Upgrading from Trek 7.4 FX
 

I'm coming off of a 3 week old Trek 7.4 Fireblade Orange ride. A pickup truck driver decided that checking his cell phone was a good idea as he began to roll from a stop sign and accelerated full force, fortunately into just the rear wheel as I made my way through the intersection and totaling the bike. Time to hop back on!

Initially I thought of going with the 7.4 again as it was a fine ride but then began thinking about how I've been riding over the last month vs previously on my mountain bike.

Currently 90% paved trails and the rest on packed limestone in good shape. I'm moving from the burbs to Chicago so I will be commuting as well. When I go out for a ride I find that I enjoy doing 20-25 miles and now starting to push further (initially I thought I'd be riding 10-20 max). I'm certainly not racing anyone out there but I do find that I enjoy going a bit faster. I'm tired at the end by a 25 mile ride I was averaging about 14.75 mph and wishing I could push a bit faster.

I began looking at the 7.5 FX as I enjoyed the test ride I took on it but figured if I go to that price range, some other bikes are worth a gander.

6' 3" former power lifter will be cutting weight from 260 down to about 220 lbs

Considering the Trek FX 7.5 of course. Not too far away from that I'm considering //

Specialized Elite Carbon ($300 more than 7.5)
Cannondale Quick Carbon 2 ($470 more)

Anyone make that hop? I would have ridden the 7.4 happily without a second though for quite some time but with the extra bit of insurance payout I can swing up a level or so. Thoughts?

You aren't going to pick up much speed by spending more unless you make the jump to road bikes. You will gain a little ease of climbing due to slightly less weight, and the more expensive bikes will be easier to lift when you need to. There is a potential comfort issue, but you need to test ride to see if you will notice that.

Moving to another hybrid, the major speed improvement (if any) will be based on how the bike makes you feel. So make your decision on that.

For flat rides, I would save my money.

I doubt in super flat Chicago that beyond a certain threshold, any hybrid will be any faster than any other hybrid.

Also, if your intention is to use this bike as an urban commuter, you might want to reconsider the wisdom of going full carbon.

Agree completely. Assuming your 7.4FX fit you correctly, and if the objective in replacing your 7.4FX with something more expensive/lighter is to gain speed, OP, it won't happen. Replacing the stock tires on a 7.4FX with something very supple/low rolling resistance would result in more gain in speed (in the sense of distance covered for a given expenditure of energy) than going from a 7.4FX to something like even a $2500-3000 full carbon flat-bar bike w/all the best stuff on it.

That is not an argument against flat-bar bikes (I am a flat-bar cyclist), nor is it an argument against very expensive flat-bar bikes. It is, though, something to keep in mind.

I got a Trek FX 7.4 a month ago. I like it. It was my first ever expensive bicycle beside buying it from Walmart or Target.

I think I am going to get the Specialised Sirrus Carbon very soon. I never have disc brake before.

What about you?

So I did some comparisons and took into consideration what folks wrote. Mostly the points about Chicago being flat and the benefit of carbon being reduced significantly. I decided that while I will be riding around town...mostly I'm going to be doing rides for fitness. After test riding the Specialized Sirrus Carbon, it felt better (to me) than the 7.4 although not my much. To sum up, if it wasn't for the insurance paying out for a new bike then I think the 7.4 would be great to get again. I'm just in a scenario where I can get a slightly "better" ride for the price of the 7.4 but most importantly it did ride better for me personally. I'm going to start a new thread to do a review between the 7.4, Giant Fastroad Comax 1 and the Specialized Sirrus Comp Carbon so as to help any other newbies that might need it.

I do appreciate the good points and thank you for the feedback!