trek fx 2 2022 vs giant escape 3 vs pinnacle neon 1 vs pinnacle lithium 3

[vickster]

It no longer matters now, @sasquath, as you have made your purchase, but I hope your Trek turns out to be everything you want it to be. My current FX 7.6 (2009) sounds very similar to the bike that @Vickster previously owned. Straight bars with rim brakes and 28mm tires. Certainly not as solid on trails as my old school Chrome Molly Bianchi MTB with 1.5” tires, but I can still ride it on light trails. I am not interested in speed at all, so if anything, I would’ve been even happier if it did not have a carbon front fork. Riding on a parkway (35mph road here in the States) I stopped to ask a cyclist if I could be of assistance with a flat fix or something as he was holding his bike up with one hand, his front wheel in the other. He was very kind to me. He just held his front wheel up high for me to let me see that both sides of his front fork (whatever they are called) we’re attached to his WHEEL, not his bike! This was on a flat paved road. I was so embarrassed that I hadn’t noticed this at first that I didn’t even ask how it happened. The “or something” was definitely not something I could help him with. (I obviously could not then take a picture of his bike even though I want to do, I had never seen such a thing in real life, and hoped that I never would.)

Now when I ride my carbon fork Trek on light trails, in the back of my mind I wonder if I’ll be in that situation some day. Anyone else ever see this happen beforeAnyone else ever see this happen before?

But Sasquatch, I love the bike. Bought it for only $350 right before the first round of the pandemic hit. Well cared for, new cassette, cables, chain and almost new tires. Always kept garaged. Now my pride and joy.

Happy riding to you! Share some pics when you’re done with your transformation. Here's mine…

View attachment 608132

I’ve never owned a 7.6.…mine was a 7.3 WSD 2009
https://archive.trekbikes.com/us/en/2009/trek/73fxwsd#/us/en/2009/trek/73fxwsd/details

 

[Bonefish Blues]

Tbh it is squirrelly when compared to 1982 steel road bike. But miles better than lithium, that thing was build for navigating ant swarms without killing one.

Correct me if I've misunderstood, you're fitting a suspension fork on them?

 

[sasquath]

Correct me if I've misunderstood, you're fitting a suspension fork on them?

Nah its good enough as it is, strangely it feels smoother than my old all steel bike with suspension locked out - placebo effect I guess, can't imagine carbon fork smoothing out cobblestone road.

 

[si_c]

Nah its good enough as it is, strangely it feels smoother than my old all steel bike with suspension locked out - placebo effect I guess, can't imagine carbon fork smoothing out cobblestone road.

You'd be surprised at how much of a smoothing effect a well designed fork can give. For example on cobbles I'd expect a rigid steel fork to out perform an old coil suspension fork with or without the lockout engaged.

 

[sasquath]

With carbon I would expect high frequency low magnitude vibrations being dampened, like 150psi 23c tyre on rough tarmac.

Mild steel fork on my old viking didn't outperform cheapest rst fork I could find, on any surface .

 

[kayakerles]

I’ve never owned a 7.6.…mine was a 7.3 WSD 2009
https://archive.trekbikes.com/us/en/2009/trek/73fxwsd#/us/en/2009/trek/73fxwsd/details

Glad you pointed that out, @Vickster. It made me double-check mine only to find that mine is a 2008, not a 2009. 7.6, 7.3, they’re basically the same, just different ingredients here and there. Not sure what difference the WSD refers to.
Found the old link for mine again…
https://archive.trekbikes.com/us/en/2008/trek/76fx#/us/en/2008/trek/76fx/details

 

[vickster]

Glad you pointed that out, @Vickster. It made me double-check mine only to find that mine is a 2008, not a 2009. 7.6, 7.3, they’re basically the same, just different ingredients here and there. Not sure what difference the WSD refers to.
Found the old link for mine again…
https://archive.trekbikes.com/us/en/2008/trek/76fx#/us/en/2008/trek/76fx/details

WSD - Women’s Specific Design
The 7.6 has carbon stays according to your link so quite a different frame

 

[kayakerles]

All I can say for sure, @vickster is that I love the ride, and that in beautiful condition it was worth every penny of the $350 I gave for it secondhand @ 1.5 years ago, right before the pandemic put the price of bikes up a couple of hundred dollars. I got lucky, timing-wise. 👍🏻