Getting rid of my little used Coventry Eagle 'mountain´ bike and buying this half decent hybrid Trek 7100FX was one of the things that got me into cycling. Suddenly I could go a bit faster. The Coventry Eagle (Halfords of course) weighed a ton and arguably put me off cycling for sixteen years. After a tortuous enforced cycle to work during a tube strike (dressed as the Michelin Man) I tried to speed the bike up
by changing to narrower tyres (28mm from 32mm), but that only helped a little. Taking the bike into Apex Cycles of Clapham to get a puncture repaired [do it yourself! - Ed] led me to a second hand Trek 7100FX that someone had part exchanged. It was only £200 and I´m slightly ashamed to say I sold the Eagle on Gumtree, to an Italian fella, for £100. The Trek had a triple chainset and although I now realise it was pretty heavy, it felt swift to me. I added a rack on the back and used panniers for shopping.Note: Unsurprisingly, Lucas looks much cooler than me, on his Raleigh Mustang.
