enine

Its an older model, previous owner had it when his kids were little and they are in college now. Newer ones have better handlebars.
It still had the mold things sticking out of the side of the tire.

qmsdc15

They look like they're flying standing still. You feeling a little "Let's go, Dad!" as the second stoker drives the nose of your saddle into your lower back? Great picture, cool bike.

enine

They had more fun pedaling backwards which doesn't help a lot. My son did so well on the trail a bike earlier this year I wanted to start my daughter a little earlier so she could start getting used to it. She will be three next month.

qmsdc15

But pedaling backwards is so much easier! Haha, almost three!

NRG

I've been lurking the forums for some time now and finally decided to make an account, so hi!

I've noticed there aren't too many Marins here, so here's a photo of my 2007 Marin Kentfield. I bought it new a few years ago, and have recently started using it as my primary mode of transportation. Soma Sparrow handlebars, el cheapo Twisted PC bmx pedals with Hold Fast straps, Blackburn light setup, lots of fun! The next purchase will be some fenders (recommendations welcome) and after winter I might splurge on some thinner tires.

I do have a question, though: Looking at photos of other people's bikes I see their saddles are raised much higher than mine. My bag is sort of crunched between my saddle and my rack because there's not really enough room for it. My legs are pretty well fully extended when I pedal, and I have 0.5 - 1" clearance over the top tube standing flat footed. It feels great, I am comfortable riding it, but it still confuses me that I don't seem to have such an abundance of space under my saddle that everyone else does. Any ideas?

pierce

I'm 6' tall. you sound like you're somewhat shorter than that, judging by the picture and your description.

with proper seat height, and pedal position, the optimal riding position for performance is just short of where your butt would be swaying back and forth when you pedal. your feet should be placed on the pedals such that the pedal axle is under the widest part of your foot, and when the pedal is all the way down and your foot is about level, your leg should be almost straight but not so far as to lock your knee.

I often run my seat 1-2 inches lower than optimal for cruising and putzing around. I raise it when I want to ride farther distances and/or faster.

those seat bags don't work so well when you are short and have to run your seat that low, you might consider getting a bag that straps on the top of the rack, instead. or seeing if you can strap the seat bag to the top of the rack.

if it was me, I'd dump that spring seat post in favor of a straight kalloy or similar rigid one. if you're going to hit a hard bump, stand up to unload your weight off the seat and let your legs act as shock absorbers.

NE Tiger

2010 Trek FX 7.3

irclean

Hi yerself, and welcome to Bike Forums! For fenders I always recommend Planet Bike Cascadia Fenders. Great coverage and good bang for the buck! As for the seat height... it may have something to do with your anatomy (torso vs. leg length) or maybe your bike has long crank arms. If it's comfy and you can extend your legs for a full pedal stroke I say don't worry about it. I second the recommendation to ditch the suspension seat post. If you can't afford to replace it right now then remove it and look up the bottom of the tube; you should see a bolt in there. Tighten it as far as you can and that will essentially turn it into a rigid seat post.

Nice bike, BTW!

fairymuff

Here's my Trek Valencia and the wife's Specialized Globe Vienna on a short tour we just did.

The Trek has been pimped a bit. The pedals were the first to go. They were replaced with wellgo's from my old mtb.I put some toe cups on them as well. Then there was the rack and mudguards/fenders. I had the LBS replace the stock 12-28 cassette to an 11-34 to deal with the inclines around here. Then I swapped the seagull style handlebars with flat bars from the same mtb and stuck bar ends on them. The last change was the saddle. I put a charge spoon (a cheap (£25) saddle that gets rave reviews around here) on it. We've just finished Swindon to Cardiff; 170 miles in 4 days.

The castle in the background is Caerphilly castle in Wales.

cagilber

Picked up a 2010 Trek FX 7.2 about a week ago.



Uploaded with ImageShack.us

enine

Hills are worse, there isn't much clearance between the tire and frame.
You would think one of the trailer bike makers would angle the hitch to compensate for the angle of the seat post.

Christobevii3

Gt traneo ultra with bar ends on and new seat.

KungPaoSchwinn

Nice bike Christ,are you an Asian?

Christobevii3

Nah, white texan

KungPaoSchwinn

Thanks,i asked bcz when i clicked on the image of your bike,it linked to a Chinese version of Image Shack,nice bike anyway.

trailz 

This beast is great. $70 for the bike, swapped out the stem and bars, changed the seat, homemade fenders and new tires. I'm keeping him purposefully ugly so he wont get stolen like my last 'prettier' bike.

Talldog

2008 Trek 7.9FX - full carbon. Just a wonderful riding bike.

Trek 7.5FX (2009 I think). Would like to put 35c tires on this if they safely fit the 14mm rim. Although it was supposed to have 32's, it actually came with 28's

Giant Cypress (2 pics) - set up for pure comfort. But surprisingly agile and quick.

Trek Soho S (single speed - Not "technically a hybrid .... but lots of fun on flat ground)

Giant FCR1 and Trek 7100 (neither shown) - FCR1 is fast, essentially a flat bar road bike and compact road gearing to boot. Although it is OK I'm not overly crazy about the 7100.

Don't know why I have so many cause it is expensive, but the variety does keep the riding all that much more fun.

AdelaaR

I haven't got a clue either ... that is an actual bike-collection there.
If you keep this up you could start a museum.

Talldog

I know... I know. I've even had four motorcycles around at one point. You should see my vintage stereo and airgun collection ... yada, yada, LOL. I do realize deep down that this is a disorder. But hey, it is fun. There are worse things I'm sure. And still way cheaper than some of my friends who indulge in boats and exotic cars.

irclean

Hmm... what part of Ontario do you live in? I might just have to drop by and help you indulge in your disorder!

AaronJohnTurner

Nice trip! I certainly wish we had castles in Canada.

The Valencia handles touring like a champ that's for sure.
This is mine on a 350km trip from Edmonton to Hinton, Alberta.


Like you I made a lot of changes, Wellgo clipless pedals, Ergon grips, flipped the stem, added barends, fenders, seat post bottlecages. It's a fun bike to mess around with.

fairymuff

The Valencia certainly held up well during the 4 day trip. That trip actually was a training run for a tour we've got planned over Christmas. We're flying the bikes out to Penang (Malaysia), and plan to ride down to Singapore. 940 kms in 16 days (3 rest days planned) in the hot and humid tropics. Mostly flat thank god

Thinking about that trip evokes a mix of excitement and trepidation....

AaronJohnTurner

And evokes jeaously out of me! Sounds fantastic, hope all goes well.

Dbl E GT

My newest ride ....LOVE IT !!!

Triaxtremec

Here is my new Specialized Sirrus Sport. So far I've flipped the stem to fit me better, got a new seat, cateye computer, SPD pedals, Easton EA50 wheels with Specialized Armadillo tires and new lightweight cassette.