820 vs 7.2FX
 

I already have the 820 I like this bike. A lot. I have it set up with a Topek baby-seat rack, fenders, skinny tires, comfy seat and some North Road bars. It has served me well for several years. I use this bike to go to the store, around town and to carry the child in his seat or, more often, in his trailer. However, there are some things that I would change about it. First, I wish it did NOT have a front shock. Secondly, this biket is heavy as all get out. I determined a while ago that if any thing ever "happened" to it, that I would replace it with a Hybrid of some nature.

Well, nothing HAS happened to it. It's indestructible and ugly as sin. It won't break and no one will steal it.

It turns out that I have the chance to buy a 7.2FX for about $150. That's pretty short money. No disc breaks (and those were on my wish list, but never so much that I bothered to convert the 820).

I have two questions:

• Should I even bother?
  Given that I ride this 100% on roads/paths will I notice much of a difference between the two bikes for this kind of family hauling/errand running?
• Will the Rack fit?
  If the rack that runs with my 26 inch wheels wont fit with 700c wheels, then there is no point because then I would have to buy a new rack and now we aren't looking at a "great deal" any more and I would have nothing to do with the old one.

I think that this bike would be a pretty good upgrade for what I use the thing for. What do you guys think?

My philosophy about both vehicles and appliances is that, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!"...

Thus far, the 820 has served you well. If so, why switch it out, just because the grass may appear to look greener on the other side...

OTOH, the 7.2FX is so inexpensive anyway, why not just get it as an N+1 bike?

You could then have a spare, just in case of an emergency. Once purchased, you can eventually equip it exactly how you'd like for it to be...Customize it! :thumb:

Then you'd have the best of both worlds! ;)

PS.

However, if you really really don't like your current bike, then you can always sell your old rack on eBay and purchase a new one from Nashbar. Racks are relatively cheap!

I own a 7.5FX. It's a dedicated commuter and a great errand runner. I wouldn't want to ride it on downhill country sides too often, though...

I'm already N+4! (not counting half-builts and projects). At that price though I could just pick it up, ride them back to beak and sell the one that I didn't like.

You're just obeying your god-given duty, to "Be fruitful and multiply"...

...Besides, you're also abiding by the N+1 rule! :D

For $150 I'd buy it in a heartbeat. If it turns out you don't like the bike for some reason you can resell it on Craigslist for what you paid. I've seen plenty of FX's with racks so I don't think you'll have a problem getting racks fitted. I doubt a rack for 26" wheels will fit a 700C bike.

Well that didn't work out. Oh, I got he bike. For 150 bucks, sure, why not. I even got some kind of a shark-fin fender thing and a Kryptonite cable thrown in. The thing is a 2007, as best as I can guess. It's a little...rough around the edges. It needs stuff. It has a gold stem. Gold. There was rusty water in the headset. The wheels are mis-mached. there are...things...clicking and/or clunking inside of it. Somewhere. It doesn't shift well, the paint is scrapped up all over the thing. It needs new..... I don't even know what at this point. Well, it'll be a good project for however long I'm going to be out of work for but I'm hoping the Dr. clears me to ride today (broken foot).

Any one know what the paint code for Trek Matte Smooth Silver is?

I'm beginning to think that maybe he should have paid you for that one! :D

if its as rough as you make it sound, I think I'd strip it down to the metal, paint it any color you want and rebuild it from the ground up, using whatever of the original parts are servicable, maybe putting some new wheels on it.

thats this 7.2FX?
http://www.bikepedia.com/QuickBike/B...e#.ULZwAOTO0zw

thats a pretty low end bike.

Hey! Thanks for the complement on my bike!

Sadly, it's true. The '07 was lower specked-out than the '11. What it DOES have, however, is a steel fork with low rider rack mounts ( I can dream right). I'm not very worried about any of the sratches on the frame, just the fork as it is steel and I don't want it to rust. It looks like she's lived a prety rough life up till now though and hasn't rusted much yet though.

there's a place local to me that will sandblast and powder coat bike frames for like $80, forks included. you need to strip EVERYthing off the frame, including the headset, bottom bracket. I did my old cruiser that way years ago and it came out great. I've also done rattle can jobs, the hard part is prep, sanding the old paint off sucks with all the curves and crannies and stuff, and a wire brush didn't work very well either, but once sanded down, a light coat of rattle can metal primer, and two coats of Krylon in color of choice, and it looked decent enough..

this...
http://pierce.smugmug.com/Misc/Yet-A...IMG_6971-L.jpg

went through this...
http://pierce.smugmug.com/Misc/Yet-A...IMG_6972-L.jpg
http://pierce.smugmug.com/Misc/Yet-A...IMG_6973-L.jpg

and became this...
http://pierce.smugmug.com/Misc/Yet-A...MG_6986-XL.jpg


which turned out to be too small of a frame for me, hahahahaah, so I sold it to a college girl who was 5'0...

here she is:
http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/f...L/photo-59.jpg

Hey... That don't look half bad! :thumb:

a little soft focus makes anything look good! :D

"blurry" was the word that sprang to my mind....

Wow! That came out sweet! If it turns out that I like this bike enough to go beyond it's role of "winter beater" and makes it into the rotation, I might ahve to get that done!

my paint job was actually really sloppy on that bike. I did a really rough job with the sanding, and the rough sand marks showed right through the new paint. I /highly/ recommend staying away from 60 grit stripping paper, and smooth sanding everything if you want great results. sandblasting works best. then, when you're about to paint, wipe it all down with acetone (use a clean lint free rag) to remove any traces of oily stuff, metal dust etc. do this outside, as the fumes are NASTY.

the most expensive part on a beater bike is a good set of wheels. if the spokes are stainless, and the rims are box section and not single-wall, thats a good start. of course, hub bearing condition is important too, cones and balls can be replaced, but cups can't. as long as the cups aren't pitted and the axles arent bent, you can usually clean/repack and get a good hub again. shimano brand hubs are generally more durable than most no-name/offbrand hubs.

turned out that the back wheel was missing a spoke. How the heck did I miss that? Grrr. Off to the LBS for a spoke-and-tru and had the R&R the hub while it was in there. I really need to buy a chain-whip!

One of the first things I always check when I look at a used bike is the spokes. I'll pluck my finger across all of them and listen to the tone, a well tuned wheel has them all pretty close to the same pitch. I've seen wheels on used bikes where one spoke was broken at the hub side, but it was still in place so you couldn't tell til you realized it was totally loose. spin the wheels and make sure there's no dents or tacos on the rim