Originally Posted by
Eric F
I'm genuinely curious...What makes a "fitness" bike different from other hybrids? Looking at the upper end of the Trek FX series - which they market as "fitness" bikes - the theme seems to be "road bike speed, but more comfortable". Basically, a flat bar road bike, rather than the multi-surface capabilities often associated with other hybrid varieties. Is this fairly accurate?
Despite what the detractors might have you believe, fitness bikes are
not flat-bar road bikes. Far from it, actually. Since you brought up the FX, Trek had an actual flat-bar road bike range in their lineup - the short-lived Zektor, as it was called - back when the general thinking in the industry was that the flat-bar road bike was going to be the next bike thing (turned out it was so-called "gravel" bikes that were the next big thing.) Despite the fact that the both feature flat handlebars, the Zektor and the FX were
very different bikes.