Hi All,

I have no experience with bikes. I am planning to buy a bike to get some exercise. I went to 3 LBS so far (1 Trek dealer, 1 Gaint and 1 LBS which sells both bikes). They showed me few Hybrid models. I don’t have any firm opinion on any bike as I don’t have much experience with the bikes; I just felt TREK bikes little more comfortable.

I am 34 years old and 215 lbs and planning to use this bike for commute for 2-3 days a week (my work place is 2 miles each way) and planning to find some bike trails to use it during the weekend. I wanted to use little money to get used to the biking so that I can buy a better bike once I like the biking.

My questions are

Is hybrid bike good option for my purpose?
Is Trek hybrid 7100 or 7200 a good option?

Local LBS is charging $280 for 7100 and $330 for 7200. He told me that 7200 had a puncture resistant tires and that is good for biking. I don’t know any thing about these and could you please explain and let me know whether they are important or not? BTW he told me that the rims in 7200 is also good, I don’t know how much better they are?

Here are the differences I found on the TREK web site when I compare both models.

7100

Wheels
Wheels Alloy hubs; Matrix 550 rims
Tires Bontrager Invert, 700x35c
Drivetrain
Shifters SRAM ESP 3.0 Plus
Front Derailleur SR XCR-328
Rear Derailleur SRAM ESP 3.0
Crankset SR 48/38/28 w/chainring guard
Cassette Sunrace 13-34, 7 speed

7200

Wheels Alloy front, Shimano RM60 rear hub; Matrix 750 rims
Tires Bontrager Invert Hardcase, 700x35c
Drivetrain
Shifters SRAM MRX Plus
Front Derailleur Shimano C102
Rear Derailleur Shimano Alivio
Crankset Shimano TX71 48/38/28 w/chainring guard
Cassette SRAM 850 11-32, 8 speed

The remaining parts are same.

The other question I have is “How to find out bike trails?” any web site? I live in Bay area (Sunnyvale, CA).


Thanks in advance!