May 27 daily ride reports :)

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Now, about those bikes. They'll give me $150 trade in on my clunker and $50 off because I'll be moving and won't use the free tune-up. I'm thinking when the insurance guy calls Tuesday, I may find I can afford to get a bike I'd like to keep. I'm looking at road-end hybrids -- lighter and faster than what I have, but still the upright seating position I need. But which one? Trek 7.6 with compact double? 7.6 but have them put a triple on it? 7.5 which has the triple as standard, has lower gears but is a bit heavier? Or a 2005 7700 they have marked down to $1200 (would be $1000 with trade-in etc.), also with the triple as standard and somewhere in between on weight? Any suggestions?

OK, I went to the Trek website and looked at these three.

I don't know what your FUTURE plans are, but if you think you will be riding better/harder/faster/more, I'd skip the 7700 if I were you.

Both the 7.5 and 7.6 look to be pretty good bikes. The components on the 7.6 are more "road" (Shimano 105 and R440) while those on the 7.5 are more "mountain" (Deore). The 7.6 casette is a 12-26...and with a double that means no real senior gears (like you would get with a "road" triple). The 7.5 is an 11-32 and is a triple (48-36-26), which means some seriously senior gears. That's not bad and can be a really nice setup to have if you would be riding in very hilly terrain. But on the flats? Not very peppy.

But don't cha think the 7.6 is prettier??

Here's what I'd do: ask about the 7.6 with a triple crank (52-42-30) and a 12-26 or 12-27 in the back. But if you want the seriously senior gears, I'd just go with the 7.5.

That red is so pretty!

Disclaimer: This is only my $0.02. Note that I am not an expert in anything except eating and wasting a lot of time by surfing the 'net.

Edited as I got the models reversed a little bit. Sorry.