I’m looking to buy a new bike, as my previous bike is worn out and can no longer ride it. The bike is a $250 CCM Mountain Bike from CanadianTire that I bought 10 years ago.

I looked at these (prices are CAD)

- Trek FX 2 Disk 2023 ($700)
- Trek FX 2 Disk 2025 ($980)
- Trek FX 3 2025 ($1229)
- Trek Dual Sport 2 2025 ($1060)

I plan on mainly staying on pavement. Maybe occasionally going on a dirt or gravel off road section.

Which one would be best?

I suppose the most expensive one is probably ‘best’. But just for casual fun riding, I’m leaning most towards the 2023 FX 2, because it seems to be a pretty good price. I don’t know if I’d make use of the additional features in a higher end model.

I just want something that’s good. But if there is a very good value upgrade between bikes that is worthwhile, then I would be fine with that. But I just feel I’m not ‘hardcore’ enough to appreciate the differences between the bikes and I’d just waste money. Thoughts?

Like, I *can* buy the more expensive model. But I don’t just want to waste money that could be spent on something else.

I also heard advice that I should go for the FX 2 Gen 4 over the FX 2 Gen 3 for the following reasons, but I’m not sure if it’s worth the extra $300?
- 1x gear instead of 2x (simpler, less maintenance)
- CUES (new) instead of Altus (old)

I was in the same position. The only perceptible difference between the F/X and the DS is the wheel size. I ended up with the DS because of the wider tires as I sometimes ride on gravel.
Without knowing your surrounding terrain, it's hard to tell what gearing you need, but the difference in maintenance from 1X and 2X is negligible, I would go for the cheaper in that respect.
For casual riding Altus would work fine.
But get the one you really want, because sometime after the purchase you will say " I should have gotten the other one"
Cheers

The older fx2’s cables/hoses are not routed through the head tube (to its benefit as far as I’m concerned). I’d choose it over the newer fx2 personally. CUES and Altus are pretty on par quality-wise, and 1 vs 2 chainrings is a matter of personal preference. The simplicity of the 1x is nice for a casual rider I suppose, but not a huge difference.

The dual sport is like a more off road capable FX.

FX3 has a carbon fork (lighter), nicer 1x drivetrain, and better quality brakes.

Get the nicest bike you can if you are stuck with Trek only that FX3 looks like a pretty basic bike, the Thru-skew nonsense would have me running for the hills and their proprietary bars aren't fun either. But beyond that it mostly has parts decent enough to last a while. If I was going to open up options than I would do that, get a specialized Sirrus 4.0 or something else entirely.

Dual Sport has wider tires, so will give a better ride off pavement and on bad pavement. This is at the expense of some rolling efficiency on smooth pavement.
What does your local pavement look like?

Single chainring up front is simpler, yes, but also more limited. The main benefit is cost savings. On the downside, you'll have a angled chain line when you're in the high and low gears, which is less efficient. You'll also tend to have a narrower gear range. For me, I'll go with the 2X (or 3X if I can get it!) chainring every time, because I like having those low, low gears for climbing hills when I'm tired or am hauling groceries into a 25 mph headwind.

Re. 1x chainring being less maintenance, not really. Yes, there is another sprocket and another derailleur and shifter, but it's almost NEVER the front gear system that needs maintenance. The mfr gets to save money and they don't pass that onto us; that's the main thing. You also end up with a clownishly large low gear in the cassette and the derailleur being right next to the ground when you're in that gear.

CUES has been experiencing issues.. Altus is a great group, with a proven track record.

here's a comparison of the THREE treks in the class you're looking at... i'd go with the FX, and i'd avoid the Hyd. brakes... they work great until they need replaced... mechanical Cable Disc brakes work great, rarely have trouble, and almost anyone can replace the cables easily.
Front Suspension SEEMS like a cool thing.. except they are HEAVY, and eat up Pedaling Energy, more than people realize... The Verve model is a non-starter with me.. Heavy, and just not up to date in a few critical areas... and that bouncy seat post is a heavy joke.


Specialized has several bikes in that class too.

With the older FX2 having internal routing that isn't run through the headset, I would consider it a better bike than the other choices. It will still be a noticeable upgrade from your old CCM.

If you decide you do want something a bit nicer, I'd see if there is another shop nearby that has a different brand of bikes available.

1x means you only have one shifter to worry about, which makes shifting simpler. But you also tend to have fewer gear ratios available, increasing the chance that one gear feels a bit too low and the next one feels too high. You also might not have as high of a high gear on many 1x bikes. 1x is great for mountain biking, only having to worry about one shifter frees up more attention for picking your line.

2x gives you two shifters to deal with, more gear ratios, and I find that with 2x, I often need to shift between chainrings more when riding on city streets where stoplights and stop signs are frequent. 2x might be my favorite for a bike I want to go fast with. From a stop, start pedaling, shift to the big ring, and I can usually stay in the big ring until a stop or a steep hill comes up.

3x often gives a wider range of gearing, even more gear ratios, and better chainline if you shift properly. In city riding with frequent stops, I find that on many bikes, staying in the middle ring most of the time and just shifting the rear derailleur works great, with the small ring available for going up steep hills, and the big ring available for going down those hills. When riding fast without frequent stops, I often need to shift between the middle ring and the big ring more frequently. 3x is my favorite for most bikes, especially when towing heavy loads.

CUES has the advantages of cassettes that are supposed to last longer, and it shifts great under load. The cheaper 9-speed CUES groupsets can be trouble to get working well, but if you go for the nicer 10 or 11 speed CUES, it is a worthy upgrade.