Hello everyone! I recently joined this forum in search of some advice and experience.

I am a university student who used to ride an old department store bike to school every day. Not too long ago, I attempted to change gears to climb a hill, and something got caught in the derailleur, and some gear teeth cracked off, making the bike unusable. I haven't bothered to try to fix it since it was a cheap bike not worth putting money into.

I'd like to replace the bike, so I paid a visit to a bike store near my home. I spoke to an employee there and mentioned that my budget is around three or four hundred dollars and that I was looking for a general purpose bike. He directed me to the Trek 7.1 FX. The bike seemed to be in a much higher tier than the usual department-store bike, but I don't know anything about bikes at all, so I don't know how to compare it to others. (He offered to let me test ride a few bikes, but I didn't have time - I plan to return on a day off.) So, I suppose that my first question is about the quality of the 7.1 FX - how is it? And how does it fare against others? (For example, I saw that Trek has a whole line of 7.x bikes. The next one in line is the 7.2, which seems to provide more features. Would it be worth spending more money on it?)

The other question I have doesn't involve bikes directly. In the past, I've purchased other "big-ticket" items: a car and piano. (On separate occasions, of course!) In both of those settings, you are supposed to negotiate and pay less than the advertised sticker price. Is it the same way with bikes? I believe that the Trek 7.1 FX had a sticker of $449. Do you generally pay that price? Or is there room to negotiate?

Thanks for reading. I really appreciate any comments you can give on any of my questions!