I went out on Saturday content with buying a used bike to begin commuting to work with. After browsing and realizing there is no such thing I dropped by a local bike store to see what they had.

Some backstory, I own a decent mountain bike already but have learned that its not very efficient to ride it on the streets of Pittsburgh. When riding up a hill as one must do to get anywhere in Pittsburgh, most of the bike’s energy goes into the springer fork. I want my 6 mile ride to be as efficient as possible so I will actually keep up with it day to day.

So after thinking I couldn’t get anything decent under $700 I came across the Trek Soho S. It is a single speed bike, very light and built for “urban” riding. Its bigger brother for $699 has 9 speeds and disc brakes.

The next day I checked out the Trek store near Whole Foods and found the Trek 7.3 FX which is also an “urban” commuting bike and with some tougher tires could be used on light trails. I took it for a test drive and was impressed. It was nimble, fast and smooth. I loved it. It comes priced at $549 and its little brother which is just has a down graded derailleur and different tires is only $459.

I am going to go back tomorrow evening to test ride a more expensive version as well as the cheaper FX bikes to see if they feel any different. I am really looking forward to spring!