ErinG

I am looking to buy my first hybrid bike, mostly for trail riding. I am looking at the Trek Kaitai and the Trek Bodega. The Kaitai has front suspension lock, whereas the bodega does not. How important is the suspension lock? I am also looking into the Fuji Sunfire 3.0. I am a woman, and the Fuji offers a women-specific bike, whereas the Treks do not. Please give me your thoughts! I am trying to spend under $600. Thanks!!

mjwithtwins

Well, I love the kaitai. I bought the Utopia because my husband convinced me I wanted disk brakes, he actually wanted me to get the Montaire but one wasn't available. I test road the Kaitai when I bought the Utopia and loved it and in fact had the shop switch out the stem on the utopia to mimic the same position I had on the kaitai.

I use the fork lockout a lot more then I thought I would. Often, midride I reach down and turn it on and off as the terrain changes. I wouldn't worry too much about getting a women's specific bike just get the bike that feels the best when you test ride. WSD isn't always the best choice for every woman because we all have different builds.

chibibike

the fuji looks about the same as the trek kaitai. so i'd say whatever fits you best cause I don't think you'd loose anything getting either one, they even look the same to me and the other one looks the same they are all pretty much the same cept the more expensive you get the components get slightly better but i doubt enough to really tell any difference so just go by fit however you can easily adjust fit with a different stem and saddle height and you can fix comfort by replacing the saddle for any of them too so it just depends on which one you like the look of best I think cause I think you can make any one feel just the way you want it to. You can usually swap out seats and stems at the shop for free for a different size and such. I'd def get one with the lockout feature though. However, all these bikes are gonna be on the heavy side compared to a road bike or even the FX series treks. FX is about 10 lbs lighter than those bikes however i don't think they have suspection forks and suspention forks make riding on bumpy ground a lot easier. If you dont ride on nature trails then i'd go with the FX series but if you do or ride on both types of ground just pick whtever one you like best of the 2 with the lockout.

Capecodder

I have the Kaitai and love it. Of the two Trek's the Kaitai has better components wheels, hubs, crank, cassette, fork, rear derailleur, shifters. The Kaitai also has better components than the Fuji. Here is mine................

mjwithtwins

Capecodder's kaitai is great looking but if you go that way get the white with green stripes, I think it looks more feminine. Or you can do what I did and add girlie stickers.

chibibike

hey is that the utopia! where did you get those flowers? i want some.

mjwithtwins

Amazon just sear h for reflective bicycle stickers

ErinG

Thanks so much for all the tips! I saw both color Kaitais in person and loved them. I agree that the green is more feminine, so I will probably go with that one.. although the blue is pretty badass. I will let you all know how it rides! Can't wait!