Is the Trek 4300 D a good bike for beginners?

Flashback · Sep 10, 2007

Hi - I am 31 years old and am planning to start cycling to get some exercise and hopefully use my car a bit less in time...

I live in India where cycling is only catching on as a recerational sport and only recently found a dealer of Trek and Firefox bikes here.

I was hoping someone could help me decide if the Trek 4300 D is a good bike for me to start with, I only see myself doing road trips within the city and not any real off road stuff.

I am 6' 1" tall and weigh about 200 pounds.

InvictaS1 · Sep 10, 2007

it would probaby be a fine bike. you can always upgrade parts down the road if you get more serious.

snaky69 · Sep 10, 2007

For road only it will be a very nice bike, one thing I would look into is some slick or semi-slick tire to lower rolling resistance so that you do not waste your energy fighting against your tires.

MillerSHO · Sep 10, 2007

Word of advice, WHEN you replace the cranks, just go LX hollowtech II.

I tried to save money by going less and ended up loosing more.

New wheelset and fork and its not really a bad setup, this is all assuming you upgrade/fix things as they go.
Mine is going to make a great 2nd bike when I upgrade to a new a bike.

rkj__ · Sep 10, 2007

I just looked up the specs, and ya, i would say that the 4300 D should be a pretty good bike for the riding that you describe.

I also agree with the poster that suggested switching tires to something smoother if you will be riding mostly on the road. It will allow you to roll smoother, and hence use a little less energy to maintain the sames speed compared to the knobby tires.

Ironchefjon · Sep 11, 2007

the bontrager rangers are half decent for trail riding and commuting, i bent mine pretty bad doing stupid stuff though. The rst fork is trash, and I upgraded it. Solid bike, i'd have to say.

Flashback · Sep 11, 2007

Thanks for all the tips, appreciate it!

Can you also please let me know if the Trek 6000 would be a significantly better buy and really worth the additional money? It would be a stretch on my budget but I'd really like to know if it would be noticeably better than the Trek 4300 D even for just road riding.

Considering I'm a rank beginner would it be a sound investment to shell out the extra dough for the Trek 6000?

Brentster · Sep 12, 2007

I believe the 6000 has some Deore components and 100 degrees on the fork. In my opinion, the Deore is the way to go. Your going to have the bike for hopefully a long time so go ahead and splurge for the 6000. You'll have better shifting, a smoother bottom bracket, and headset, and better hubs.

Is the Trek 4300 D a good bike for beginners?

Flashback

InvictaS1

snaky69

MillerSHO

rkj__

Ironchefjon

Flashback

Brentster

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