Personally I wouldn't buy either. *You said you are going to use the bike about approximately 300 trips per year for commuting, 50 trips on weekends traveling but only 12 time on a trail and the bike you choose is a 100% trail bike. Essentially you are buying a bike for those 12 weekends.

I agree for the weekends both bikes are quite nice but depending on how tall you are the 650 might be the better choice. I have never been a fan of the 29'ers especially in the smaller sizes.

You will spend most of your time on a trail bike with big heavy tires, overbuilt frame and front shocks for most of the riding you do. My advice is buy a bike for the type of riding you will do MOST of the time and compromise on the rest. Not a lot of people commute on a mountain bike and for good reason. Hard to put on fenders, no provision for racks and the rolling resistance and weight make it a pig to ride on the road. Of course someone will retort with "I've been doing it for years" and I say great but not the best bike for the job.

I am the first one to say, many posters ask which bike "a or b" and someone comes along and says no you want "c" and it drives me bonkers. They didn't ask for advice on "c". Yet, here I am doing it myself. So to save face, buy the Specialized but whispering to myself, look at an adventure bike with big volume tires to handle the trails.

Good luck with whatever you buy.


*These are approximate numbers extrapolated for a year. Take these with a grain of salt.