fungirl

Hi, I just joined BF. Not totally decided on road bikes or mountain bikes. But I found these two bikes in our local bike store: Trek 7.5 disc and Trek 1.2 Both are for road and trails?? Anyone knows these bikes? If I tend to mountainbiking, there was a nice one too : Norco Storm. This one is also good for pavements. I love to go cycling for fitness.

swskeptic

Personally, I'd pick the 1.2. It's a road bike, with road gears. The 7.5 is a hybrid with MTB gears. I suggest the 1.2, but it is ultimately up to you. Also, no matter how you cycle, it's going to be fitness. It's kind of difficult to NOT be getting fit riding a bike lol.

Hope I helped at all.

fungirl

Thanks swskeptic! I guess Norco is only (Vancouver)Canadian brand. Well, it still makes me choose between road or mountainbike. The Trek 1.2 is more roadbike than the Trek 7.5, is n't it? Difficult! I will visit the shop sometime this week and leave with one of the new bikes.....grrr decisions!
BTW, It seems that there are more "road addicts" than mountainbikers.
There are tons of mountainbike trails in Vancouver, from my house just one around the corner. I do like to explore all those trails but then....I like the looks of a roadbike, the speed and so. How do you know what is the right choice?

cachehiker

The right choice is the bike you end up riding the most. Desiree, the black one in the sig pic below, is a Soma Double Cross set up as an ubercommuter 9 months out of the year. She accounts for 3000 miles every year with about 100 of it on the trail and another 100 on cyclocross courses.

A pure road bike like the 1.2 cannot handle trails at all. A full suspension bike with gnarly knobbies is an absolute beast on the road. A good hardtail like the Norco with narrower semi-slicks can make pretty good time on the roads and still handle most trails. The 7.5 would be a hair faster on the road but could only handle the easiest trails unless your bike handling and line picking skills are really good.

Andy_K 

The Norco looks pretty good. It's got nice components and you can lock out the fork when you're riding on roads. But cachehiker is right, ride every bike you're even thinking about and get the one that you like the most. If the trails you're talking about are wide dirt paths through the woods, the Trek 7.5 will be fine. If you're thinking about taking it down the side of Mt. Whistler (and you really should be!) then even the Storm might not be sufficient (although it would definitely work on the less technical trails at Whistler).

swskeptic

If you think you will be on the trails more, then go for a mountain bike. Depending on the types of trails you may have to get a heavy duty MTB or if it is just hard packed dirt you could get by on light MTB or maybe a cross if you like to experiment and try it out. My next bike might be a cross for just that reason. Look into everything and by all means do NOT rush this decision. I'd even go as far as to say don't get it this week, wait 2 weeks or more and really research the bikes you are interested in, where you are going to be riding it the most, ect.

I wish you well in your endeavor and I hope you stick with it. Good luck!

P.S.
Listen to Andy and Cachehiker, along with everyone else. Everyone here is super nice and is willing to help you out with anything.

fungirl

You're so right, everyone is supernice and so helpful. With all this information it is difficult to go to the store and purchase one. Lots to read and consider first. I leave it for a few days. My visit to another good bike store was helpful too. This time talking about a cross bike, good for trails and road as well. Maybe not great for hills and heavier trails but good on the flat ones. His advice is to come back and testdrive. That is the only way to tell which bike I like best.
Thanks everyone so far, i keep reading here and will let you know if I do my purchase.

swskeptic

Totally, when you do purchase your bike, let us know, I'm curious to find out what you will end up purchasing.

Kimmitt 

The big thing to remember is that you're not going to get it right the first time; you'll find after a few months that the bike you got is either pretty much the wrong one or is the right one but needs some mods to work the way you want it to. This is super-normal.

BarracksSi

Yup. Not many people end up with only one bike, so there's no pressure to get the "perfect bike" the first time.

Maybe it's like choosing a favorite pizza place. Once you find one you like, you'll keep ordering from them -- but in the meantime, while you're trying the others, it's still pizza... and that doesn't suck.

fungirl

Yes, that is right. Its hard to find the 'perfect' bike. Like the bikeshop-guy said; you want a Corvette for speed or a SUV that goes off-road as well? Yep, a lot of flavours and toppings as a pizza, LOL. I like that one :-)
With the talking/reading I think I like the cross bike, the looks and build of a roadbike but good for trails as well. Don't think I will do the heavy trails, up and down hills.

BarracksSi

I should post at 5 AM more often -- I guess I come up with better stuff when I can't sleep.

So yeah, bikes are like pizzas. They're all different, and they can be tweaked to one's preferred taste. But in the end, none of them suck -- because they're still pizzas.

cachehiker

How about a Lotus with a lift kit?

Basically, the biggest decision is road or trail and it seems you've chosen road first. The next decision is speed or utility. It seems you've chosen utility first. Do you want to carry a rack? Do you want clearance for fenders? Do you need gearing sufficient to carry heavy loads or climb steep hills? Or will a single speed get the job done? Do you want a flat bar or drops? Do you want wider tires for comfort and to better handle road damage or narrower ones for speed?

It's like going to the Baskin-Robbins. No matter what flavor looks best, you'll always wonder if another was better. Best to take your time and wait until a bike starts talking to you in your sleep.

joe_5700

What do you ride currently? If you have a department store mountain bike, the 7.5 FX will feel like a road racing bike in comparison. What conditions do you currently ride on? If you are going to ride on packed trails, then get the 7.5 because the 1.2 can only ride on the road. If you are looking for speed and climb hills with less effort get the 1.2. I went the hybrid route with a Trek 7200 and I am finding out that you really need BOTH bikes. Once the sales start here with the cooler weather I will be looking for a Trek 1.2 or 1.5 to go along with my 7200.

fungirl

Am not riding anything yet. I used to ride a bike since I was young though. I have done spinning classes very intense a few years ago. I just want to get back into cycling because I would like to do fitness, doing some healthy activity, and biking has always been a lot of fun for me. I love being outdoors, explore trails in my neighbourhood or take the bike in our truck and go to places. Don't think I would do extreme mountains, going uphill and downhill. the other hand I love the racing and speed of a roadbike.
Most likely I will go rent a roadbike tomorrow and the next day a mountainbike. The only way to find out what I like best. The other thing i noticed so many riders are so passionate, excited and addicted to roadbiking.

joe_5700

That's a great idea. Be sure to try out a hybrid bike while you are at it. If you are going to be doing long distances, you do not want a mountain bike. Currently, I go for 50 mile rides on my hybrid, but anything longer is definately for a good road bike. The reason I went with a hybrid over a mountain bike was for a lighter faster bike, and wider tires than a road bike to provide stability on poor road conditions. I have since swapped out the 35mm tires and have 28mm tires. It definately made the bike faster. I would take a good look at the FX/7000 Trek line because those bikes will give you the best of both worlds and are cheaper than entry level road bikes.

fungirl

Update! I did rent a roadbike (boy what a fun!) and my hubby a mountainbike. We rode Stanley Park's seawall (most pavement, flat road). A few times a sprint and going FAST. We switched bikes to see what I like most. I like the speed with the roadbike, but also the sturdiness of the mountainbike. See, still no preference.....grr!
Anyways, I am thinking it over, what will I do most, going on the road, trails? My husband is concerned for me to go on the road. He feels it is a lot safer to take trails (isn't he sweet?). I agree with that. I also think that a roadbike limits me to only going on the road. To start with a cheaper mountainbike (Trek or Giant) that can go on the road as well might be a solution. See how much and where I will use it. Maybe in a year I know i really want to go road cycling. What do you guys think? What do you ride?

BarracksSi

Both.

Cyclaholic

Have you ever heard of 'cyclocross'? google it, it's awesome! It's the sport has produced the illegitimate child of a rigid mountain bike and a road racing bike. A mongrel breed that's as fast as a road bike and as tough as nails. The perfect bike!

If I didn't have my LHT I'd be on a Crosscheck.

TalkingHead

the Trek 7.5 is more of a commuter bike, you would have to be a real masochist to try that on any downhill or dirt trail's

fungirl

Well I am not really interested in mountainbiking like dirt trails or heavy up and downhills. Most of it will be paved roads or gravel trails.

fungirl

I got a new bike!! Finally I took a decision. Today we bought two brand new bikes. My hubby got a Trek 3900 disc and I got a mountainbike. a Norco Charger, really really cool. In the pouring rain we went for a 45 minute bike ride. Happy as a kid! We took a trail, part pavement and road and am really happy with it. It was some 'dirt biking' anyways, puddles and mud, but who cares ;-)
The bike is good on the road as well on the gravel. It was F U N!!

coldfeet

Congratulations! Came here late, but wanted to say ( if you haven't figured it out already ) Fenders, you live in Vancouver, gotta have fenders!

BarracksSi

And stuff for chain cleaning.

fungirl

Thanks for your respond. Haha yes I figured that before we left....buying a bike when its pouring rain, gottagetwet! Anyways, I will get some extras later on. That is fenders yeah!