I have no idea on which components are better. Out of these bikes which has the better components?

1. Trek 7.3 Fx disc
2. Marin Larkspur Cs4
3. Marin Muirwoods 29er

Are there any other similar bikes that you guys might recommend?

Thanks in advance!

All 3 look to be nice bikes..same rear derailleur. I would give the nod to the Larkspur being little better front derailleur and having 9 speed cassette. I like the Muriwoods being steel and a 29er. I see that REI has it for $699.

The Larkspur CS4 has better components. Plus it has a 9 speed cassette. You can't go wrong with either of these.

First you have to say how you are going to use the bike or what you want out of the bike.

It really depends how you intend to use the bike. The Muirwoods 29er is basically a 29er-style mountain bike minus the suspension and with narrower tires. The geometry is different than the other two bikes, for example longer top tube, steeper head angle, shorter stem, longer wheelbase, etc. The Muirwoods will take tires up to 53mm if you ever decide you want to do some off-roading.

The Muirwoods 29er is likely heavier, mine is around 31lbs according to my bathroom scale, but it is still quite zippy.

Whether the bike is 8 or 9 speed does not matter too much because it does not change the range of the gearing. Rather it is the spacing between gears that changes.

I have a Muirwoods as my commuter bike and it does a good job soaking up all the bumps and such. The larger, 700x42, tires help out quite a bit comfort-wise.

All three bikes use the same size wheels. The Muirwoods come with 700x42 tires so it's not quite a 29er, though I hear 53mm tires will fit. It does have geometry similar to 29ers though unlike the FX and Larkspur.

Thanks for all of the input! The bike will be used for daily commute (1.5 miles one way) and some decent sized hills. I test rode off of them again today, and I prefer the Muirwoods 29er. I like the geometry better. I sit more upright on it than I did on the FX and Larkspur. Like jsdavis said, it soaked up more of the bumps on the roads, and the shifting on felt smooth and pretty snappy.

Now I see another bike I'm interested in, the Scott SUB 30. I will be test riding the Scott today and I will make my final choice hopefully by the end of the day.

As for component wise again, which is better and what would YOU prefer and WHY?

Thanks again for all the great replies!

I think 42 mm tires are going to be slow on the road. Narrower tires will be faster but won't soak up as much of bumps. The bikes are pretty similar. If you really find the upright riding position more comfortable, that's the bike for you. The Scott has mountain bike gearing. I think Acera is roughly comparable to Deore.

The Scott components are a level or 2 below the others. It's great that you are test riding and that is most important. I like riding more upright also, so I would pick the Muirwoods. I have a 29er Trek Sawyer... just put 60mm Big Apples on...so fun!