drharps

I'm looking at getting a new bike for commuting to and from work (about 6 miles each way) and the occasional longer distance (25 miles) on weekends. I'm not wanting to spend to much money as I suspect it'll get beat up pretty good on the city streets.

Anyway, I'm pretty bicycle ignorant. Any reason to prefer one of these over the other? They are similarly priced (within $50 of each other).

For ease of checking specs, here are their websites:

https://www.trekbikes.com/us/en/bikes/bike_path/fx/71fx/
https://www.specialized.com/us/en/bc/...7&menuItemId=0
https://www.feltbicycles.com/USA/2010.../X-City-5.aspx

Any advice is welcome. Thank you in advance.

waynesworld

I have a 2009 Felt X City D. It was the single chainring version last year. They didn't have one with a front triple in 2009. Anyway, I love mine. Very stable. Room for wide tires with fenders. Able to mount a rack with fenders. Still pretty fast. Just a great bike. As far as components go, I don't know much about the 2010. It looks like they've changed the bars, the derailleurs, I think the brakes, and I'm not sure what else. Probably downgraded these, as the prices are actually lower this year.

I also have a 2009 Trek 7.3 FX. It is a great bike too. It will also take fenders and a rack. I don't know how wide tires you can put on it, but there are plenty of people on here with Trek FX series bikes, so hopefully they will chime in. If you do decide on a Trek, I'd recommend you upgrade to the 7.2 FX though, as in 2010 the frame is made of the lighter Alpha Black aluminum. The 7.1 is not. Make sure it is a 2010 model, in 2009 you had to go up to the 7.3 to get the Alpha Black.

Lots of people like the Sirrus. I have no experience with it.

Not many people on here have a Felt, so I tried to address that one as much as possible. Again, mine is wonderful, and it's pretty perfect for my commute, which is about the same distance as yours. It would also be fine for longer rides as you mentioned. I got the Felt last year on clearance, then shortly afterward I found the Trek on craigslist cheap and bought it too. My Felt is loaded up with fenders, rack, lights, panniers - everything I need for commuting or running errands. The Trek has lights, but nothing else, so it's tough to compare how they weigh and feel. I do think the Trek was a little lighter though, even before I added all the stuff to the Felt. I'd guess a lot of that weight is in the wheels and tires. The Felt has much wider tires, and I like that a lot for commuting.

Either of them would be fine for your purposes. Ride them and see which feels best to you.