# Trek 7.9 FX good for riding on paved mountain roads?



## andysk (Mar 25, 2008)

Hello Members,
I am new to the forum, and this seems to be an active community. I had a question on Trek 7.9 FX. Please post your thoughts, which will help me in making a buy decision.

1. I ride on paved mountain roads. Is this Trek 7.9 FX good enough? light enough? Will it be lighter than 20 pounds?
2. Is this significantly better than 7.6 FX, that it warrants the extra $ 1,300 ?
3. My country's roads have lots of potholes. Will 28 mm tyre/rim size take the grueling hits?
4. ANy other better bikes I should consider? from other brands?
5. Which gives a better ride quality - Carbon/aluminium? I dont want a jarring ride.

Thanks.
Andy


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## kneejerk (Feb 2, 2007)

I don't think any of the fast city hybrid bikes are much for pot hole riding. I would be looking for a fat tire mountain bike for this duty. And what better for pot holes than a 29"er mountain bike. The bigger wheels will roll over the holes much better than the standard 26" tires on most ATB's.

If you don't want suspension, you could get a rigid front fork. Or pick up the Salsa version. The nice thing about the 29" mountain bike is that you can install hybrid 700c tires for faster riding, although the compliance will diminish.

Gary Fisher offers quite a few 29er's.
Salsa sells a rigid 29er.
Even a 26" wheeled mountain bike could do you good.


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## andysk (Mar 25, 2008)

I already have a Gary fisher kaitai with hybrid tyres fitted on it. But the bike weighs 31 pounds, which is way too heavy for the mountains. That is why I wanted a lighter bike, but was concerned about pot hole worthiness.


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## kneejerk (Feb 2, 2007)

There are light weight mountain bikes that would serve the purpose. If you ditch the suspension fork you will get under 20 lbs. Trek's Carbon hard tail 'elite' series would do the trick. Fisher's carbon jobby 29er would likely aswell. Just don't look for one without disc brakes, they are getting rare!


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## andysk (Mar 25, 2008)

*Thanks but...*

Thanks for the info. I will look them up and decide. I thought maintaining a disc brake system was difficult, and so thought will go for regular brakes for easy adjustment and maintenance. Any thoughts?


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## cyclust (Sep 8, 2004)

Take a look at Cannondale's Bad Boy line. It's a very versital bike, allowing you to use 26" or 700 c wheels. also available with or without their headshock suspension.


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