So, I love riding a bike. A pedal bike. This past summer my good friend Andy spent most of his summer on a bike. It was truly inspirational, and while he will simply say it was common sense, it was very cool.
I am a fat guy. But, in my former life I was an active mountain biker. I think I have a pretty good pedigree in the pedals up until about age 28. Then, I think the night life took over.
But along the way I have had a few inspirational cats come through my life. Ed Magrecke (sp), Cannondale Dean…cats who were committed to this 2 wheel lifestyle. My boys growing up…Marsh, Trowb, Henry, Kurt Lach. All amazing cyclists. I used to ride my bike to the Pub, and the Paper. And it all sort of fell away at some point. Not sure when, but this year that is going to change.
I want to buy an urban bike. A commuter, but not one of these hybrids. I sort of want a bike that will feel like the 20 inch dirt bike of my youth, and still be a common sense bike for going to work. So, I found a couple.
First off is something from Trek…
This bike is called the Trek PDX. It is in my price range, and something that I think looks good. The frame is solid, and the components are going to be good enough for me, for this first year back on the pedals.
Secondly there is this…
This is a Giant SEEK. Very similar. I have not had a chance to see one in real life, because in Wausau they are only at Builers, and I am less than excited about going there. But, the styling of this bike on the Giant Website is truly awesome.
I know these bikes seem plain, and a little simple. But, the reality is that I need to not spend a ton of money to ensure that this is something I am going to want to take on for a summer.
I think it will be.
Chris Thomas
9:46 am on January 1st
I recently had the same dilemma: to choose between the 2010 models of the Trek PDX and the Giant Seek 2. I found your article while ‘Googling’ “Trek PDX vs. Giant Seek 2″ to see if there were any reviews out there comparing the two. I live in the Finger Lakes Region of New York State, a beautiful area to cycle. I too am heavier than I was when I would ride my mountain bike 20 – 30 miles a day. My last bike purchase was a Ross Mt. Hood, the top of the line mountain bike available at our local bike shop (about 22 years ago). As of a few months ago, I was still tooling around on it, despite the fraying shifter cables and a broken brake cable. After daydreaming about it for a year or more, I finally decided it was about time purchase a new bike and try to shed a few pounds. Exercise always seems more fun with new equipment… Our local bike shop (Kingsbury’s Cyclery in Elmira, NY) carries Trek and Giant. I started out looking at mountain bikes. The Trek 4300 was an early candidate in my price range, but since most of the many miles I racked up on my Ross were on the road, I decided to expand my search to include road and urban bikes (a nice feature of the Ross Mt Hood is that it had extremely tall gears for a mountain bike, unlike any mountain bikes available today). Also, since I live out in the country on a dirt road, I wanted something that was able to withstand a little abuse. It came down to the Trek PDX and the Giant Seek 2. After several days of looking at the specs online and taking them both for a ride outside Kingsbury’s, I still had trouble deciding. My brother is an avid biker who owns both road and mountain bikes. He accompanied me and also rode the PDX and Seek 2. He mentioned that they are of equal quality and value, and that if he owned one of the two, it would be the bike he would ride the most. The PDX seemed slightly speedier than the Seek 2 to me, and a little lighter. This could be due to the fact that the PDX had a little narrower tires on it than the Seek 2. But because it seemed a little quicker, was about 60 bucks cheaper, and was nearly identical to the Seek 2 in components, I decided on the Trek PDX. I purchased along with it a set of Ritchey SpeedMax Comp Cross tires (700 x 35c) to give me a little more traction on questionable roads and in wet weather (we have several inches of snow on the ground at the moment). I’ve only ridden it short distances a few times, but so far I’m quite happy with my purchase. My daydreams of purchasing a new bike are now replaced by daydreams of riding it… Good luck with your decision! If you still haven’t decided in a month or two, feel free to contact me for a more in-depth review, after I’ve had more time to ride…