As mentioned before, I wouldn't ride a MTB on a paved bike path(unless I could only afford one bike and also rode the bike on off road MTB trails). That said, I would buy a ridged MTB and put wide-ish commuter slick type tires on it. My second choice would then be a hardtail, again with the slicks. A full suspension on a paved path would just be... I don't know what it would be, but I'd just never ride a full suspension bike on a paved path. It's a huge waste of energy to have your bike bobbing up and down with each pedal stroke. You'll get where you're going much faster on a hardtail or ridged bike. Not to mention that you'll get more for your money with a non-full suspension bike if you're not taking it off road. I'd rather have a mid-level hardtail than a low-end full suspension Any day for path riding.