Greetings all,

I am new the bike market, with a budget of ~$2000 to get my wife and I new (to us at least) bikes. I want to start commuting to work (~6.5 miles, flat-ish) and class (~1.5 miles, big hill), and possibly general fitness on the weekend, etc. I am first in line on a 2013 Trek CrossRip Comp with ~500 miles on Craigslist. The guy selling says he is 5'10'' and it is a bit too big for him. I'm 6'0.5'', so this would hopefully fit me well.

I've read a few reviews/posts about the CrossRip saying that the components are low end compared others at the new price point, but I am wondering if the used discount would change that story. I am a biking newbie, so comparing components across bikes leaves me with hundreds of browser tabs open and little practical knowledge. Is this bike a steal at $700, basically brand new, or should I still skip it for a better value? I've heard great things about the 7.3 FX, also around $700 (new). How do these compare?

I am planning to head to the local Trek dealer in a bit to ride a few models, including this one (CL guy lives ~1 hour away), but pretty much anything will be better than my rusty old Schwinn hand-me-down Mtn bike with faulty brakes and mud tires, so I don't want to be had...

Any advice would be great.