Awesomeguy

thus is interesting . I was talking to trek, and asking if I could put a tiagra 11-32 cassette for tighter cadence in place of the 11-46 that comes with the fx3 deore derailleur. They told me I would have to replace with a tiagra derailleur and could use the same shifter since that is 10 speed. Similar to tiagra . So your theory, I’m not sure, if conflicts with what trek told me.

raymellott

I would NOT prefer a stock hybrid, but one with mods? I think so. The bars are too wide and the angles wrong. Stem length might be an issue; and I'd likely want a longer reach. The shifter on the right at least would need to be one that's available, but I haven't seen stock. It's a shift that allows you to shift both up AND down, using only fingers, instead of your thumb. Then, with Trek, at least, their move to a 1x trannie for their hybrids, except the cheaper ones is a deal buster. I'm at sea to understand why they think moving to one chainring with a wide ratio rear cog is 'progress'. But then, with all that, the changes I'm speaking of are what I'd have with a drop bar bike - without the drops. So, there's that, too. I'd be just a tad more upright.

raymellott

This blows my mind, and so you made me do some searching. What I read is that there's this thing called a 'pull ratio', and that among the different combinations of groupsets that are interchangeable, Shimano 'mountain bike' derailleurs use a different 'pull ratio', and thus require a unique cassette. I'm hoping I misread and misunderstand this. Ultegra is 'mountain bike'. So, instead of a hybrid you run on the road, you have a mountain bike, it seems. I'd go back to Trek and pursue this, if I were you.

Jeeze, I hope I'm wrong.

I'm completely at sea why Trek thinks a 1x trannie on their hybrids are anything but a cynical attempt to shave costs by going to a single front chainring.

t2p

1X can provide benefits (when done properly)

simpler operation - less weight - less maintenance

not for everyone obviously


Shimano Ultegra is a road group


Shimano 10 speed shifters / rear derailleurs have different pull than Shimano 11 speed shifters / rear derailleurs - with exception of Tiagra 10 speed which has same pull as 11 speed


there ... clear as mud ... lol

raymellott

And I MESSED UP my post. You're correct. I SHOULD have been referring to Deore instead of Ultegra when calling the new 1x Trek bikes 'mountain bikes'/

raymellott

A Deore 11-46 cassette has the following: 11-13-15-18-21-24-28-32-37-46. Frankly, I think this is nuts. There is no way to fine tune your cadence with three and four tooth jumps between cogs. The more I look at that setup, the colder I get.

morsetaper2

So we have 3 Trek FX's in the family fleet. Each one bought used on CL. Each one I stripped down and re-assembled replacing anything that needed replacement. We have a 2012 FX7.5, a 2006 FX2, and a 2005 7500FX. All are 17.5 frame size. Had to replace some cables on all of them. The FX7.5 need new wheel bearings and cones F&R. As they were worn and pitted from being assembled too tightly. The FX2 went thru a couple of spokes breaking in the rear wheel until I got the wheel-spoke tension equalized out. The 7500FX had a crunchy BB that needed replacement. Other than those issues they have been rock solid.



The 2012 7.5FX is mine. Have added a lighter Ti-spindle BB, an XT cassette, and XT deraileur from my stash of MTB parts. Those items took 1/3 Lb off the bikes weight. Bike weighs in at about 21 Lbs.


The 2006 FX2 is about 26-ish Lbs.


The 2005 7500FX is about 24-ish Lbs


Also have a Trek 750 which I bought new in 1992. Lugged/brazed cromoly steel frame, its about 23 Lbs. The FX line later evolved from those early steel framed hybrids. I'll have to get a picture of it sometime.

t2p

Nice FX’s and 7500 !

t2p

yeah but if you get a flat tire you can ride home on the 46t cog !

they think of everything !

raymellott

;-))

raymellott

Update: On another site, poster has an FX4. Changed the front chainring to a 46 and the rear to an 11x34. Didn't say a thing about changing the derailleur.

raymellott

Ok, here is the dialog from another site on the same subject as changing the rear cog (and the front one, for that matter)

•  
  • When I went to the bike shop to order a chainring, I said I wanted a 44t. Bike shop said I could go up to a 46 with no issues. I said the website says 44 and they said that they had just done a 46 with no issues. So, I got the 46.
    
  • On another site, in a similar discussion, poster says Trek told him that if he were to want to change cassette to a 11x34, it would require a new derailleur, as that deralleur is specific to the Deore cassette. Which made no sense to me. Did you need to do anything with the derailleur?
  • No nothing. Took it to the bike shop and it took about ten minutes.

So, really, I'd go back to your Trek folks and ask them once yet again why they think the derailleur needs to be changed.

tenrec

I just bought a 2023 Trek FX3 Disc to replace my 1998 Trek 7500 hybrid. Most of my riding is on the road with a Trek Madone 4.7, but if the weather or the road surface is going to be bad (or I'm riding with slower companions) I'll usually take the 7500. Since the bike is 24 years old and hasn't been serviced in about 4 years, I asked my LBS how much it would cost for a tuneup and needed replacement parts. It turned out to need more work than I had anticipated, but the LBS owner had a suggestion: instead of putting several hundred dollars into a 24-year-old bike, why not consider a new FX3 which they had on sale? I decided to go that route and just wanted to report to fellow FX owners my experience with the upgrade.

I rode both bikes today, one after the other, and I'm actually amazed at how much more enjoyable it is to ride the FX3. I don't know if it's the tires, the frame, the carbon fork, or some other factor, but the ride quality of the newer bike is SO much better than the older one. I suspect a lot of the difference may be in the tires, even though my new bike has 32mm tires compared to the 35mm ones on the older bike. The pressure in the older tires is currently higher than in the newer ones. Whatever the cause, the new bike just soaks up bumps far better than the older one. It also accelerates faster, probably due to lighter wheels and lighter weight in general. The new bike is more nimble and a lot less work to ride.

One of the main reasons I upgraded was to get the benefits of disc brakes versus the rim brakes on the 7500. In that respect, I am not impressed. The 7500 seems to have greater stopping power than the FX3. It's possible that the disc brakes need some adjustment, but they did do at least some adjustment at the LBS when I bought the bike. In any case, the cantilever brakes on the 7500 really get the job done, and I'm not sure that the disc brakes on the FX3 are an improvement.

Overall, I'm very pleased with the new bike. I was expecting it to be fairly similar to the old one, but it turns out to be faster, lighter, more maneuverable, and more comfortable to ride. I think the FX3 occupies the "sweet spot" in the FX lineup in terms of value for money spent, and was a good choice for me in my situation.

hokiefyd 

Your disc brakes may need some time to bed-in. Once the pads deposit some material on the rotor (you won't see it visually, but it'll be there), they should stop better for you.

Having said that, there definitely isn't anything wrong with good rim brakes -- they're usually just as capable at stopping the bike as disc brakes. Their material weakness is a wet rim -- most rim brake pad compounds just can't generate good friction against a wet rim. Kool Stop salmon pads are helpful here -- they're as good as it gets for wet braking with rim brakes. But outside of that...in dry conditions, a good rim brake is certainly the equal of even hydraulic discs...and usually stronger than cable-operated disc brakes.

I have three bikes with hydraulic disc brakes. One has Deore brakes and two have Alivio/Acera brakes. And they stop well. But I'll tell you -- my bikes with linear pull brakes (like your 7500) stop just as well, if not better.

tenrec

I know -- the cantilever brakes have amazing stopping power! If the bike is moving forward slowly and you apply the front brake too firmly, the rear of the bike can lift in the air as the front wheel stops!

I do see another benefit of the discs down the road -- the rim brakes eventually wear down the rim material and you need new wheels. This is the case with my 7500 right now; one reason I got the FX3. I didn't want to put new wheels on an old bike that I don't ride that often; it would have been part of the hundreds of dollars of repairs and upgrades the bike requires. Replacing a brake disc has got to be a lot cheaper than new wheels!

hokiefyd 

Sure -- both types of brakes, rim and disc, should be able to lift the rear wheel during a full effort stop. There are, of course, a lot of nuances to brake performance, but both should give you more braking power than you can reasonably use.

This is true -- normally, a wheel will withstand rim brakes for many thousands of miles -- more miles than most people would put on a bike. There are nuances here as well -- lots of use in wet weather can really degrade the rim surface because the pads are grinding a slurry of rain and dirt into the rim surface. In most use cases, even rim brake wheels will last the life of the bike. But, yes, changing a brake rotor is absolutely less expensive than replacing a wheel.

tenrec

I don't generally ride in the rain or wet conditions, although since I got my Trek Madone I've used the old 7500 when I needed to ride under such conditions, not wanting to damage or wear out the newer, more expensive bike. Having said that, the wheels on the 7500 really need replacement after 24 years and almost 20 thousand miles. I recently replaced the wheels on the Madone after 13 years and over 17 thousand miles. The rims on the old Madone wheels are also pretty well worn.

Changing the subject, I just looked at an online inflation calculator. My 7500 cost $500 in 1998, which is approximately $912 in 2023 dollars. What I find fascinating is that I paid significantly less than that for the new FX3, despite its disc brakes, higher-end rear derailleur, and carbon fork! The real price of an aluminum Trek hybrid has come down in the last quarter of a century. Trek must have improved manufacturing efficiency over the years; in addition, the new bike has no front derailleur or shifters, no suspension seatpost, and no adjustable stem (all of which were features on my 7500.) Overall, it makes the FX3 look like a real bargain!

jaxgtr

Got a picture of my FX Sport 5, just waiting on some hub caps so I can use some Aeolus Pro 37s on the bike, since this version uses a thru skew axle versus a normal thru axle. Also will be moving to a smaller cassette, 12-25 , no hills here, so no point having 42 tooth cassette.

Awesomeguy

that is a great looking bike! I love it. How do you determine what cassette is possible on the bike? Bc on shimano s website this grx rx rear derailleur requires 11 t as the smallest cog, but you are going 12-25.

Love to see pics of your other bikes , especially the Domane

Awesomeguy

what pedals are those ?

sjanzeir

That is one heck of a beautiful bike! And the finish of that seatpost is what really ties it all together. Enjoy.

And I see your point on there being no point to a wide-range cassette in flat ground. Jeddah is a pretty flat city and I've been getting the feeling that the 11-34t cassette on my 20-inch Dahon Mu has been making me lazy, so I'm fixing to swap that out for an 11-25t or something.

jaxgtr

The drive train is 11 speed, so it does not matter what the configuration is as long as the cassette is an 11 speed cassette and the top tooth count does not exceeded for the derailleur cage tooth limit. You don't have to start with the 11 tooth, my wife's bike has a 14-28 on it. With the lack of hills, but lots of wind, these cassettes give you a corncob effect and give you lots of single tooth jumps. The 14-28, there are single tooth jumps from 14-21, then the 23, 25, 28. The 12-25 is single tooth from 12-19, then the 21, 23, and 25. The 12-25 is actually my favorite Shimano 11 speed cassette as it has plenty of high gear and a 16 tooth.

Oh and the Pedal's are nothing major, just picked them up off of Amazon. Just some basic platform, but they have a really nice grip, and are less than $30.

Gen 4 Domane SLR 7 AXS




And my Emonda ALR. Recently upgrade this to run SRAM Force AXS. Love this bike.

sjanzeir

Shimano do not require that the smallest cog be 11t. Shimano have never been known to be great on wording. What you read on the website actually means is that 11t is the smallest possible high-gear cog that can be used with that drivetrain; anything larger than that would work just fine. You (or jaxgtr ) can go so far as to build a custom 11-speed cassette with cogs in one-tooth increments and it'll work just fine - if you're so inclined, that is. But whereas that sort of thing might have been heroic in the 1980s, it would be called downright masochistic today

jaxgtr

Yea I think you would be happier on the 11-25 or the 12-25.

Awesomeguy

what you said about what I read is correct sorry for miss quoting. Now let’s look at the rear derailleur if the 2023 fx3 , what possible cassette ranges are possible on that ?