Originally Posted by viros20
my GF has a 7.3 FX, which i commuted to work on for a week while my cannondale bad boy was in the shop getting the bottom bracket replaced.
The FX surprised me by how much faster it was than my bike. I had a feeling the 7.3 FX was faster since it felt a whole lot lighter but it felt almost 1-2 mph faster. It kind of pissed me off and made me wish i had not paid extra for the bad boy. I plan to do a review on both bikes and post it here considering they are both brand new 07s just purchased in april. Ill get around to it shortly.
so with that i think the fitness thing has to do with the fact that its faster than a regular hybrid. I feel like i get a better work out on the 7.3 than my bad boy since i go faster.
When I was looking to buy, I narrowed my list down to the 7.5FX, Specialized Sirrus Comp and the Cannondale Road Warrior 500. I also looked at the C'dale Bad Boy but crossed it off the list after talking to the sales person who helped me. While I do like the BB, I'm glad I went with the RW500, great bike, for me.
When you say it "felt almost 1-2 mph faster," I take it you didn't use a cyclocomputer. Why not buy one and find out.
My point is, it could have been several factors that made the Trek seem faster than the C'dale - and it may have been. Both are great bikes, in any case.
To the OP, it seems to me that "fitness" bikes lean more towards the road end of the spectrum than the mountain end having skinnier 700x28 or so tires, no front suspension, more road oriented gears, more forward leaning riding position than relaxed (while still being upright) and (at least on lower end models) a suspension seat post (higher end models I glanced at had CF seat posts, as I recall).