Originally Posted by aidan
i was considering getting a mountain bike but i will be riding mostly on the road and so it wouldn't be suitable, or thats what it thought. i did do some searching around the forum but i couldn't find a clear answer on the standover thing
The lack of road practicality for an MTB versus something like the 7200 is that a MTB will have a softer fork (and cheaper ones have no lock out) and the stock MTB knobblies. I have an old fully rigid steel frame mountain bike with slicks and it's great around town but flat bars do become a bit uncomfortable after a few hours in the saddle - this is where drop bars rule.
Just put MTB slicks on a 3500 and some bar ends to give you a choice of positions, (you could even go the aerobar route....) and you'll have a fine bike that will be faster and more efficient than the 7200. I'm really quite impressed that trek make an inexpensive steel fork MTB. If the ride seems too harsh then look at a seatpost suspension stem, or better, a brooks sprung saddle. You'll lose far less power that way than you will with suspension forks.
Good tyres are:
vredestein s-licks
schwalbe marathon slick
continental sport contact
Just keep them pumped up nice and hard and you'll fly.