'T KNOW WHAT THE FUCK I'M DOING!!!!"
They got here within 2 days of ordering them. Damn. Grabbed the box and asked, "Uh, are they even in here?" They were. And they looked pretty. I was as excited as a fat kid in a candy store and took a picture of them. I then went over to the boyfriend's where I used all of his tools (because I can) and put in one of my cassettes (11-28. Shut up my fat ass needs it for the hills), and put on tubes and tires. I was happy with the aesthetics of them.
Took them out for a test ride on the hills the next day. Yeah, I felt the difference. I did some repeats on the neighborhood ass-kicking-I'd-like-to-die-now-PLEASE hills. These wheels are significantly lighter than my tanks, so I thought that handling on the downhill would be a bit sketchy. I ride like a bat out of Hades on the downhill... but I tried it. At 48.2 mph, they were still amazing. They felt steadier than my tanks. Turning at 48 mph was like rolling on velcro with a cool velcro suit on. Dude, they STUCK. Impressed, I was.
Today, I took them out on the flats. I rode to school and back, with a 15 pound backpack and dense fog. 51 miles. Fantastic on the flats as well. I mean, wow. Sprinting was great. It took little effort (compared to the tanks) to get the wheels going. Smooth and quick to respond. Super happy with this.
I have a criterium this Saturday (I got conned into this!!!) - the Cal Aggie Crit. I'll be racing as a Women's Cat-4 (durp) so I'll definitely get to test how well this velcro-wheel works. These will be my racing/climbing wheels, while the tanks will be my training/every day wheels. I'm happy with this purchase. If anyone is looking into buying a set of wheels but have no idea as to what to get/do, I'd say these are good wheels to go for. Plus, their costumer service is amazing, which is the reason why I bought these and not a set of Eastons.
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