Hello, BikeForums members! Complete cycling newbie here and I'm a weird case.

When I was nine, my grandfather attempted to teach me how to ride a bike. I failed this attempt and ended up breaking my arm. I vowed to never again ride a bike. Fast-forward fourteen years and I'm twenty-three. My girlfriend decided to make me learn how to ride a bike. "Everyone should know!" I go along with it and manage to actually learn on a tiny BMX bike that she's had for half a decade. I love it. I don't know if it's the fact that I faced my fears or what, but it's one of the funnest experiences ever.

I'm feeling pretty good about it and thinking maybe I can get into better shape by sticking with this new-found love. The problem is that this bike is way too small for me, so I'm in the market now. I went by my local bike shop and talked to someone there. Knowing only Wal-Mart bikes my entire life, I was originally in the $100-200 price range. I noticed, looking around, that for good quality, I'd have to go much higher. He recommended me the 2013 Trek FX 7.2, so I gave it a test ride. It was amazing. Whereas I was having balancing issues on the BMX, I took off right away on the 7.2 and had no problems whatsoever. However, I am still very much a newbie to cycling and I thought I would get your collective thoughts before committing to a purchase.

I'm 5'11", around 210 lbs. and going to be riding road and some off-road/dirt trails. No mountainous paths yet, but some spots in the roads near where I will be riding have loose pavement or are kinda rocky. Also, I eventually want to buy a road bike, but at this point, I am afraid of very high speeds, and the drop bars feel uncomfortable since I'm so low. Is the 7.2 a good buy or is there a better bike out there for me?

Thanks in advance for your replies!

IMO you need to look at a few other bikes, although the Trek looks like a fine machine and a good value.

I think most major brands offer a hybrid at and/or below that price point. It's also a good time to see if any bike shops have 2012 models available at a discount. One thing I can specifically recommend is the Specialized Crossroads IF you can find a 2012. MY GF has been riding one for the last couple years (until we got her that Specialized Dolce, anyway) and I can attest to it's quality and reliability. The 2013 models, however, no longer come with a suspension fork (cost-cutting move).

I got back into bikes last July after a long lay-off (30+ years). I rode a half-dozen different hybrids before settling on a Diamondback Edgewood at around $300. If I could have spent more, I would have gone in a different direction but the DB suits my needs just fine and I've already graduated to a road bike.

I'm amaized by these forums. It seems the large majority of Newbie riders on this forum / from The States, end up being directed by a bike shop towards TREKs. Does almost every bike shop stock TREKs over there? Here in Kyoto, only one shop (Project One) stocks TREKs. The others stock a huge variety of different Bike Companies.

As the poster above recommended, look at others too and don't just go for the company which seems to have the highest profile over there.

Also, a road bike is not going to make you faster. That's up to your body's power and also your ability to use brakes correctly to slow you down descending hills. Maybe you should save wasting your money straight up and buy a road bike with a high stack (spacers under the stem) which will put you in an upright position. You can get some auxiliary levers installed (like cyclocross bikes have) and use the top of the bars instead of the drops, until you are skilled enough to use the drops.

Example of auxiliary levers

I recommend a Cyclocross bike that comes with levers like pictured above and a extra pair of narrow tires for road riding when it suits you. It's like two bikes in one. I recommend also starting to get your confidence up riding pathways and light trail riding away from the road traffic which is something you don't need to deal with learning to ride.

Not in the area where I live. 7 shops in Tallahassee and 1 Trek Dealer. I think it's like the one brand a person knows about and that's where they start. A year ago, I bet I didn't know over 90% of the bike manufactures that I know now....and Kona being one of them.

Yes, the U.S. market is saturated with TREK dealers.

The 7.2 is a fine bike and I rode one myself for a few years. It's a good quality starter bike that won't set you back a ton of money. Be very careful about purchasing a road bike because I went the route you are considering and bought a ride bike after a year of riding a hybrid and quickly found I did not like the road bike. If you reach a point where you are riding a hybrid 20-30 miles on a regular basis, you might consider a road bike. If your rides tend to stay under the 1-2 hour mark, you're probably better off with a hybrid.

There are pleny of other brands of bike out there and if it comes from an LBS and is similar in price to the 7.2, it's probably a very similar bike. I would also recommend staying away from suspension. It's heavy and to me, mushy feeling. I prefer a rigid bike, even for the limited off-road riding I do.

Good luck and post pictures of whatever you get.

P.S. If you have a local dealer who sales Jamis bikes, check out their hybrid line-up. They have both steel and aluminum framed models and in general they seem to have very respectable component selections for their price range.

around here (small university beach town, huge with cycling, both mountain and road), we have probably a dozen bike shops. each one will feature one of the major brands (Specialized, Giant, Trek) and maybe carry a few more (Electra, Surly, Cannondale, Kona, etc). We're lousy with too many Specialized dealers here.

Thanks for the replies. I actually meant to post that I was looking to buy a road bike OR cyclocross bike later. I posted this on my phone and it didn't let me edit. Yeah, one of the few shops I'm aware of around here carry mostly Trek bikes, so when I tried out a road, mountain, and hybrid (didn't try the CX because it was expensive and I didn't want to wreck something I couldn't pay for), they were all Trek brand. I found another shop around me that carries Specialized, so I might go check that out, and look for the Crossroads IF when I go. Also, I had no idea I could buy spacers to raise the bar. I might look into that too.

At one point, I was considering:

https://www.bikesdirect.com/products/..._adventure.htm
or
https://www.bikesdirect.com/products/..._cross_cx2.htm

but I'm not sure, since I can't test ride them and my knowledge of components is enough to tell me the derailleurs are better... and that's about it. I think I'll hold the 7.2 as a fall back and test my options. When I do decide and make the purchase, I will post pictures of it.

those bikedirect bikes are indeed two completely different beasts. the first is a low end '29er' hard tail mountain bike, but with a mushy fork and gearing more suitable for bike paths than dirt trails. the second is a low end cyclocross race bike, which as it turns out, with non-CX tires can make a pretty good all around commuter and road bike. I do note that CX bike doesn't have a very low gear, 36:26 is pretty steep for a newcomer, especially an overweight and out of shape one, to be climbing any serious hills with. otoh, the 'adventure' bike has a silly too low 28:32 low gear.

but, the really difficult thing here is that without extensive knowlege of what bikes fit and dont fit you and their measurements, you really have no way to tell what size of either of those to get, and whether its geometry is appropriate for you.

Now you see why I was asking for advice. I'm not quite sure what I'm looking for. Yes, the 7.2 rides great, but I'm sure most bikes that are properly sized will be better than the BMX I learned on. I'm trying to find a ride that is fun, good for fitness and will last, if not for myself, than for selling purposes later. The 7.2 was 17.5", by the way.

at 6' tall and 210 lbs, with relatively short legs (30" inseam jeans) and a long tosro, I ride a Specialized "L" Large in their hybrids.

IMHO, the more important factor in a good fit is the top tube length, not the seat tube length which is the traditional measure of a bicycle size.

I bought a 2013 7.2fx with disc brakes this summer and have been using it for commuting and fitness. For me since im a noob just like you, it is a great starting bike. I added fenders and a bike rack and just ride it everywhere around NYC. Like the others have said look around and ride everything you can in a test drive. look around the forums and keep asking because that is how I decided when I was looking.