mtclifford

I tour with my 7.2 FX and never had problems with my wrists, have done a few 100+ mile days on it. What I love about these bikes is the versatility.....mine:

trinamuous

I wear that same helmet on my 7.2

Timber_8

I am also a big fan of the 7.2

trinamuous

Saw this post in a google search...figure I should post an update in response to myself!

So, a couple weeks after this thread, my father gave me his old 1986 Scwhinn Prelude road bike. 3 months later, 2 of which I have spent commuting just about every day, my perspective has changed a good bit.

The Schwinn is close to stock. It was a middle-end road bike in Schwinn's lineup. I switched to aero brake levers, added a new chain, freewheel, tubes, tires, and a nice Tubus rack. It clocks in about 5 lbs less than the Trek.

After all the blah blah about my Trek being relatively fast, which it is, I grab ride the Schwinn every day. I keep trying to come up with ways to justify the Trek's existence, other than it's fenders. Oh, I have to ride clipless on the Schwinn currently, so that forces me on the Trek if I want to wear regular shoes. The Schwinn begs me to ride faster, while the Trek just does what I tell it to do.

Little changes to the Trek have/may help. Previously, I flipped and lowered the stem and moved the grips/levers/bar ends in. This gave a lower position and brought my arms in. However, I still want more hand positions (I like the road bar better)...I just wrapped my new trekking bar today. We'll see how I take to it. Also removed the dopey crankset and put on an old Sakae set I had on another bike. Experiment to see if cranksets make any difference. The stock Trek one sounded bad and it was ugly...that's probably it. At least it looks less amatuer now.

I propose a new advice system for would-be hybrid buyers. Ask, "can you touch your toes?" If the answer is "yes", then reply "your future self will thank you for biting the bullet and getting a road bike". If the buyer says, "but I need a rack and fender!", kindly point him to a touring, cyclocross, or commuter-friendly road bike. If money is an issue, patience must be had to find a good used bike. Please don't assume that commuters won't want/need/like going to work quickly or that riding in traffic on drops is hard. It isn't. Don't mind me, I'm done ranting...still need to vent my hindsight wouldadoneitdifferent frustrations

Panthers007

Okay everyone. Let's go junk our hybrids and get a old Schwinn.

(I can palm-press the floor)

trinamuous

Palm-press? Is that something like a push-up or bench-press? So, to palm-press the floor, does one have to remove a section of floor, lay on his/her back, and then raise it up like a barbell?

Hybrids are fine for those that prefer them, I was just providing my updated perspective. Wish I had seen some hybrid remorse posts when I was initially researching. If I had I may have done more extensive test riding and/or more thorough research.

Sixty Fiver

A palm press is when you can touch your toes and go one further by placing your palm flat on the floor.

I can touch my toes...it's the getting back up that can be problematic...

trinamuous

Ah, that makes sense! Anyway, I was just oversimplying and being sarcastic with the floor touch thing to make the point that advisors typically do not ask about the physical capabilites/potential of riders when recommending bikes. I think I already posted my more detailed thoughts on that elsewhere.

qmsdc15

Think less, ride more. Why agonize over decisions that prove so horribly wrong? Did we trick you? Haha!

trinamuous

If it's not bikes, then it's something else I'll be throwing my brain at...and I already ride 5-6 days a week, typically. Nobody tricked me, hindsight's always a ***** is all. Maybe I can make it more of a cyclocross and try some light trails...hmm

robcor2

It has been fun reading these posts regarding newer riders, drop bar conversions, bicycle physics, and the rest. I must say that Tinamuous story resonates the most, especially the over thinking of all of it and the reproachful hindsight. I too bought a hybrid for my first bike since I was 13 (I am now 45) and have a little buyers remorse. I started riding and went crazy for the sport this spring....at least if you ask my wife. My son and I started putting in 150+ weekly miles. He is 4 and I hook up a trail-a-bike to the hybrid and take off. Well...after losing over 60+ lbs. I am now getting to the spot where the type of bicycle I ride will make a difference in the performance. My answer to this was to religiously surf craigslist the beginning of December for a race bike. It worked....I found one for under 400 dollars in new condition. I should mention that I am recovering from a severe radial head injury (bicycle accident of course) that now makes it very painful to ride a flat bar bike. I always suffered numbness, but now the pain from anything less than smooth road hurts a lot. I am now starting a conversion on my hybrid that will take it closer to a touring bike (Jamis Coda with drop conversion) and will use the Mercier race bike for the many hills around Portland. If anyone on this thread lives in Portland...I would love to hook up for a ride...this is a bikin town fer sure. Peace

NoSpandex

I have done some rather long rides on my Trek 7.1 FX in the 50-90 mile range and the longer distances do start to make my hands rather numb (which I don't like but I figure is probably harmless in the long run), but I have plans to get some bar ends in the coming year. I am really looking at the Ergon GC3s; they look perfect. I don't really like drop bars and I wouldn't want to give up the versatility of my 700x35 tires (I usually overinflate by 20psi if I will be riding on pavement... probably not the world's smartest idea).

I think that cycling and distance running (which I am also into) are overpopulated by people who have invested heavily in expensive and high-tech equipment for their sport but have under-developed the most important thing: the body, which is the true key to excellence in any physical activity. I have more ambitious cycling plans for 2010, and I doubt that I will be growing dissatisfied with my 7.1 FX anytime soon.

trinamuous

+1 in agreement with all of the good things I have read about the trekking bars. Just finished my first commute with it equipped and wrapped on the FX. The position options were very nice and better placed than flat bar + bar ends IMO. I did want to stretch a bit more though (longer stem...).

Also, though it's hard to tell definitively, the "new" crankset seemed to make for a better ride. I think they're steel chainrings on alloy crankarms; the manufacturing quality of the rings is clearly to higher tolerances than the stock M191. The drivetrain seemed smoother and definately doesn't have the awful sounds the old crankset made. This may not be the best place to ask, but how high do you have to go in modern Shimano cranks to get a reasonably good set (out of curiosity only)?

There...I'll end my opinions on this thread with positive comments! (not that I will be riding it tomorrow )

rlw162

After reading your first post, I felt like I was in the same boat as you. I am also an engineer. I have not been riding in 14 years and my wife and I just got 2010 7.3 FXs. I normally go crazy over analyzing ever possible choice before buying anything, and I think I did a lot of reading before buying. I guess I will have to see if I have the same experience as you. If I don’t think the hybrid was the right choice, at least I can say that the hybrid got be back into biking. I will ride it for a year or so, and upgrade if I need to. So do you ever ride you Trek anymore?

rumrunn6

I made some very big speed gains on my hybrid by converting it for the road with these changes:

drop bars (& steerer tube extender)
high pressure road tires
$100 road saddle

trinamuous

Fully agree that it's great that the bike got me into riding. I'm only bitter because I replaced it so quickly. My "learning curve" may be shorter than average though.

Whether or not it's the right bike all depends what your riding goals are. Mine from the start (bought the bike in July) was to get to 18 mph avg on my commute (computer calc). Test rides were 12-13 mph at first. Didn't take long to hit 14 and then 15. I can hit 16 on the road bike now. Only 15 on the Trek. The 15 on the Trek is more tiring than 15 on the Schwinn. I am sure 18 is do-able on a hybrid. I passed a dude on the MUP yesterday who was kickin it sitting very upright and relaxed. If I slacked my pace at all he'd have caught up and passed, which I am sure he enjoys immensely. I'm rambling...but the point is I will get to my goal more quickly and enjoyably with a road bike. If you goal is a comfortable, versatile, and reasonably quick riding...then your bike will suit you just fine.

As stated earlier, I have it equipped with fenders to commute in the rain. No reason to subject the nice lugged steel frame to it if I don't have to (though fenders would fit if I swapped the 27" rims to 700c). I have platforms and toe clips on the Trek so I can ride in regular shoes for short errands or riding casually with the wife.

The Trek is by no means a poor ride. However, with a rack-equiped road bike to compare directly, the hybrid does not suit my preferred riding style as well 90% of the time. Take today for instance. Wind gusts on the way home were up to 30 mph. That sucks in a full tuck on the road bike. I haven't encountered those kind of winds on the hybrid yet, but I would either be forced to slow down seriously or have to lay down on top of the handlebars...eww. My posts are too long.

Sixty Fiver

"If anyone on this thread lives in Portland...I would love to hook up for a ride...this is a bikin town fer sure. Peace"

I don't live there but I sure like to visit as often as I can...if you a guy riding around on a green Raleigh Twenty next week that will more than likely be me and if the guy is riding around with Portland's most beautiful lady,that will definitely be me.

As far as the OP goes...if I want to cruise at 30 kmh I can take my drop bar'd hybrid which could be a little faster of it wasn't geared for touring,towing, and off roading and if I want to cruise along at 35 kmhplus and work on higher speeds, I take my road bike which is a full 9 pounds lighter, runs on super fast tyres, and is set up for high speed riding as it is a bike of singular purpose.

X-LinkedRider

HEY TRINA... I went almost the same route but with Giant when I bought my FCR3. The bike is not my top of the line bike now, but still my favorite bike. After close to 3k miles on it and many adjustments, I found a couple changes made a big difference.

Handlebars - I just bought extenders but installed them tilting forward almost even down. This provided me with a whole different position, and after I wrapped the bars+extenders, it make certain parts of the rides way more comfortable but also I was able to to lean into a crouch a lot more.

Seat, I changed my seat height a lot and basically found the taller I made it(up to a certain point), the more comfortable over longer rides I became.

Lastly, the pedals. Going to straps at first and then eventually a clipless system, did make a huge difference.

All of these things helped me in making my bike properly fitted for me and my riding style. Play around with these adjustments and mayb you will find something you like.



The seat has since been tilted properly.

Actually looked more like this.

trinamuous

Now a drop bar conversion changes the equation doesn't it? Rather than doing that on the Trek I'd probably just assume buy something used to create a higher quality touring-like bike...no hypothetical upgrade demons...away with you!!!

Sixty Fiver

I am a mad bike riding scientist and am always recalculating equations...