I am looking around for a new bike and considering quite a few options. I ride for fitness and my location puts me mostly on pavement (some pavement in worst shape then other bits) and occasionally on fairly clear trails. There may be a mud puddle every once in a while but for the most part the trails do not have rocks the size of my head embedded in the ground or wooden beams designed to control rain fall etc. They are just trails, usually lightly graveled.
When looking at the bikes online I really like some of the bikes come with fenders and are described as urban commuters. Bikes like the Trek Avant, the Felt Cafe, and Jamis Commuter.
My question is this, are these types of bikes ok on the trail? I test rode a Kona Dew Plus and Trek 7.2. Both of those are solid fork bikes. If the commuters would have similar performance then I think I am going to be fine. If the commuters will have worse performance then I might need to just think about putting fenders on Kona Dew Plus and calling it a day.
people who commute on cities unfriendly to cyclists need to go up and down the road shoulders or curbs, ride the occasional trail, etc that makes a front suspension fork and wider tyres advisable, however your bike will weight more obviously and wider tyres will roll slower on the pavement, its really a give & take kind of decision,
