jaslynn

Hey guys, posted the same thread in the Hybrid Bike forum but figured I'd post here to get a balanced view.

Anyway I'll be mostly riding on pavements, roads and bike paths 99% of the time. There's a small chance that I might try out a light trail eventually, but I doubt I'll ever go into hardcore mountain biking with full suspension and jumping all over the place, etc.

For that reason I think a Hybrid bike would be more suitable for me over a Mountain Bike, but a lot of people still tell me to get a mountain bike instead and I'm stuck deciding between these 2 models:

Polygon Cozmic 2.0 (MTB)

Polygon Heist 5.0 (Hybrid)


From what I gather in general, pretty much the main differences with the Hybrid over the MTB would be that the Heist uses 700Cx38 tires while the Xtrada uses 26x2.1" tires. Most people tell me I can swap the 26x2.1" with semi-slick thinner tires. On the other hand, I could just swap the 700Cx38 tires for a thicker tire with more knobs as well and it should perform decently on trails right?

Also, I'm curious what are the main advantages/disadvantages to using a 26" versus a 29" Seems to me that most mountain bikes use 26" wheels. I've even read comments that talk about how 29" bikes are "overkill" for mountain biking. Yet 700C wheels are practically the norm for Road & Hybrid bikes.

Anyone can give me some advice? Thank you

lunchbox1972

Well, from my perspective..

I had a MTB laying around for years that I never rode too much. Due to some health concerns I started commuting to work on a fairly regular basis about 3.5 years ago. I bought a rode bike for the purpose and rode my MTB on the trails. I have commuted on the MTB in the past, with knobbies and slicks, but mostly the road bike was used for commuting. I used to do much longer rides on the weekends (road and mountain), but that took too much time from my family and I have really cut back on that. About 6 months ago I built a flat bar road bike, on a cross frame, for my son. Unfortunately he didn't ride it much, so he said I could ride it too work and if he needed to ride he's take my MTB.

To make a long story short, I've been commuting on that for the last few weeks and I have to say that it's my preference over my other bikes. If I had to do it over, I probably would have gotten the cross bike, or a flat-bar road bike for my purposes. I already had a MTB though, and I live in an area with great, year round, mountain biking.

You could probably get a 29er MTB and that might be a better bike for more things, but if you don't plan on riding trails, get the hybrid and ditch the suspension fork.

From my experience, the 29er MTB rolls over obstacles better, plus it's supposed to be better on the road. I was just talking to my buddy the other day and told him that if I had to have one bike, and one bike only, to do the riding I do, I'd build a 9er. I can ride it on the road easier, with CX tires, and I can ride it on the trail. I wouldn't want to do a 50 mile road ride on a 9er, but it's not out of the question.

YMMV, but that's my story..

Thanks,

LB

If you get the MTB, make sure the fork has a lockout feature, it's great when you ride on the road.

jaslynn

Thanks for the advice. Both bikes allow you to lock out the suspension forks. I considered a 29" MTB in the past but I believe I'm way too short for it haha! I'm 5"5

dminor 

Since the overwhelming majority of your riding will be on pavement, I'd advise going with the 700c hybrid.

Daspydyr 

I don't do any jumping but love riding trails. I like my Mountain Bike. If yo have much interest in trail riding, a Mountain Bike allows some flexability. But the hybrid you show is set up nicely and would handle some light trails.