The Trek 7.5 FX WSD (Women’s Specific Design) is a hybrid bike with flat handlebars and road bike features designed for fitness cycling.  

Is it a “Jack of all trades” or a “Master of none”? The Reluctant Cyclist puts the Trek through its paces. 

Trek offer 6 women’s specific designs in their FX range. The Trek 7.5 FX WSD sits just below the top of the range model, incorporating more road bike features than the lower numbered models. I’m not quite sure what Trek mean by ‘fitness cycling’, but if it’s not racing, mountain biking or commuting I guess it is fitness cycling.

The frame comes in a fetching teal colour with white trim and pedals. The women’s specific design is halfway between a step-through frame and a traditional men’s toptube and the overall geometry is more reflective of a woman’s stature. It is available in three sizes (15”, 17” and 19”) to cater for all heights. 

The riser bar and flat handlebars provide a fairly upright riding position, but by no means sit up and beg, which works well for commuter and city cycling.  The bike doesn’t come with mudguards or pannier rack, but there are fixtures to enable these to be fitted after purchase.  To use the Trek 7.5 FX WSD as a commuter bike these would be a necessity and would add another £75 or so to the £750 purchase price.

Although saddles are always very personal, reviewers on Trek’s own site comment that the Bontrager Evoke 1 women’s saddle doesn’t offer a high degree of comfort and I would concur with this.  Also, being white, it quickly discoloured when wearing jeans. However, this is easy to remedy, by either buying a new saddle of swapping your old one in.

The ergonomic handgrips provided a high degree of comfort on longer rides. Other comfort features include a vibration damping carbon front fork and ‘Isozone monostay’, which cuts vibration between the back wheel and the saddle.  These combine with the handgrips to minimise the road ‘buzz’ and they certainly gave a smooth ride over most tarmac and paths.

There are two front chain rings and nine gears on each ring, which gave good coverage for the flat and small hills.  I would have liked to see a third (triple) chain ring to take the bike out into hillier territory.  If you’re set to cycle predominately over hilly terrain, this may not be the bike for you.

The brake and gear levers moved easily and were well placed for my average sized hands. The remaining components were also of a high quality and were chosen with weight and compactness in mind.  The rim brakes worked well in the wet and the dry and I never felt unsafe or unstable.

I didn’t test the wheels over glass shards so I can’t vouch for the puncture resistant tyres but riding over canal towpaths, city and country roads and in the park I encountered no problems.

The bike freewheeled easily, and I often found myself cruising along without needing to pedal while others had to put in effort. On short ‘to the shops’ rides the Trek 7.5 FX WSD, due to being lightweight was very nippy and easy to manoeuvre around the city. On longer rides of over an hour the upright position and ergonomics gave a comfortable ride, which often felt like I did not have to work hard for the speeds I was achieving.

The ride quality was so high that I genuinely wanted to take the Trek out instead of riding (or driving) anything else.  High praise indeed!

Verdict

The Trek 7.5 FX WSD is very nippy and combines some high quality components with a well-fitting frame to produce a go (nearly) anywhere bike, which is comfortable to ride.

Pros

– Responsive and manoeuvrable
– Not ‘girly’ but girl-friendly
– Mid upright riding position suits around town biking

Cons

– A triple chainset would have made hills easier
– No chainguard, which means you have to be careful with what you wear

Price: £750
Sizes available: 15, 17, 19″
More information: Trek
UK Distributor: Trek

What Trek says about the 7.5 FX WSD

FX is our most popular bike. And what’s not to love? It has the perfect combination of road bike speed and city bike comfort. We call it a fitness bike, but it’s so much more.

Frameset
Frame – WSD Alpha Gold Aluminium w/IsoZone monostay
Fork – Bontrager Nebula, E2, carbon, SpeedTrap compatible