I have been putting the Origin 8 2 X 9 cranks through their paces all summer and here are my thoughts now on this drive train option “geared” (sorry for the pun!) towards the 29″er riders out there.

The cranks have performed flawlessly over the course of the test. Shifts have been good. Not super snappy, but not bad either. I used a SRAM X-9 shifter with the derailluer limited out to travel just far enough to allow the use of the 29T and 44T rings. I would characterize shifting performance as on par with what I had on the bike previously, which was a TruVativ Stylo crank. Pretty much standard for most trail riders.

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Rather than go for the 2300 or Sora typical on a £700 bike, Felt have plumped for nine-speed Microshift levers, an FSA triple chainset and Shimano Sora mechs. It works well – the is shifting firm and reassuring, the nine-speed cassette ensuring there are smaller jumps between gears than on eight-speed equivalents – but Microshift don’t have Shimano’s ergonomics. The brakes themselves, with their glossy red cartridges, work better than their non-cartridge counterparts often found on bikes at this price though. Felt’s Z series bikes have a less racy geometry than their F series machines, with a shorter stem, 2cm taller head tube and shallower head angle. It’s impressive to find the bike’s red detailing extending to the brake block cartridges, cable ferrules and even the rear derailleur cable outer. Although the Z100’s looks didn’t appeal to everybody, most of our testing team were wowed that such a modestly priced bike had such co-ordinated kit adorning its well finished aluminium frame. At this price Shimano is specced virtually without exception – this is one of those exceptions.

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