Love_Bikes

Purple

hokiefyd 

Ooh -- both of those colors are pretty funky! I don't dislike either one of them, but I'm not sure which I'd choose. Either way, it looks like a very nice bike. I hope you have many happy miles with it!

csrpenfab

The FX6S is a great bike, and I've been nothing but happy with my 2019. The biggest improvement was changing out the stock tires to tubeless. I've put about 3k miles on it in a little over a year with zero issues. I recently bought a Niner RDO carbon gravel bike, and since that time my poor FX6S has sat dormant. The Niner is just so much more fun on the dirt/road and soaks up bumps much better. I'll keep the FX6 around with some fenders for dirty day duty or rides that are 100% road.

Roger2019

Newbie here. First post. Just bought a 2019 FX6S at LBS. Test rode it on back streets for about 45 minutes. Nice ride but have to check tire pressures, great brakes, responsive, seat seems ok for short riding so far, needs Ergon risers for more hand options..... But the brakes---Shifting 2 front gears up and down is smooth but shifting the rear to smaller sprocket sizes is clunky and lags. Going to larger gears is ok. LBS adjusted it but not any better. Comments? Thanks.

CarloM

I had a very similar experience, but I ended up trading in my FXS6 to The Pro's Closet. The FX was the first bike I purchased after a long hiatus from cycling. I thought I was too old in my forties to ride drop-bar. I was so very wrong. I ended up buying road bikes that then relegated the FX to disuse. I tried to spruce it up by lowering the bars by flipping the stem, putting Panaracer GravelKing SK 35c (which is the largest it officially supports per Trek, though visually it seems to me you can squeeze 38s in there) and running it tubeless. It did improve the ride, but I realized there is no substitute for a true drop-bar frame.

I ended up buying a Giant Revolt and it was the best decision I made. Now I have 3 bikes I love to alternate between, all for different use cases. Hopefully Pro's Closet will find a good home for the FX, with someone who appreciates the bike. It is a well made machine, just ended up being the wrong decision for me.

csrpenfab

I totally understand. I was completely in love with my FX6S and put over 3,000 miles on her until I bought a Niner RDO carbon gravel bike. Since that purchase, the Trek has been ridden exactly zero miles! The drop bar gravel bike just does everything better for what I need. Let me know how your Pro's Closet sale goes. At this point, I'm hanging onto the Trek FX6 as a back up bike, but if I could get decent $$ I'd sell.

CarloM

I just got an email saying they received and checked out the bike and are honoring the quote, so "the check will soon be in the mail". The quotes are non-binding (you have 72 hours to take action) so once you're ready to sell I'd just submit a request for quote. You have to describe in detail the condition of the bike, and also have to upload two pics of your bike, one from each side. They'll send you a quote with 3 offers:

• one for credit towards a Pro's Closet purchase, which is the highest dollar offer
• one for credit towards a purchase/trade-in with one of their LBS partners (you can use their website to find the ones nearest you), this is the middle amount, and you save a hassle in that the partner store boxes and packs it up for you. Trust me this was a pain in the ass even though I got tons of free boxes and packing stuff from my various LBSs.
• one for a check, this is the lowest amount, but obviously cash lets you buy what you want from anywhere. They email you a FEDEX shipping label.

Keep in mind my bike was essentially "like new" so your offer may not be this high. And mine was completely stock (well I upgraded to tubeless and Panaracer GravelKings but I am pretty sure they didn't factor that in the offer price). My three prices were $1016, $928, $884. So I lost about half the purchase price, I got it on sale for $1799 and no tax on Memorial Day special. I strongly considered the middle option but I rode an Aspero, Grevil and Stigmata at the LBS partner shop and really preferred the Revolt, and they didn't carry Giant, so I had to take cash.

But what I didn't have to do was go through the hassle of reselling to a third party. I tried Craigslist and OfferUp and it was infuriating the amount of "fake interest" and lowballers that respond to your ad. A couple I think wanted to meet in a back alley to take it off my hands for me. I had it up for 10 days and not one single legitimate offer. I think I'm pretty much in a good place for a while with my bikes now, I have my aero, my racing/climbing, and now my gravel/commute bike. But if I ever decide to trade-in, I'll likely go with Pro's Closet again.

csrpenfab

Good to know and thanks for the details. At those prices, I'll just hold onto it (N+1). It's a great bike and I can always use it for more leisurely rides with the wife, have a spare bike if a friend needs one, give it to one of my boys, etc...

CarloM

If you have a need or use for it, yes it's definitely a good bike. For me it was just languishing and I don't have anyone else who would make use of it, so off it went. Surprisingly few of my friends and family are cyclists, I just picked it up as a mid-life "get your health back in order" hobby and found that I loved it. Apparently the rest of my close ones are happy to eat chips and watch Saturday/Sunday football...

AU Tiger

This has been my experience as well. I've got a little over 1,000 miles on it, and I cannot imagine going back to a flat-bar hybrid. I'm very glad I started on one when I got into biking a few years ago, as I don't think would have taken to a drop-bar right away. But as I figured out what type of riding I like best, it became apparent that a gravel bike suited my needs perfectly. And one of the fun things about biking is the great variety of bikes available - something for just about everybody's preference.

SteveD51

So did you end up buying an FX 6? I found this discussion thread helpful and went ahead and got a 2020 FX 6. As some of the writers says, it really depends on your style of riding. I am 68 and do NOT plan to go flying down mountain trails, and my body does NOT appreciate drop handlebars. To me the FX 6 rides like a dream. I use it like you do for paved roads and well-groomed gravel roads and trails. The ride is butter smooth, the Shimano 105 gearset more responsive than anything I've ridden before. I'm out riding every day the weather permits. Sometimes just a 10-15 mile spin, sometimes I ride for about three hours in the morning, stop for lunch and to let my sore bottom recover, then ride another couple of hours, chalking up about 60 miles for the day. Let me know how it's working for you.

CarloM

Congratulations on your new bike! Even though I ended up selling mine, for what you indicated you are looking for in a bike, it should be a close to an ideal ride. If you have bum soreness, I can't recommend getting cycling shorts highly enough. I was resistant at first (didn't want to be "that guy" in the lycra/spandex) but once I did, you can't go back. I can literally ride hours with little to no pain, especially if I take a short break or change positions while riding (i.e. leaving the saddle to pedal uphill).

Erebus

I purchased a Trek FX Sport 6 a few years ago! I use it mostly for riding on gravel/paved rail trails and it is wonderful! The carbon frame absorbs a lot of the shock so I feel it would be fine for what you want to do!

I upgraded to a tubeless tire system but otherwise, the stock tires were fine.

Kevliz18

I don’t recommend this bike for anything other than paved roads, it’s a wonderful bike on a paved road.

ComradeCaleb

The impression I generally get from the FXS bikes is that they're basically road bikes in every way other than the fact that they have hybrid style handlebars(correct me if I'm wrong but that's basically what they seem like to me) so...if you want a road bike but you specifically just hate drop bars...go for it...personally at that point and for that price I'd probably be looking for a road bike but I can still see the appeal.

DarkSkyHUnter

The 2021 FX6 has been a great bike for me. Due to my physique at birth, drop bar bikes are not an option for me.

I did add inner barends to the FX6, these function like mini-hoods. This puts me in a more aerodynamic and comfortable position and I'm able to safely reach these with my clubbed hand.

As far as "good choice," for 99% of serious road riders, the FX 6 is not a good choice. For me it's the only option to keep pace with serious riders. Yes, it does mean I have to do more work. I've been able to ride 55 miles @ 19 mph with 2,500 feet of climbing while on group rides.

SEATrek

I just bought a 2021 Trek FX5 Sport and it is brilliant. At the start of Covid I stopped going to the gym and running outside, and started back into cycling. In 2014 I purchased a 2012 Trek 7.5 FX and had been riding really often. Lately though I found the frame size (15 inch) was too small so I began to think about maybe getting a new bike or having a custom frame built. Custom frames start around $2500 so I decided that a new bike was more affordable. With the third stimulus check I decided to put that in to a new bike and my LBS had the FX 5 Sport in stock in the Medium frame size. Test rode it and put down a deposit. Rode my old bike hard that day and pretty much decided to upgrade. Have gone on a few rides so far and I love the FX 5 Sport. The major different between it and the 6 is the 6 has 105 components and the 5 has Tiagra, which for me is not a very important distinction and not worth the extra $220. So far I've installed my old seat from the 2012 7.5FX and also the seat bag. Ordered a bottle cage from Amazon (2 for $12 vs one for $20 at the LBS) and plan to transfer the tires from my old bike over to the new one.

OddJack

Just picked up a 2020 FX6 for $860. It was converted to 1X which I prefer and added carbon bars. It's so light and quiet. I raised the handle bars for more comfort.

Everything about this bike feels right. A perfect road bike, for me at least. I dont like drop bars. If speed is not your priority I dont see why anyone would go for drop bars. It's just not as comfortable.