kellyray

My wife and I are now in our mid / late 40’s and we have been biking for enjoyment and fitness. 70% of our riding is on a scenic bike trail which runs around 57 miles. The trail is mostly level and the roadbed consists of dirt / cinder. It is a beautiful scenic Virginia State Park knows as The New River Trail. www.dcr.virginia.gov/state_parks/new.shtml. I also sometimes ride my bike at work which is a campus type of setting. At work the bike is used on pavement, grass, and sidewalks.
I have been riding a 2000 model Schwinn Frontier FS which I bought new. My wife rides a Raleigh SC 30 which we also bought new in 2001. Although these bikes are still in great shape we are considering purchasing new bikes in the near future. The bikes we have considered are between a Trek 7100 / 7200 and a Raleigh Route 4.0. Could anyone give me some insight / feedback on which would be the better bike to suit our needs (and approx. $500.00 budget.)? Or is there another bike we should consider? A more experienced opinion than ours would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for your help.

KellyRay

stapfam

Not quite the model you are looking at but The Trek 7.3 FX is being offered at some dealers at a cheap price. May be a better buy for the price.

https://www.bikeforums.net/general-cycling-discussion/563846-trek-wow-sale-7-3fx.html

alhedges

I would get a Trek 7000 over the 71 or 7200; I think that the front suspensions on the more expensive bikes are counterproductive because they waste energy (some of your pedalling effort is diverted into compressing the shock on each stroke), are heavy, and aren't that useful. Inflating your tires to 10 or 20 psi less than the maximum (or more) will provide more useful shock absorbtion. I might also be tempted to use the money I saved to upgrade the tires.

RonH

I'm guessing you mean Raleigh Route 4.0.
Gotta say that, IMHO, the Raleigh is superior to the Trek.

JetJetHead

I just purchased a used bike but did a ton of test riding new bikes over the past few months. I preferred the Raleighs and Fujis over the Treks. I agree with losing the front suspension - it was something I went back and forth with until I started test riding more and more and realized how much it slowed me down on street and paved trails. Also preferred Specialized in that price range.

kellyray

Thanks so much for all the input. Since I'm not very educated on components, its hard for me to evaluate which bikes have the best components which I understand is VERY important.
Thanks again and feel free to keep responding. This is a great way for me to become knowledgeable about the products.