Im going to spend $700 on a bike to commute on. I live on dirt roads. I want a bike to commute on 20 miles away. I will ride on 4 miles of dirt roads and the rest is paved roads. What would be best a hybrid,hardtail mountain bike or a full suspension mountain bike?
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Hybrid.
FS is too heavy. Plus you lose power if you don’t/can’t lock out. Plus do not buy a crappy FS for 700$
re: hard tail – a hybrid is still better. You can handle 4 miles of bumpy road to enjoy 16 on paved road with semi-slick tires that still go faster than a MTB.
For $700, stick with a hard tail. The suspension will make the ride harder anyway, but the components won’t be of any quality @ that price.
I ride about the same distance & use a Moots Rigormootis with semi slicks & love it. I do all my riding on the road, but feel more comfortable on a mountain bike. Plus, a road bike would probably explode hitting some of these pot holes. I do the 20 miles in about 1.25 hours, so it’s not bad if your in shape.
Hybrid or MTB is more up to what feels better, but hybrids will usually be lighter & better for the road.
Hardtail, by far. For the same price you get:
-a lighter bike
-better construction
-better components
-better pedaling efficiency.
Only other one I would consider would be the hybrid, but as far as i see it, you can do everything on a decent hardtail mountainbike. If you ever decide to ride some more difficult trails or even ride down a little set of stairs, the mountain bike wil be up to it.
full suspensions only really become something to consider when you start seriously mountainbiking on legit singletrack trails with lots of roots and technical climbs. and have the budget to spend on a nice one.
A hybrid bike is a lot better commuting bike then a mountain bike.