What I always recommend is if you can take some different demo bikes out for a test ride to see which you like best. The shop I deal with let me take 3 different brands (demo bikes) home for a weekend so I could use them in the environment I was going be riding them in. I decided on the Trek Stache 5, 29 plus, and my wife decided on the Specialized Fuse. In my 40+ years of riding and more bikes than I can count, I've never not bought a bike without test riding it. I even flew out to the west coast and spend 4 days out there when I bought my Zipp2001's.