Recreational & Family - Trek 7.6 FX

Hi,

I'm new to the world of cycling, and I've been trying to decide which bike to get. I plan on using the bike mostly for recreational riding / working out, probably not more than 15 miles, so I think it makes more sense to get a hybrid than road bike. I've been looking at the Trek FX series, and they seem like solid rides. I would be primarily riding on pavement, although I will probably venture off onto some dirt / gravel paths on occasion. Do you think a 7.6 FX would hold up to this? Also, I'm rather tall, at 6'4". Are there any other models I should consider that might fit me better?

Thanks!

Long post, but I started where you are a year ago. Here's the results of that...

Certainly a wise choice. I prefer the multiple hand positions of a road bike and so bought one of the relaxed frame design road bikes, installed a stem riser, and went to 32m tires. You could just as easily add bar-ends, so I'm sure the difference is fairly small.

What you've described is known as a "Flat bar roadbike" and is a fairly good choice. I will be buying one for my wife as she finds road bike shifters and bars a bit intimidating and seems to do much better w/trigger shifters.

Gravel and loose dirt are problems for any road bike tire and I'd be thinking about 35mm tires at a minimum. In reality they will not appreciable slow the bike. Do make sure the bike will accept that wide a tire. Many, maybe even most, don't/won't. Then you can at least add them later. Don't forget this. You will be remembering this post later if you forget. And kicking yourself.

Dollar for dollar I think the Giant FCR-1 is at least as much bike, maybe a bit more.

I don't know about the 7.6 fx running gear, but if I could I'd be riding a 10 speed rear with a double up front.

Do make sure you get a road bike cassette. Something like a 10-28 rear cassette. There are many hybrids (a generic term for a flat bar road bike) running mountain bike derailers. Not bad in and of itself, you could argue they are stronger, but they have wide ratio rear gear sets (called a cassette). That shows up in feeling "in between" the right gear sometimes. Closer ratio cassettes eliminate that. I ride a 06 Sequoia Elite and into a headwind often find feel the jump between 5 and 6 is too long. I'd hate to feel that way all the time...

Shop dealer carefully. We've a local criminal (not really fair, they are a quality dealer) that charges at LEAST 15% over retail on everything. On some things he can be over twice as much as other dealers. Needless to say, I've met a number of folks shocked to learn they spent $x,xxx on a bike and accessories that retailed for $xxx..

Do buy a rear rack, a pack, a spare tire (folding), tube, tire levers, co2 air nozzle and mini tanks, small set of bike tools, and a first aid kit. Lights too, and a helmet. You WILL need all this, so save yourself the "damn, I wish I had"... Oh yeah. 2650 MAH rechargable duracells for the lights.

What do you weight? This whole "Aren't those racy looking rims cool!" thing is a disaster waiting to happen. I wonder if the trek 7.6 is maybe using Bontregers 24 paired spoke rims. YMMV, but I don't think so Tim. I've been unpleasantly, and expensively, educated to just how easy it is to hurt a road bike rim, and all the trek dealer talk in the world won't make me think a 200 lb guy, as an example, should be riding less then a 32 hole rim. This seems to get missed, and you may find a 7.5FX or FCR2 to be larger different only in the rims.... And for the better if you're big.

If nothing else, try to wheedle your way into different rims. Personally I'm moving into Mavic Open Pro w/32 inthe back and a CXP-33 in the front. I suppose I can live w fewer spokes up front.

Sorry again fror the long post. Good luck... dan

I looked at the Trek 7.6 FX this week. I couldn't believe how light it was. My last bike was a steel MTN bike purchased many years ago. My question on this is how much of a difference will this bike be from a hybrid. Most of my riding for now will be pavement. The 7.6 FX is classified as a fitness bike in the Trek catalog. I live in Chattanooga and we have a great TN Riverwalk paved road to ride and all kinds of dirt trails. I think I will end up getting 2 bikes. For now I want to start with a fitness or hybrid. Any suggestions welcome.

While the FX series and bikes like it are good for what you describe, I'd suggest a 'cross bike. After riding a FX and Giant FCR for a while, I've found that road bars are much more comfortable on longer rides. I got the Trek FX to do commuting, and the flat bar is great for in-traffic maneuverability, but not so great on longer "fitness" rides.

A cheaper 'cross bike has a more relaxed geometry than a true roadie, and brake/frame clearance for 35c tires. It is designed for hard-packed dirt trails and light offroading, but not out of its element on the road. You'll probably get great value out of the Motobecane cross bike (about $800) and much cheaper than the larger companies offerings (I rode a Scott cyclocross from a LBS, and it was $1200+)

Oh, and check the tires that come with the FX. My 7300FX came with 35c Bontrager tires that were only rated to about 45psi. Talk about a workout... I switched to 27c Conti Gatorskins and instantly gained several mph of average speed at normal cadence (I've got them at around 90-95 psi).

The FX is a great bike, fast and versatile. It'll handle dirt roads just fine. The 7.6FX is set up as better for pavement; it has 28c tires but can take up to 38c. My wife's 7.5FX has 32c tires and we ride dirt roads a lot. Her tires are pumped to 90psi. We put barends on to give her another hand position. She absolutely refuses to consider a road bike of any sort as she feels she'll be bent over too far. We've done 25-30 mile rides.

The FX bikes can take fenders and front and rear racks, too. It's a fast bike.

Bianchi makes the Volpe, a cyclocross/touring bike.


The geometry is similar to a road bike but a bit more stable in order to handle heavy loads. It can take wider tires, fenders and racks. $900

For the same price as the 7.6FX, the Trek Pilot 1.2


It has the same tires as the 7.6 and a similar geometry to the FX. But it has the road handlebars that will give your hands several positions for comfort.

The 22.5" FX should fit you and the Pilot and Volpe both come in larger enough frames sizes for you.

Giant makes the FCR, similar to the FX. I did a group road ride once with a guy who rode one of these. He was able to keep up.

I have one and love it. I have road bikes and love them too.

There are differences that I really notice. First, the flatbar FX is the most forgiving and crash-proof in terms of bike handling that you will find. It feels a lot to me like riding a BMX bike in terms of handling. I have tried, the cycling gods know that I have tried, to crash it, in ways that you can't even begin to appreciate, and yet it always manages to give me an out or an option to somehow stay upright and in control. Where road bikes can feel like they are always trying to crash you from the time that you get on them to the time that you get off, the FX is just the opposite.

It's designed to do a lot of things well in that regard, without a lot of trade off in speed, agility and response. You do sit upright though. That's the trade off. With the Pilot above as an example though, you can get road bikes that have you sitting up quite a bit too. What you won't get from the road bike though is the same degree of maneuverability and bike handling forgiveness unless you are a pretty accomplished and capable rider. If that's you, then I would definitely think that you would want to consider your options with road bike geometry as well. You could find yourself out-growing the flatbar FX and its drawbacks to a road bike pretty fast.

I can curb jump the FX. I can head off-road onto trails or just to cut through the field and make my own path. I can maneveur at extremely slow speed in tight quarters clipped in and be completely stable. At the same time I can haul ass away from a light. I can pace with the cars and traffic at 20+mph speed. I can descend with speed and confidence. The only thing that I really can't do is to get down out of the wind the way that you can riding in the drops on a traditional geometry road bike. All I can do is lay down over the bars a bit. It helps, but it isn't the same as what I can do on the same routes riding my road bike. And yes, you will need to be adding bar ends if you want to be able to get the option of an additional hand positions on the FX.

Otherwise, I have put several thousand miles on mine including a lot of commutes and road rides. It is a really nice bike, with a nice selection of components. It has held up really well over the miles too, even on city roads and the extra chunky stuff that the county in my neck of the woods seldom makes any effort to maintain.

YMMV of course. Lots of good suggestions and alternatives in the other posts for you to consider. Hope this helps though. ;)

I'd like to thank everyone for there input.

I ended up test riding a couple of upright geometry road bikes, such as the Cannondale Synapse, Trek Pilot and Specialized Roubaix. I think I'm going with one of those over the Trek FX. I like the option of different riding positions, and they provided ample comfort.

Can you actually negotiate on price when buying a new bike, or is the MSRP pretty much the price? I'm looking at a Cannondale Synapse 2 in particular, which lists for $1300. Can I expect any discount?

Thanks!

If it's in the off-season you can sometimes get a deal but not now unless it's last year's bike. I'd ask for a discount on your accessories, the helmet, floor pump, bottle cages, bottles, frame pump, saddle bag, extra tubes, patch kit, tire levers, jersey, shorts, shoes, pedals, etc. if you are buying all at once.

It won't hurt to ask, though.

Let us know which bike you got. Your new choices are all good bikes. Get the one that fits the best.

So this weekend I ended up getting a Synapse 2. It was a tough call between that and the Roubaix Triple Elite, but in the end, I felt like the Cannondale had sharper responses. The Roubaix certainly was a little smoother, but it also felt a little more hesitant, whereas the Synapse responded like a sports car. That, combined with the fact that the Synapse was $500 cheaper, sealed the deal.