Plan on doing any group rides at speed (above 21 mph)?
Any off road ambitions?

If your intending to group ride with roadies I would go 700c. If your spend a lot of time off road the 26 is probably better. Either one works wonderfully for all of the purposes you mentioned above.

For what is worth, I almost never ride my mountain bikes since I bought my Major Jake Cyclocross 2 years ago.