Originally Posted by
Darth Lefty
I'm starting to think the down-thumb for modern mountain bikes around here is overstated. The versions at $1000 and below are all still pretty versatile and not "focused" in any serious way. They still have rack mounts and fender eyes. They often have fork lockouts or you can max out the preload. It's easy enough to have a set of both, say, 700c wheels with slicks and 27.5 with knobs. Yes they are going to be heavier, but if you are only going to own one bike, it's a good option.
The hybrids however will certainly be better if you aren't ever doing a wheelie or going down a trail. A dirt road is still a road.
The problem, as I see it is, if you want a new mountain bike, entry level retail price is higher than what OP wants to spend. And at $400 to $500 retail, the basic mountain bike might be OK for a kid's bike, but not the greatest for commuting or trail riding. I have actually seen it with my son's mountain biking team, where kids show up with their entry level mountain style bikes and pretty much destroy them in short order. It is a delicate subject, as the team organizers don't want to alienate newbies by telling them they need to spend $1,000 or more on a new mountain bike. Trek and Specialized have a discount program to try and help league members get decent bikes, and in my case when I mentioned the discount program to my local Kona dealer and showed him the paperwork, he matched the Specialized discount on an equivalent Kona.