HKS

Hello Bikeforums! (if this is tl;dr go to the 3rd paragraph)

As the Spring season approaches, I'm looking into buying a hybrid bike for commuting as well as exercise. I've always loved biking; started at 5 years old and by the time I was 10, I was zooming around the streets of Toronto like the happy child I was. Seven years later, I'm looking into becoming more dedicated towards the...sport? activity? lifestyle?

I never really thought about what kind of bicycle I rode until recently, and what the heck, time to buy a good one to take me through University and beyond, hopefully. I've done quite a bit of reading up on bikes, ie differences between road and hybrid, different components, body composition, and what "Shimano" means, and now I feel comfortable enough to join this site.

I'm riding a CCM 10 speed right now, but it's not really happening for me. I mean I could easily spend the money to get it fitted, but I might as well buy a new bike. I've been considering the following:

1) Trek 7.1, 7.2, 7.3, 7.4, 7.5, 7.6, 7.7 what are the differences???

2) Giant Escape 1 or 2

I'm lucky enough to live in a bike friendly city (not TO anymore), and all the bikes listed above are readily available through various LBS stores. (Redundant, I know. What's the plural of LBS?) The bikes are all around 450 to 700 CDN, and that's all I want to spend, really. I plan to use the bike for about 100km/week during the school year with a substantial increase this summer.

Before I go to my LBS to check these out, anything I should know about the bikes? Anyone want to share some opinions? Questions I should ask or terms I should know to avoid looking like a dingus?

SlimRider

To Bike Forums, HKS!

We will try to answer all of your cycling questions to the best of our abilities!

However, I can tell that right now you need to know that there is a pecking order with regards to drivetrain components. These components usually determine how quickly and smoothly gear ratios are changed. Knowing this one fact alone, is key to unravling the mystery of Trek's FX series.

In general, with Shimano's road bikes, the pecking order goes like this:

Dura Ace > Ultegra > 105 > Tiagra > Sora > Tourney > Hogsnot

In general, with Shimano's MTN bikes, the pecking order goes like this:

XTR > Saint > XT > SLX > Deore > Alivio > Acera > Altus > Camel Dung

Now, moving on ....

If you have mountains to traverse, you need gears. The higher the mountain or the longer the ascent, the more gears you'll need. If your commute terrain is primarily flat, then you could do very well with a single speed to suit your commuting needs.

However, before anything else, the upper limit of your bicycle spending budget is what really limits your capacity to best suit your commuting requirements. At a seven hundred dollar spending limit, your budget can get you into a fairly decent commuter bike.

Therefore, assuming that you will want gears and will use this bicycle almost exclusively for commuting. This and quite possibly with an occasional jaunt onto the mostly solid wooded trials of a local park, I would suggest the following within your area:

1) The Giant Escape 1

2) The Trek 7.5FX

3) The Trek 7.3FX

4) The Giant Seek 2

5) The Trek Allant

- Slim

dpeters11

The 7.5 also starts getting closer to a flat bar road bike in some ways. I believe it now has a compact crank with road gearing. It also has a carbon fork and speed trap, which is a speed sensor that goes in the fork (addon).

I have a 7.5 myself, but it's a few years old.

Igo

I just finished making a Giant Escape 1 ready for commuting duty. The bike is strictly a utility bike but it permorms admirably. Just a simple but dependable go-getter. Lots of fun too. $450 less the add-ons.

FrenchFit 

I guess I'm a little confused. You say you want to get serious about the sport, but ask about new low cost hybrids and fitness bikes. Seems like serious means you would be buying a genuine road or MTB used as your budget allows.

I'll comment my oldest kids relied on their bikes heavily while in college, and realized the chances were that anything new would be a target for theives. Both rode what looked like real beaters, but they were actually nice old road bikes that were somewhat disguised as beaters. Still, I had a nicer wheelet and GP4000s on my daughters, and you can guess what happened. The next wheelset was better disguised.

Don't think your campus is exempt.

A rusty, scarred bike is your friend in college...and there are a lot of great older bikes in that condition. A shiny new bike? Take some pictures to remember it. Just saying.

a1penguin

Hopefully the old mountain bike can be used around campus. I don't know what kind of riding you plan to do or how long your rides will be. But I would consider a road bike. Go to your LBS, ride both. While plenty of people ride hybrids, I only see a couple of non-road bikes on my weekend road rides. The main advantages of road bikes over hybrids: road bikes are lighter (5+ lbs), road bikes offer more riding positions so your hands don't get tired, you don't always ride upright and more aero means faster, you hands don't stick out like a deer rack and it's more aero. There are road bikes with more relaxed geometry. As a long time road rider, I find I prefer it to the hybrid I recently purchased. For the amount of riding you plan on doing, I think a drop bar bike seems like a better choice.

AdelaaR

I think FrenchFit has some interesting points.
Take what looks like a beater bike and put new drivetrain components on it ... that'll get you through college

dpeters11

To some people, getting serious about biking means getting something that didn't come from Walmart. I'm not familiar with CCM, so don't know what quality bike that is.

And a hybrid can lead to something else. My wife started on a pedal forward Trek Pure and now has a Ruby Elite. So it can be a gateway.

HKS

Thanks for the welcome and all the replies so far! Nice being here.

Yeah, that's definitely one I'm considering.

Looks beautiful, although I'd definitely have to be careful with thieves if it looked that nice. This is on my list, for sure.

Ha ha, hopefully I won't need any pics, but bike security is very important to me. I have been thinking about getting an old beater bike that rides well for the specific reason of avoiding a huge loss in the case of theft. There's no way to bring the bike inside school/campus, but bicycles and racks abound, thankfully.

I will check out some road bikes, but I think they may be too specific a style for me just yet. If I was to get one, it would have to be very comfortable as well as have a rack attachment at the back, which doesn't seem to be too common...

Made my day. This is pretty much me right now, sadly. My heart's in the right place, though, give me that.

dpeters11

You're on the right track. I've gt a friend that thought I am crazy for having a 7.5 and 2.1, because of course all bikes are the same, and couldn't understand why I wouldn't use them on a mountain bike trail. Of course to him a Walmart bike is just as good. You are looking at good bikes. If you find one that fits you well and is fun to ride, that's the right choice for you. At least for now

HKS

Ended up buying a Trek 7.2 Livestrong FX at the LBS! Great ride; highly recommended. It's really a world of difference from a cheapo "bike" from any of the multiproduct chain stores. Thanks for all the pointers, folks!

Spiff_P239

Congrats on the purchase. Hope you can get plenty of miles on it this spring/summer.

Koobazaur

Hey welcome to the forums, you sound like you're in about the same spot as me, albeit I've not yet done "full on" research but rather slowly educate myself by talking to my LBS guys whenever I get a tune up and browsing these forums

And like you I just got my first non-walmart or target bike 3 months ago - Giant Escape 2. I would have gone for 1 but the guys at the store advised the 100 buck increase wasn't worth it for my regular commuting needs. Although, predictably, its been getting more use than just "commuting" and I've started thinking about making some longer cross-LA journeys and make a day out of my biking escapade

a1penguin

Koobazaur: Your N+1 bike should be a road bike. It will be a lot faster and more comfy for longer rides once you get used to the riding position.