Hybrid Bicycles - A new rider looking for some help :)

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Patterson
06-18-10, 08:01 PM
Hello everyone,

My first time shopping for an 'adult bike' has lead me to these forums and I'm sure you guys can help me out! I haven't owned a bicycle for around ten years and back then those two wheels of freedom only made it around the neighbor hood and off plywood jumps. The bike I'm looking for now is going to be a reward to myself after finishing up a tour of duty overseas this July. I'll primarily be using it around campus, to parks and paths where I may like to take it on dirt paths occasionally. It will also be taking the place of me purchasing a car, so it will need to be able to take me great distances at a nice speed (on pavement) to visit my parents and what not. I'm planning on riding during the winter in northern Illinois so I'll need to switch out the tires at some point. AND of course it needs to look pretty :)

I'm looking at spending <800$
The bikes that have caught my eyes so far have been the Trek 7.3FX, the Trek 7300 and the Trek Valencia.

I'm completely open to suggestions of any kind and greatly appreciate it.

referee54
06-18-10, 08:08 PM
Many people here are Trek riders. I, myself, like my Giant Rapid that I just bought---I sold my Raleigh C-200 and moved into a Giant. I like it a great deal and also use it to commute to the school where I teach.
gepilling
06-18-10, 09:52 PM
Have you ridden any of the bikes you mentioned? You should definitely shop around and test ride several bikes from different manufacturers before settling on one. The main thing I think you'll want to figure out is whether you like a more upright riding position (as the 7300 has) or something with a lower riding position (like the 7.3 FX). That will help you narrow down the options quite a bit.

My personal recommendation would be a Specialized Sirrus (the Sirrus Sport is the model that would be closest to your price target) which is roughly similar to the Trek FX models but is lighter and has thinner tires for quicker speeds on the road. You can still use it on unpaved bike paths as long as the ground is firm... you really don't want to be taking any hybrids on really rough terrain or loose sandy paths. Anyway, being in a similar situation as yourself, having gotten back into cycling last year after a decade or more of not being on a bike, the Sirrus Sport is what I ultimately bought. I don't know what it's like during the Winter months, though.