Trek 7.4 or Fuji Absolute 1.3

Which one should I get? I'm starting to commute to work, 7.5 miles each way. The Fuji is marked down from 1,000, the Trek is not (both are about $700, Trek from a dealer and the Fuji from Performance Bike). I'm seeing a lot of mixed things in what I've researched so far, what do you guys think?

 

I don't know the latest beta on Fuji Absolutes, but until last year I've been dealing with them, models 4.0 thru 1.0, since 2008. My impression of the 1.0 has always been, nice frame, nice components upgrades, but the whole package doesn't work together too well. Brakes weren't a good match for the levers, tires weren't a good match for the rims, head tube and flat handlebar a little too low for most people, and a saddle that felt like an afterthought. After the second markdown they were priced about the same as a new 7.3 FX, and I'd recommend the Trek because I considered it a better, more confidence-inspiring ride, even with just an 8-speed cassette. Of course, now 7.3s and 7.4s both have 9-speed cassettes.

Fuji may have addressed the shortcomings with the 1.3. Test ride and see. Choose the one that makes you feel better when you ride it.

 

I love my 7.3 FX. Tested the 7.4 but did not find that the carbon fork made any real difference in the ride.

 

I'm not surprised. When the 1.1 road bike had an alloy fork, I was hard-pressed to detect any ride improvement from the carbon forks on the 1.2 and 1.5. And the alloy fork was lighter. In my opinion if the hybrid gearing works for you, the 7.3 hits the sweet spot for this kind of bike.

 

Pick which ever one fits you the best.

Everything else is superfluous.

You could have a carbon uber-bike that gives you numbnuts and back ache and after 2 hours life would be miserable but you could find that a Surly Long Haul Trucker, which is a beast of a steel bike and well priced too, fits like a glove and lets you ride for hours with no pain. The "best" bike there would be the Surly. Now that's just an example - but the answer really is whatever you're most comfortable on.

 

Just following up on this-- I ended up going with the Trek & I'm totally loving my decision!

 

I hope it didn't take this long for you to finally decide.

But really, thanks for filling us in, and I'm glad you're enjoying the bike.

 

It didn't! I got it very soon after the original post (in august), which I saw after getting back on here with another question