I love my regular around town cruiser, which I use for trips of 10 miles or so. However, I want to go on other bike tours and need to look for a hybrid or touring bike to go uphill, with a selection of gears/speeds. I am 5′ 5″, with apparently a short inseam: only 26″. This will present some fitting difficulties. I rode a Terry this summer and loved it, but there aren’t any Terry dealers within hours of my location. Any thoughts on a Trek FX?
From Trek website:
“We call it a fitness bike, but this is Trek’s most popular platform for a reason. Roadies, commuters, fitness freaks, errand runners, Sunday riders — everyone loves the FX.”
And thanks to Dottie and Trish at http://letsgorideabike.com/blog/ I’ve been infatuated with sturdy beautiful bikes such as the Pashley. Again, any thoughts?
Inspiredcyclists 
Maureen, what’s most important is that you buy from a shop that offers excellent customer service. If you plan to take rides like you did in the Tetons, and you like the FX, I recommend that you go with the FX 7.3 or 7.5. The cheaper models have very inexpensive derailleurs that won’t hold up to lots of 30 mile rides. I also recommend that given your short legs, you not go for a woman specific design, because the bike may be too short for you. (Women tend to have long legs & short arms and torso.) Make sure though that they swap out the saddle to one you find comfortable, the handlebars are not too wide, and you can reach the brakes. Disc brakes would be overkill for the kind of riding you do. The best judge is how the bike feels. Test ride a number of bikes in shops that treat you like a serious customer.
Tailwinds,
Linda
Hey Linda,
THANKS SOOOO MUCH for taking the time to give me such great advice! I loved the 7.3 Trek! I truly appreciate it, because as you know, a lot of shops don’t take the time to do all you’ve done to help me!!! Wish you lived closer!!! And hope to meet up with you again!
I’m thinking about another bike also, so can’t wait to see if you get one and how you like it. My bike is comfortable, which is the reason I got it, but we have way too many hills and it’s just not that great for them. I thought I was going to die on the last ride when I saw the ginormous hills I had to go up – haha 🙂 I love the step-through style though since for some reason I feel as if I have more control and can jump off easily!
Traci,
Hills present a challenge for me as well, where I live is basically flat, but I want to train and practice, and be ready to conquer them! Linda is a bike genius, as well as in other areas, and I plan to follow her advice! And the step through style works best for me as well! So, what are you looking at?
I have this scary vision of ending up with a bike collection that rivals some peoples’ shoe collections 😉 I just have two right now, a speedy Kona Jake outfitted for commuting and a Schwinn hybrid (my back-up bike), but I can see that number climbing. Current temptations include a folding bike and something of the sturdy stylish variety, but I’m not sure how much I’d really ride either one. I certainly don’t NEED another bike at this point. A tandem would also be interesting . . . .
I recently advised a friend on picking a bike (she ended up with a GT traffic), and my advice was pretty similar to Linda’s. Find a good bike shop, take a few bikes for a decent test drive so you really get a feel for fit, ergonomics, shifting, etc., and go from there.