Trek 7200 vs. Trek 3700

(beeswing) said:

We're looking to buy a bike for our almost 10-year-old, tall-for-her-age
daughter for Christmas or her birthday. Based on what's in stock at our local
bike store, we've narrowed it down to one of two bikes: the Trek 7200 (a
hybrid) and the Trek 3700 (a mountain bike).

She'll be using the bike almost entirely just to ride around the neighborhood,
maybe to school and back, and will do very little if any off-road riding. I'm
favoring the 7200 for that reason. My husband has a slight preference for the
3700, but I think it's mostly because mountain bikes are more common and that
is probably what the other kids she knows would have.

I've already read through the Google archive on the tradeoffs between hybrids
and mountain bikes. Does any have any information on these particular two bikes
so that I could better compare them, specifically?

Also, one other question. One guy at the cycle shop asked my husband how long
my daughter would be riding at a time. (My husband answered 1/2 hr to 1 hr.)
The guy said that if she'd be riding it for an hour or more, we should get a
mountain bike because it would be uncomfortable to ride that long on a hybrid
because of the hybrid's more-upright seat position. Any opinions on the
accuracy of his statement?

Thanks!

beeswing

Why not let the 10 y.o. ride both bikes at the bike shop and make up her
own mind? Lest you say 'it's a surprise for Christmas', I'd say, don't make
the mistake of thinking you know which bike she will like.

Hell she might just pick the MTB for the yellow color (if the '04 model).

You can always note her choice and then come back and buy it later.

The main thing is to make sure it fits her OK.

-B

In article <[email hidden]>,

(beeswing) said:

We're looking to buy a bike for our almost 10-year-old, tall-for-her-age
daughter for Christmas or her birthday. Based on what's in stock at our local
bike store, we've narrowed it down to one of two bikes: the Trek 7200 (a
hybrid) and the Trek 3700 (a mountain bike).

She'll be using the bike almost entirely just to ride around the
neighborhood,
maybe to school and back, and will do very little if any off-road riding. I'm
favoring the 7200 for that reason. My husband has a slight preference for the
3700, but I think it's mostly because mountain bikes are more common and that
is probably what the other kids she knows would have.

I've already read through the Google archive on the tradeoffs between
hybrids
and mountain bikes. Does any have any information on these particular two
bikes
so that I could better compare them, specifically?

Also, one other question. One guy at the cycle shop asked my husband how long
my daughter would be riding at a time. (My husband answered 1/2 hr to 1 hr.)
The guy said that if she'd be riding it for an hour or more, we should get a
mountain bike because it would be uncomfortable to ride that long on a hybrid
because of the hybrid's more-upright seat position. Any opinions on the
accuracy of his statement?

Thanks!

beeswing

First and foremost, find a new bike shop.

Hybirds are supposed to be comfort bicycles.

Peer presure can be very strong. Maybe you should get her a gift certificate for
a bike and let her choose as proper fit is the most important.

Do find another shop.

HAND

beeswing said:

Also, one other question. One guy at the cycle shop asked my husband how long
my daughter would be riding at a time. (My husband answered 1/2 hr to 1 hr.)
The guy said that if she'd be riding it for an hour or more, we should get a
mountain bike because it would be uncomfortable to ride that long on a hybrid
because of the hybrid's more-upright seat position. Any opinions on the
accuracy of his statement?

Thanks!

beeswing

I don't agree with the salesman. If anything, I think the 7200 would be more comfortable to ride for longer periods of time. They both have an upright riding position, but for street riding the hybrid is more efficient and takes less effort than the mountain bike.

Good advice in the previous post, your daughter may prefer one over the other for her own reasons.

Good luck and I hope she enjoys the bike.

:
: Why not let the 10 y.o. ride both bikes at the bike shop and make up her
: own mind? Lest you say 'it's a surprise for Christmas', I'd say, don't
make
: the mistake of thinking you know which bike she will like.
: -B

This idea has a lot of promise. I remember buying my son a skateboard and he
absolutely detested the design when he saw it on Christmas morning. Why, I
have no idea. You could hide what you're doing by having her try out lots
and lots of them, too.

Pat in TX
:
:

beeswing says...

Quoted message said:

Also, one other question. One guy at the cycle shop asked my husband how long
my daughter would be riding at a time. (My husband answered 1/2 hr to 1 hr.)
The guy said that if she'd be riding it for an hour or more, we should get a
mountain bike because it would be uncomfortable to ride that long on a hybrid
because of the hybrid's more-upright seat position. Any opinions on the
accuracy of his statement?

Thanks!

beeswing

For a 10yo, a 24" BMX bike would be the ticket, IMO. Indestructible,
zero maintenance, reliable as an old hound dog. I would think the cool
factor would be reasonably good with her friends too. Everybody wins. A
derailleur bike could translate into a lot of work for whoever gets to
be her bike wrench.

As for the bike shop statement, it only applies to adults. I rode my
20" BMX bike for hours every day when I was 14.

Thanks for all the advice. To explain where we're coming from: My husband used
to own a bike shop back in the hippy days, so we're basically committed to
buying our daughter a bike from bike shop and a bike shop, only.

We purchased the hybrid (Trek 7200) after ensuring the ability to return it if
The Kid screams "NO! I absolutely hate it, and I want something that is
strictly a mountain bike!" If that happens (which, frankly, I doubt it will),
we can return or exchange it. The Kid is only (coming up on) 10, and a hybrid
best suits what she'd be using a bike for, so the decision to buy the 7200 --
with the wiggle room of being able to return the bike if she doesn't like it
--- suits us fine.

I was really hoping to see someone compare the pluses and minuses of the two
bikes I mentioned....but that didn't happen. Thanks, though, for the comments
made. We did consider them, but since we found that any bike we bought could be
easily exchanged or returned, we went with what seemed to be the best choice
for our daughter.

beeswing

"beeswing" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Thanks for all the advice. To explain where we're coming from: My husband

used

Quoted message said:

to own a bike shop back in the hippy days, so we're basically committed to
buying our daughter a bike from bike shop and a bike shop, only.

We purchased the hybrid (Trek 7200) after ensuring the ability to return

it if

Quoted message said:

The Kid screams "NO! I absolutely hate it, and I want something that is
strictly a mountain bike!" If that happens (which, frankly, I doubt it

will),

Quoted message said:

we can return or exchange it. The Kid is only (coming up on) 10, and a

hybrid

Quoted message said:

best suits what she'd be using a bike for, so the decision to buy the

7200 --

Quoted message said:

with the wiggle room of being able to return the bike if she doesn't like

it

Quoted message said:

--- suits us fine.

I was really hoping to see someone compare the pluses and minuses of the

two

Quoted message said:

bikes I mentioned....but that didn't happen. Thanks, though, for the

comments

Quoted message said:

made. We did consider them, but since we found that any bike we bought

could be

Quoted message said:

easily exchanged or returned, we went with what seemed to be the best

choice

Quoted message said:

for our daughter.

beeswing

Did you checkout the compare function of the two bikes at the Trek website?
www.trekbikes.com
You can compare components, etc if this is what you're looking to compare.

IMHO the hybrid was the better choice between the two bikes. Are you going
to be riding with her?

Beverly

Beverly said:

Did you checkout the compare function of the two bikes at the Trek website?
www.trekbikes.com. You can compare components, etc if this is what you're
looking to compare.

Thanks, we did check it out. It was meaningful to my ex-bike-shop-owner spouse,
but it did mean a whole lot to me. He was satisfied with both bikes.

Quoted message said:

IMHO the hybrid was the better choice between the two bikes.

Glad to hear that! Once I was actually able to compare the two bikes in person,
I felt pretty sure that it would be the better choice.

Quoted message said:

Are you going to be riding with her?

I'm hoping to. I haven't really biked since I was a kid, but I want to try it
again. With that in mind, toward the end of last summer, I bought myself an
Electra Townie 21. Then, last week, while he was looking for a bike for our
daughter, my husband stumbled on a great deal on a bike for himself (a Trek
mountain bike for $100) -- he already had an old Fuji road bike, but wanted
something he could sit more upright on. We're planning on doing some biking as
a family.

Thanks for writing!

beeswing

beeswing said:

Quoted message said:

IMHO the hybrid was the better choice between the two bikes.

Glad to hear that! Once I was actually able to compare the two bikes
in person, I felt pretty sure that it would be the better choice.

I agree. I think generally hybrids make the best entry level bikes, if
someone doesn't know what they want exactly they probably want a hybrid.
These days of standard v-brakes and double wall aluminum rims and aluminum
frames and rapid fire shifting on almost everything, a hybrid is well
suited for many styles of riding, and they usually come with entry level
pricing as well. Mountain bikes are cumbersome for road riding and cheap
ones often have suspension systems that are worse than useless. Road bikes
are generally uncomfortable for inexperienced or unfit riders, and also
tend to be more fragile and more expensive than hybrids.

"Super Slinky" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

beeswing says...

Quoted message said:

Also, one other question. One guy at the cycle shop asked my husband how

long

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

my daughter would be riding at a time. (My husband answered 1/2 hr to 1

hr.)

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

The guy said that if she'd be riding it for an hour or more, we should

get a

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

mountain bike because it would be uncomfortable to ride that long on a

hybrid

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

because of the hybrid's more-upright seat position. Any opinions on the
accuracy of his statement?

Thanks!

beeswing

For a 10yo, a 24" BMX bike would be the ticket, IMO. Indestructible,
zero maintenance, reliable as an old hound dog. I would think the cool
factor would be reasonably good with her friends too. Everybody wins. A
derailleur bike could translate into a lot of work for whoever gets to
be her bike wrench.

I disagree. A BMX weighs a ton. BMX is fine if you're the type to jump off
of things, but knowing beeswing's daughter, she's going to ride the bike,
not do tricks.

If I were you, I'd get her the hybrid. Which bike shop was this, by the way?

--
Warm Regards,

Claire Petersky
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Home of the meditative cyclist:
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