RoadWearier

I love this bike. It just makes me want to ride!
Ttrying to learn more about it. Serial Number is not showing up on the Trek Site. It's 136C0366D. Rear Derailleur is Deore. Original owner says "around 2014" but wasn't really sure. At 5'10 I was thinking a 20 inch frame would be too big but it fits great. Go figure.

Bontrager Nebula wheels. Race lite hard case tires.

Only small complaint are the brakes. They stop but certainly not a skid stop. Maybe old pads? I adjusted them to the point where the front rim barely kisses the pad when it rolls so the cables are tight. Maybe that's as good as they get?

hokiefyd 

The Vintage Trek site appears to be down at the moment...they usually have brochures and other things on there that can help you date the bike. Given that derailer (the RD-M591 has been out of production for several years now), mid 2010s does seem about right (2014, 2015, something like that).

As for the brakes, two comments:

1. In general, linear pull brakes like that should stop VERY well. Yes, the original pads are probably hardened and ineffective at this point. I'd recommend new pads from Kool Stop...either the salmon pads or the dual compound pads.
2. Trek has a habit of installing one or more "brake modulators" on their bikes, and I can see at least one on your bike (on the front brake). This is inline with the brake cable housing, right where it enters the brake arm noodle. There's essentially a spring in there that absorbs some of the cable force so the brake arms are not squeezed as hard. The intent is to keep inexperienced riders from going over the bar during a panic stop, where the front brake works "too well." And it does that...by reducing the front brake's effectiveness. You can easily remove this modulator and get back to full brake power in the front brake.

RoadWearier

Thanks so much! Didn't know about the modulator.
Doing a little digging, seems like fx bikes from 2012 on had internal cable routing? So it might even be a 2011. Still I only paid $140 for it so at that price it seemed like a safe bet.

fishboat

This site should have it. You'll have to pick a number of years and check colors they came in, but you'll find it.

https://archive.trekbikes.com/us/en/2008

Nice bikes. It'll be more fun if you put decent tires on it. Those hard case tires are like riding on beef jerky. The Hybrid forum has a number of tire threads. I'd suggest GravelKing Slicks or Semi-Slicks(SS) in 38mm.

RB1-luvr

that's a great all-rounder bike. Not hard to see why you like it so much.

I learned something about the inline modulator thingy. Good to know.

t2p

great looking FX - congrats !

can you provide more pics ? - that should assist to determine the year

one thing that puzzles - how many cogs (speeds) ? - from the one picture looks to be 7 speed ... ? ... maybe due to the angle missing a cog or two in the picture ... ? ... (should be 9 ?) ...

t2p

agree the V brakes should provide adequate if not great stopping power - we have a 7.5 FX with similar brakes and it stops very well - and Kool Stop pads will improve the performance

also agree a tire switch should be a plus - I like the GK SS more than the standard GK slick (due to increased tread thickness / puncture resistance) ... 32 mm GK SS can run small so I recommend GK SS 35 mm (or 38 mm ?) (GK SS 35 mm can run big - around 37 mm installed)

some additional tires to consider include Conti GP4S (32 mm) and Conti GP Urban (35 mm)

RoadWearier

Thanks everyone! Anything in particular I should take pictures of to help figure out the year? There are 8 cogs on the rear and eight on the gear indicator.

RoadWearier

I'm thinking 2011 or 2012 only because the RD was switched to Alivio after that. Dunno if that is an improvement or not...
FWIW the derailleurs shift better than some road bikes I've owned that had Altus. I would say they feel like the bike I had with 105 but maybe it's just that it's a new bike. I really like how high up I am. Great for riding in traffic

One other thing I have noticed is that the tires are as firm as they were 3 weeks ago or so when I bought it. I always hated the fact that I pretty much had to check my tires every time I went out on the road bike
also I'm not seeing this spring brake attenuator thing that can be removed. Are you sure about it?

fishboat

..if you'd take 5 minutes and look at the link I posted above you'd know what year it is and how it was built...

RoadWearier

Actually I did. That's how I narrowed it down to those two years. The link you sent just gives the specs for every model and year. The front derailleur type is illegible on the bike. Thank you for your help.

RoadWearier

Actually it doesn't even narrow it down that much. Looks like any pre-2013 Trek FX 7.3 has a Deore rear derailleur.

hokiefyd 

Based on that website, I believe you have a 2009 model. Silver Deore rear derailer plus non-group C102 front derailer plus metallic black colorway option.

RoadWearier

You obviously know your stuff. I don't know what a non-group c102 front derailleur is. Ditto with the back colorway option. Thanks again. The seller was pretty far off the mark when they told me the year then. Not sure how much better a 2012 would have been. 2014 for that matter.

hokiefyd 

The components are more or less the same in this bike type, so it's really more about condition than model year. It looks like you found a good one!

07morrison

Beauty

whydoibike93

I have a 05 7.3 fx and love it got it for free.