thesketh

Hey All,

New to the forum here but I've been wanting to get my girlfriend into cycling so we can go riding together. My cousin works for Trek so i can get a great discount from him so I was looking at the FX4 and FX5 for my girlfriend but I was wondering if this is a good bike for a weekend cruiser as well as a longer distance bike. We want to train and do the MS150 (ride from Houston, TX to Austin,TX) as well so I was wondering if the Trek FX bikes would be a good bike to handle both situations. I am open to all help and suggestions!

rumrunn6

150 mile ride? what bike does she like?

how long will she have to build up to that kind of endurance? meaning, when is the ride?

my gut tells me that's a ride for experienced drop bar road bike riders & too much for a new rider but I've been wrong before

thesketh

The ride is April 28th & 29th so we will have to get to training pretty quickly for the ride, I have done it years ago when I was in better shape so I'm sure I can get back to that level. She does cycling classes twice a week which I know is nowhere close to the real thing but I would think it would help with the butt callous. It's probably not the best idea to do for a new rider but hey why not shoot for the moon. I am just trying to get her a good bike that can handle the 175 mile ride so I'm not sure if I should go hybrid that will still be comfortable for daily cruises as well as a stretch for a distance ride or if I should go straight road bike that can handle the 175 mile ride with no problems.

rumrunn6

a year to train? that's not bad especially since she cycles. does she use cleated pedals at the gym? can I assume you've got a drop bar road bike? I know lots pf ppl attest to the endurance of straight bar road bikes, so that might be OK. but I wouldn't, using my computer I see my avrg speed on my hybrids is always way lower than my "road bike" but it's really her preference. can you guys rent some bikes over the next few weeks to see what she likes? speed may not be important cuz you're not racing, but at that distance one wants to be as efficient as possible & in the saddle as little as possible. I think I'm 10% slower on my hybrids

btw - I see you have crossed posted this elsewhere - you might ask a Moderator to combine them in a suitable sub forum

thesketh

I did cross post because I wasn't sure where this needed to be posted to get the the answers I was looking for.

I have also looked at the Domane line of Trek bikes for her which is a carbon road bike with drop bars, I figure if we are going to do this we might as get it right the first time around. I'd rather spend the extra money and be more comfortable and efficient for her ride. She does use cleated pedals at her classes. I use a drop bar yes but I wasn't sure if that was to much of a jump for a new rider or not. We will for sure need to rent some bikes and try them out to see what she is comfortable on.

Brian25

As an ex bike store owner, one thing that I would recommend is for your friend start using a tape measure when she goes to spin class so that she can find out and record her preferred seat height. When you get to the test ride phase, just set the height at her now known height and test away. I agree with other posters that as far as what type of bike will be decided while test riding/ maybe renting.

thesketh

Brian that is a great idea actually, I wouldn't have thought to do that but I will get her seat height measurment this week when we go to spin class. I will rent a few different bikes to see which one she likes best because ultimately it doesn't matter how nice or the purpose of the bike that I get her, if she isn't comfortable than she won't ride it. Y'all have been so helpful with these tips I really appreciate it!