# Trek 7000 - good first bike?



## mrkyle3 (May 21, 2011)

Hi, this is my first post on these forums but I am no stranger to forums in general.

Little intro: I'm 21 years old and live in howard county, maryland. I'm a college student applying to medical school this summer. I'm looking to get into mountain biking as something that I may enjoy enough to keep doing for years to come.

I have the opportunity to buy a Trek 7000, the guy is unsure of what year it is but it's probably around an 05 or so. Does this seem like it would be a good first bike? If mountain biking is something I really enjoy then I will almost certainly buy a more expensive bike later but for now I would like to stick to a cheaper bike without resorting to walmart/target quality bikes that won't stand the test of time

Thanks!


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## 411898 (Nov 5, 2008)

I tried to research the 7000 model and it would seem that they are a bit older than the guy is saying so I would pass on it...you can do better...


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## mrkyle3 (May 21, 2011)

ambassadorhawg said:


> I tried to research the 7000 model and it would seem that they are a bit older than the guy is saying so I would pass on it...you can do better...


Well I found this site that had all the models:
http://www.bikepedia.com/Search.aspx?Q=trek+7000

It seems like they were made up til 2000 then made again 2005-present.


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## jeffj (Jan 13, 2004)

The 7000 is more like a hybrid (cross between a mountain bike and a road bike). It would be OK for non-technical dirt path, gravel roads, and stuff like that. As soon as you get it out onto more technical terrain, it will be more difficult to control than a pure mountain bike.

The 7000 has 700c rims and 35c tires. Those are road bike rims with tires that are a little larger than regular straight up road bike tires and they generally have some very small knobby tread pattern so they aren't totally slick.

If your primary interest is to go trail riding, I would not choose that bike for you. It's a good bike for riding back and forth to class in a more relaxed, upright riding position with tires that have a more utilitarian tire tread than a traditional road bike.


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## mrkyle3 (May 21, 2011)

jeffj said:


> The 7000 is more like a hybrid (cross between a mountain bike and a road bike). It would be OK for non-technical dirt path, gravel roads, and stuff like that. As soon as you get it out onto more technical terrain, it will be more difficult to control than a pure mountain bike.
> 
> The 7000 has 700c rims and 35c tires. Those are road bike rims with tires that are a little larger than regular straight up road bike tires and they generally have some very small knobby tread pattern so they aren't totally slick.
> 
> If your primary interest is to go trail riding, I would not choose that bike for you. It's a good bike for riding back and forth to class in a more relaxed, upright riding position with tires that have a more utilitarian tire tread than a traditional road bike.


Thanks I will pass on the bike.


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## roxnroots (Aug 12, 2010)

What's your budget? In any case, I'd say get on CL and with some help from friends already into mtbs or by asking on here, you'd probably be able to zero in on a decent entry-level ride at a good price.


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## mrkyle3 (May 21, 2011)

roxnroots said:


> What's your budget? In any case, I'd say get on CL and with some help from friends already into mtbs or by asking on here, you'd probably be able to zero in on a decent entry-level ride at a good price.


Probably around $400. Actually I could go up to $700-ish but I'm not sure if that's a good idea to spend so much on my first bike.

I think I may just end up going to a bike shop and getting properly fitted for my first bike. Does that seem like a good idea?


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## Clones123 (Apr 29, 2010)

Demo, demo, demo. Try out some bikes and, in particularly, go a demo day at your local trail if possible. Around here (Atlanta) there are demo days about once a month - Trek, Specialized, Santa Cruz, Niner, Pivot, etc. Sure, you can't afford those bikes right now but taking a bike for a 30-min spin on a trail will tell you a LOT about sizing, brakes, suspension, tires - the works. Hook up with your local MTB forum or message board and get feedback about who/what/where is popular in your area.

On your budget, you'll overpay big-time buying from a LBS for an entry level bike. I'd look for a sale at Performance Bicycle (4 stores in MD), go BikesDirect.com or just shop used.


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## GSRswapandslow (May 2, 2011)

i had a 2000-ish 7000....it was yellow and a pure xc bike. it was really nice for the price i paid (used for $300...had barely been riden by my friend who bought it for college and was too lazy to ride it ever)

i still actually have the frame and most of hte SLX group sitting in the basement...i stole parts off for a build a few years ago and never touched it again, might go put it together


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## mrkyle3 (May 21, 2011)

Well I went to the shop today and ended up getting a giant roam1! It's a 29er and very nice, look forward to taking it on trails soon once this bad weather passes.


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## AndrwSwitch (Nov 8, 2007)

If you get accepted to medical school, you're going to borrow over $100,000. As long as you go into a specialty that does procedures, you're going to make more than that in a year after you finish your residency. My brother thought it was okay to do some ski vacations in Argentina on med. school loans and a little money he made doing a research year. How soon do you know if you've been accepted?

$400-$700 is not much on a retail bike. It can go pretty far on a used bike, though.


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## jeffj (Jan 13, 2004)

Well, I wouldn't call every bike that uses a 700c rim a 29er. It's usually the added sidewall height of the 29er tires that gets the wheel closer to actually being 29" in diameter. So, while all 29ers use 700c rims, all bikes with 700c rims are not necesarily 29ers.

The tires of the Giant Roam are 40c and the tires on the Trek 7000c are 38c. That very close to the same size. Kind of a flatbar cyclocross bike with disc brakes, or a hybrid of sorts 

However it is classified isn't terribly important. What is important, is that it works out well for your purposes. It looks like a fun bike to ride.


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## mrkyle3 (May 21, 2011)

AndrwSwitch said:


> If you get accepted to medical school, you're going to borrow over $100,000. As long as you go into a specialty that does procedures, you're going to make more than that in a year after you finish your residency. My brother thought it was okay to do some ski vacations in Argentina on med. school loans and a little money he made doing a research year. How soon do you know if you've been accepted?
> 
> $400-$700 is not much on a retail bike. It can go pretty far on a used bike, though.


Well my grades and extracurriculars are more than enough to get into medical school, I just need to do well on my MCATs in July. Assuming I do well, I will have my applications in by mid july, and will probably find out end of the year or early next year where I'm going.



jeffj said:


> Well, I wouldn't call every bike that uses a 700c rim a 29er. It's usually the added sidewall height of the 29er tires that gets the wheel closer to actually being 29" in diameter. So, while all 29ers use 700c rims, all bikes with 700c rims are not necesarily 29ers.
> 
> The tires of the Giant Roam are 40c and the tires on the Trek 7000c are 38c. That very close to the same size. Kind of a flatbar cyclocross bike with disc brakes, or a hybrid of sorts
> 
> However it is classified isn't terribly important. What is important, is that it works out well for your purposes. It looks like a fun bike to ride.


It is fun, I rode it for the first time today! The guy who I bought the bike from at the shop was very knowledgable and had been mountain biking most of his life (he was in his 40s I would guess). The Roam 1 is more of a mountain biking-oriented hybrid given the tires it comes with. He said that it would be a good idea to get into mountain biking by first starting on some paved trails then moving onto dirt trails with few climbs before starting to do the more intermediate stuff.

The more hybrid tires on the bike right now are fine for paved trails and more basic trails, then when it comes time for me to move up to the harder trails he said I could just buy a set of mountain tires and swap them on then the bike is perfect for the trails.


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## AndrwSwitch (Nov 8, 2007)

I think there's a little more to a mountain bike than the tires. I also wouldn't be comfortable blowing a lot on a bike until getting an acceptance somewhere.

So you might be best off taking what you can afford to spend and getting a used purpose-built mountain bikes. If you find you really like it, when you start at medical school, if you're somewhere mountain biking is feasible, you can throw some slicks on the cheap one and use it to get around town, while keeping the nice one set up for athletic riding. Then you won't have to swap a bunch of equipment around all the time.


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## mrkyle3 (May 21, 2011)

AndrwSwitch said:


> I think there's a little more to a mountain bike than the tires. I also wouldn't be comfortable blowing a lot on a bike until getting an acceptance somewhere.
> 
> So you might be best off taking what you can afford to spend and getting a used purpose-built mountain bikes. If you find you really like it, when you start at medical school, if you're somewhere mountain biking is feasible, you can throw some slicks on the cheap one and use it to get around town, while keeping the nice one set up for athletic riding. Then you won't have to swap a bunch of equipment around all the time.


Oh I'm not in any bad financial situation at all. I have money saved up from four summers of research and my parents are willing to help me out if necessary. Although I have been spending a lot of money on my car recently . I guess I will have to split my money between two passions now :thumbsup:

I know there is a bit more than just the tires but honestly as a more mountain bike-oriented hybrid it is more than enough for me for mountain biking after putting more appropriate tires on. If I find that it is inadequate then I can always get a 100% purpose-built mountain bike later down the road.


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## jeffj (Jan 13, 2004)

AndrwSwitch said:


> So you might be best off taking what you can afford to spend and getting . . . . . . . .


He's already got a bike. 
=======================================
I have no idea what type of trails you're going to ride, but that bike will be OK for lighter duty trail riding and quite nice on relatively non-technical dirt paths and fire roads.

Enjoy the new rig.


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