Differences betweek Trek FX Bikes

[dianne_1234]

I read this a lot on this board seems as if for most Trek riders the first/only thing that must go is the &^%, *(@# saddle the bike comes with.

Your LBS should offer to swap/replace with a saddle that will be "love at first sit".

Maybe give the "Bontrager H1" a try first.

I test rode one at the Trek dealer and it's a *lot* different than the old Bontrager saddles people seem to dislike. It's wider, flatter across the back, and has a nice deep recess in the middle at just the right width and position for me. All these features combine to either lift my pelvis (by the sit bones) or drop the middle of the saddle away from my pubic bone, all good things for saddle comfort for me.

Maybe someone at Bontrager has started to figure out how to make more comfortable saddles? (Woman product manager perhaps??)

[Catrin]

I am going to show my lack of knowledge here, but I have to ask. The FX 7.6 - would this be a good choice for both roads, bike trails, and a prepared surfaces such as a canal tow path? I understand that the FX series isn't exactly a road bike, but somewhere in-between a hybrid and a road bike. Is my understanding right here?

I am still nervous about the idea of a non-low-step design and this is more expensive than the 7300, but I figure that I should get as much bike as I can afford to prevent "growing out" of it the first summer... It feels like March will never get here, it is like being a child waiting for Christmas!

[dianne_1234]

The FX 7.6 - would this be a good choice for both roads, bike trails, and a prepared surfaces such as a canal tow path?

Yep, it should be fine. My SO & I ride our road bikes (compete with skinny 23mm tires!) on a canal towpath sometimes (when visiting the Chicago burbs). It's crushed limestone, and it's about the limit for how rough a surface I'd happily ride with those tires. An FX (even the 7.6) would be super easy for us there.

[Catrin]

Yep, it should be fine. My SO & I ride our road bikes (compete with skinny 23mm tires!) on a canal towpath sometimes (when visiting the Chicago burbs). It's crushed limestone, and it's about the limit for how rough a surface I'd happily ride with those tires. An FX (even the 7.6) would be super easy for us there.

Thanks for your experience with this. What is the main difference between the 7.5 and 7.6? Weight?

[Catrin]

My LBS has a couple of 2006 Trek 7.6 WSD bikes in stock - and at a significant savings over the 2009 and 2010 models. He said there are few differences between them. When I compared the specs at the Trek website, of course a lot of the components are different. I do not know enough, however, to know of those different components are significantly different.

If I wait until their March sale, then I can get the 2010 model at a significant savings... but I can get the 2006 model now at an even better price. I don't want to do something that I will regret though - does anyone here have experience with the 2006 and later versions of this bicycle? Right now I am leaning in the direction of waiting, but this deserves consideration.

- Update - my cycling "guy" is going to look at the components and give me his opinion on the 2006 version of the 7.6 wsd. I am inclined to wait until March and take advantage of the sale to get the 2010 model - unless he finds no difference between the two. I think that his advice will be the same, but time will tell.

[dianne_1234]

My LBS has a couple of 2006 Trek 7.6 WSD bikes in stock - and at a significant savings over the 2009 and 2010 models.

...Right now I am leaning in the direction of waiting

Only you can judge what's "worth" it to you.

My personal tendency is to select from what's available "now"; future promises don't yet exist. I've sometimes waited to buy, hoping for a better deal or components or whatever, sometimes to find the new one is more money, isn't that much better, and in the mean time the one I was considering has been sold!

You can wait "forever" for a better widget (deal, color, price, whatever).

[Catrin]

I made up my mind I will wait until March and get the 2010 model on sale - it is the best bike for the money AND I will be able to get it for less than I can currently get a 2009. I had a heart-to-heart talk with the purchasing manager of my LBS.

The 2006 model doesn't have as many gears, and I really have to save up for it anyway... I am as excited as a kid though - am really looking forward to getting my first bike. Hopefully the weather this winter won't be so bad that I can't meet with my bike riding instructor a few times to get a little practice in. I did NOT learn how to ride as a child...

[dianne_1234]

Thanks for your experience with this. What is the main difference between the 7.5 and 7.6? Weight?

To be honest I'm not sure of the detail differences; I'm just looking at the tire width to judge trail-friendliness. ;-)

It seems to me most of the FX bikes share the same mission: similar riding position, similar tire dimensions, similar gearing, etc. Just some are "nicer" (= lighter, more presitigious & durable components, etc.). It seems several models even share the same frame, just the components are upgraded.

When I bought my FX I wanted a chain guard, which made it easy - at the time only a few models had cranks with integrated guards, and between the size I wanted and the stock on hand I had no choice. Which in hind sight might have been a good thing - I bought my bike and started enjoying it immediately!