Replacement Bike Advice

zakventis said:

Hi folks.

A stupid mistake on my part has rendered my Orange P7 damaged beyond
repair, so I am looking for a replacement. My needs have changed
since I bought it several years ago and feel that a 'fitness' type
hybrid might suit me better (80% road use, 15% shortcuts on
tracks/through woods etc. and 5% unknown territory). Budget is
£1,000.

I have short listed the Trek 7.7 FX and the Specialized Sirrus Pro.
Bike technology has changed a great deal since I last looked closely
and so I'm wondering about several aspects, viz.:

wheel strength, particularly 20/24 spokes versus 32,
hydraulic disc brakes versus 'V' brakes,
the long term durability of carbon forks/seatpost/seatstay/handlebars,
Trek v Specialized for reliability/warranty,
the effectiveness of Zertz - or is it a gimmick?

I'd appreciate any input/thoughts from you oh-so-knowledgeable
guys/gals!

Specialized are excellent for after-sales. They replaced a broken frame of
mine about 3 years after purchase (chainstay) -- they replaced a basic
Sirrus frame for a Sirrus Pro. Must admit, I couldn't tell the difference
apart from colour! Don't know about the Sirrus Pro, but the wheels on my
basic Sirrus were [censored] and went after about 1.5 yrs daily use. IF you're
going for daily/mixed use, I'd go for more spokes. IMO Zertz is a gimmick;
isn't damping the whole point of cf? It looks [censored] after a while anyway
(goes yellow).

Quoted message said:

IMO Zertz is a gimmick; isn't damping the whole point of
cf?

Now if it was 'IM*E*' your comment might have been worth something ;-)

Mark Thompson said:

Now if it was 'IM*E*' your comment might have been worth something ;-)

IME, it made no difference to any other cf fork I've used. Looks yellow.

Quoted message said:

Specialized are excellent for after-sales.

<Snip>

Quoted message said:

Don't know about the Sirrus Pro, but the wheels on my
basic Sirrus were [censored] and went after about 1.5 yrs daily use.

Specialized UK volunteered to replace for free the [censored] tyres that came with
my Sirrus Sport after a series of punctures and they recently paid to have
my rear wheel rebuilt after all the spokes kept breaking while trying to
re-true it following a single spoke breakage.

I never got a reply when I posted a query on the US-based website, but UK
responded to an email in a matter of hours.