Clydesdales/Athenas (200+ lb / 91+ kg) - Trek 7.3 or 7.5 that is the Question

I was in the LBS on Saturday getting new pedals (because my Fat AZZ broke one), and I took the Trek 7.3FX out for a long test ride. There is a huge difference in speed between the FX, and my MTB.

I road that thing like I stole it.....man was it fast compared to my MTB.

I also did ride the Trek 7500, and it was not to my liking.
I would recommend the 7500 to somebody an older, or to somebody with back problems.
I am 31, but my mind still thinks I am 18, and skinny, so the upright position was not for me.

So now my delima is what bike I buy the 7.3, or 7.5.
The 7.5 is about $200 more that the 7.3, but has much nicer components.

I honestly don't have the money for either, because I just bought my MTB, a new house, central air, and a LCD TV in the past 2 months.

I don't want to buy the 7.3, and then 2 weeks later wish I had the 7.5.

Anybody out there go through this same delima

Well, its usually my opinion that its worth a little extra to get the better components.


However, in your case, I'm wondering if its just "I want" syndrome. If you just got all that stuff recently, I'd try to force myself to hold off and see if you are still jonesin' for it in about 5-6 months.

You already answered your own question:


I was in the LBS on Saturday getting new pedals (because my Fat AZZ broke one), and I took the Trek 7.3FX out for a long test ride. There is a huge difference in speed between the FX, and my MTB.

I road that thing like I stole it.....man was it fast compared to my MTB.

I also did ride the Trek 7500, and it was not to my liking.
I would recommend the 7500 to somebody an older, or to somebody with back problems.
I am 31, but my mind still thinks I am 18, and skinny, so the upright position was not for me.

:D

Depending on your size, you may go with the 7.3 over the 7.5 simply due to the wheelset. The ones on the 7.5 are low spoke count and fast, but they are low spoke count. Or in other words, not nearly as tough :).

I ride a 7.3 and love it, chose it over the 7.5 for that reason specifically. I'd recommend replacing the saddle, NOBODY likes the stock one, but aside from that they are great, versatile rides.

I was worried about the wheels, and also the carbon fork on the 7.5
The guy was really pushing the 7.5 to me, but at 170lbs, he is not going to have the issues I will be having.
I bought my MTB (GF Wahoo) about 6 weeks ago, and ride it everyday.
The only problem is I do all paved trail riding.
I just moved, and do not have anybody to ride the dirt with.
I am very lucky my sub backs a rail trail, so I try to get in a min of 10 miles a day, and them I do a distance 2 X a week. I am up to 20 miles.

My goal is to do 50 by October, and I think that with the FX my distance riding will be much more enjoyable.
(It also has a cool bell on it....hahaha get outa my way)

I can still remember my first ride. I was out of water, and dead tired after 2 miles.

I was worried about the wheels, and also the carbon fork on the 7.5
The guy was really pushing the 7.5 to me, but at 170lbs, he is not going to have the issues I will be having.
I bought my MTB (GF Wahoo) about 6 weeks ago, and ride it everyday.
The only problem is I do all paved trail riding.
I just moved, and do not have anybody to ride the dirt with.
I am very lucky my sub backs a rail trail, so I try to get in a min of 10 miles a day, and them I do a distance 2 X a week. I am up to 20 miles.

My goal is to do 50 by October, and I think that with the FX my distance riding will be much more enjoyable.
(It also has a cool bell on it....hahaha get outa my way)

I can still remember my first ride. I was out of water, and dead tired after 2 miles.

You can gain a lot of paved trail and road performance with different tires. When your riding in dirt, mud, snow, etc you want wide, knobby tires with low air pressure, to maximize traction, the knobs dig into the surface.

On hard surfaces like asphalt and concrete, traction is actually better with a smooth tire, because knobs can't dig into the surface, and will just ride on top, giving a lot less surface area. There is also the question of rolling resistance, this is the frictional resistance of the tires to roll along the surface, and the solution is to go with a narrower tire, at a higher pressure. There is one thing that is confusing, some measurements are in American units (inches), and some are in Metric. To resolve the confusion, we refer to the master mechanic, Sheldon Browns article on Tire Sizes (http://sheldonbrown.com/tire-sizing.html)

Where it gets confusing is that the old 27" is marked in inch widths, as are most MTB tires, and Sheldon's chart is in mm. Simply multiply inches by 25.4 or divide mm by 25.4 to get the other unit. I currently run 36mm wide tires (1.4 inch) on my MTB, and get a lot better road performance, then with the old 2.5" knobby tires.

xxx