Thinking about getting my dad a 7x00 series bike as a commuter. Can these accept the standard type rear racks? And are they suitable for this kind of duty? They seem cheap and fairly good, plus, LBS stocks lots of treks.

I also have Specialized, Giant, and LeMond to choose from...any suggestions form these brands that would be better suited that a Trek bike?

Oh, and does anyone have experience with the Trek "Trekking" bikes? They seem to be commuter-exclusive setups.

I have a Trek 7100 as my commuter, 26 miles combinrd on the commute at 3 days a week plus about 50 miles on the weekend and it's holding up pretty well under my weight plus my gear which is in excess of 300lbs.
It can hold the standard rack, has brazeons for two waterbottle cages, and is all-in-all a nice bike.

My wife has a trek 7300FX and I have a 7500FX. Both models have braze-ons for rear racks and fenders. I use my 7500 as a commuter. So yeah, something from the 7x00 line would be fine.

2003 Trek 7700FX which I have started commuting on with my old rack and 20 year old panniers. Works great.

Put down another vote for the 2003 7700fx. Rack went on with no difficulty and happily carries my panniers.

My commute is a 24km round trip (unless I'm having too much fun and ride longer).

i used the trek 7200fx for commuting and it was perfect(till it got folded by a truck). anything in that line is a good commuter