I just bought a Trek Verve 2 and love it. My other bike is a Trek 4900 MTB. The Verve 2 tire is wider more like my MTB but rolls pretty nice on pavement. I really do like the upright position and the only thing I've changed is the grips. I put on Ergon GP5 grips which helped me out with wrist pain. My casual rides are a mix of paved MUP's and some gravel paths and the bike handles well on both. I am not out for speed either and I did use it to commute to work twice this week about 15 miles round trip. I have a hill that I do have to climb and did fine on the Verve. I am using the stock saddle that came on my Verve and as of now, no plans to upgrade it. You do feel the bumps on the Verve 2 due to the lack of suspension so I do have to watch it when I do have a bumpy section but it works well for the style of riding you are saying. My wife has a Giant Comfort bike that is about 10 years old and its similar to my Verve. She doesn't ride as much as me but its been a good bike as well.