jgjulio

In the spirit of N+1 I am looking at the Trek 7.3FX for use on short leisure trips through town and my son's college campus. I am also thinking of taking in to national parks such as Yosemite that have paved roads that are not in great shape.

I assume I could change the tires to something a little wider and with more tread- right?

What do you guys think about this bike and the tire changing idea?

Thanks.

andrelam

The 7.3FX is a very nice bike. My co-worder just bought one for himself last Fall. I helped him look at a number of bike, but the 7.3 is realy in a sweat spot in that price range. It has nice component upgrade from the 7.2, but without the crazy high price you get with the 7.4 and up.

As far as tires go, that bike should have come with the Bontrager Hard Case tires in a size 700Cx32. I LOVE those tires. I had the Bontrager Invert Select tire in a size 700Cx35 on my Gary Fisher Nirvanna (similar to the FX) and didn't like them much. When those tires wore out I put on the Hard Case in the 32mm size and have been very happy. Even with 80 PSI in the tires they ride very smoothly. If the roads get rough you can drop the PSI a little and get a softer ride. Unless you are going off road on trails you don't need tread. The smoother tire will be much more enjoyable for on-pavement rides. No "buzzing" liek you get with treaded tires. You can read lots about tires (probably more than you ever needed to know) on Sheldon Brown's web site. Sheldon does a nice job explaining why you don't need tread on bike tires. I found that the tread on my Invert Select tires collected road grit and then the grit would push through and cause flats. This got realy bad as the tire wore down. The smooth tire sheds road grit and therefore seems to be more flat resistant.

Therefore congrats on the nice bike... and keep the good tires. It is one of the nice upgrades you get from moving up from the 7.2FX to the 7.3FX.

Happy riding,
André

bautieri

If you have a Raleigh dealer nearby check out the Cadent FT1, it's almost identical in componet set up and comes in about $100 less.

If you like the 7.3fx and it fits, go for it!

Richard_Rides

I have a 7.7FX and I have 2 wheelsets, one with 23c tires and one with 32c. The bike is a rocket with the 23's and a plush Cadillac with the 32's. The FX series are great except flat road bars get old fast. I have Nashbar Trekking bars on mine and am acquiring the parts to convert it to a conventional dropped type handlebar.

Lance rides a Trek, so if it's good enough for him it's good enough for me.

stevel610 

NiceBike. Get one

surfrider

I've got a 2006 FX 7.3 and had no problems with it. Mine's been a very reliable bike. I've been using it for basic fitness riding (20-35 miles rides), and only had to do basic maintenance on it. The frame is aluminum, but the fork is CroMoly steel, which works well for the riding I do. Its a little different from the current models; I believe Trek changed to some lighter components, and put on wheels/tires that are not as 'ballistic' as on the 2006 model.

800over

I loved my 7.3 and had the same problem. I added some cane creek bar ends and the extra hand position made all the difference.

ScrubJ

I love mine!!! Over 4000 miles on my original Hardcase tires, a couple of cassettes, and two or three chains. I have a set of slicks (28's) just waiting to be installed if I EVER wear out the original ones.

Richard_Rides

I did that exact same thing before I went with the trekking bar. Now I plan to put a dropped roadie type handlebar on it. I will use bar end shifters and Cane Creek makes brake levers that work with the V-Brakes. I love this bike but want real handlebars...