Commuting - Tran send

Has anyone tried the gaint "tran send" I have searched the forum and find very little info . I found it or a trek 7.3 for about the same price lots of info and reviews on the trek. to ride 8 miles to work and back and a couple a times a year take off camping for a week or two. Up grading from a deptment store mongose comfort bike I have had for four years and put thousands of miles on the trek seemed faster but after i put rack and fenders on will it be about the same
thanks for any input

The FX will always be faster because its closer to a flatbar roadbike than anything else. The Tran Send is pretty different from the FX and comes down to whether you would find its features useful (mainly, the 8-speed internal hub, front suspensions, discs).

I have a Trans send EX, that I've been riding for about six weeks. I've used it for short trips, grocery shopping, bike path riding and commuting. My commute is 44 miles round trip and the bike is quite comfortable on the trip to and from work. The EX has an internal 8 speed hub and a quick shifter, which is very easy to use and should be maintenance free. It also has disk brakes which should help in wet weather. My only complaint so far is the bike could use a larger chain ring so you could get a little more speed out of it on the top end. I read a post where someone had done just that. I tend to ride on the fourth through eighth gear. The bike comes with a wooden plank attached to the rear rack. I recently removed the plank because I found that some panniers could not be attached with the plank in the way. All in all I'm very pleased with the bike. Bicycle magazine rated this bike highly for a commuter bike. You'll definately want to test ride the bike to see if it will work for your needs.

I did a test ride in the lot I am going back tomorrow he mentioned demo where i can take home for day the one I looked at the "lx" had no internal hub or suspension
thanks for advice my wife will kill me if I do not decide soon I have pestered five or six bike shops mutiple times but can not make up my mind based on a ride around the parking lot like shoes that feel good in the store but leave with blisters the next week i don't know if the trek store will allow but I will try

The tran send has always struck me as a well-designed and functional bike. It always catches my eye when I'm in the LBS across from my office, although I've never really "shopped" for one.

I think it would be the utilitarian choice. Were I riding flatbar (or non-dropbar) bikes anymore I'd have taken a closer look at it.