I used a 26″ mtb for years for 150 miles a week of (largely) road commuting, which turned down to about 60/80 miles per week and it never bothered me how slow I was going.

Then I joined a girlfriend who was training for the Fred Whitton and I realised that on a straight five mile stretch of road she would end up a mile ahead on her road bike, and there was nothing I could do about it………

SO

I dabbled with a cross bike hybrid build, which took at least 25 minutes off a 20 mile commute into work and the same home……….

……….. and now I’m trying a drop bar 2.3 Trek race bike, which does similar, but probably would be faster if I was braver and didn’t let it scare the proverbial out of me on the long downhills…

Apart from the speed you can get on the straight, I don’t really like either of the things. They ain’t very stable and I’d not even entertain the thought of riding them when drunk.

SO in the interests of wasting more money on bikes…….

Is a 29er with slicks going to float my boat?

I dabbled with a cross bike hybrid build, which took at least 25 minutes off a 20 mile commute into work and the same home………

Is a hybrid not a 29er with slicks??

29ers are hybrids… 😀

Could work I spose; have two sets of wheels, one with slicks, the other with knobblies. Cheaper than having two bikes.

But if you just wanted a commuter bike, then one of they fast hybrids would suit, if you don’t get along with drop bars. Essentially a road bike with flat bars.

28 or 25c tyres pumped up to 100+ psi will see you flying along. Mind you, you can get proper skinny tyres for a 26″ wheel too, although it still woon’t quite be as quick as a 700c wheeled bike.

I commute on my Drop Barred Salsa Fargo with big fat slicks and BB7 cable discs. It’s only marginally slower than my road bike on an 11 mile commute but is robust enough to plough through any potholes on the road (2.35″ slicks) and the brakes are plenty good enough to stop me on the fast downhills.

I wouldn’t bother getting a 29er if its just for commuting, as mentioned above, a fast hybrid bike would be better suited as you’ll likely get a 48/36/26 chainset rather than a mtb one (unless you build it all up custom from a frame).

I agree, MTB chainset gear ratios aren’t designed for road riding, you’d be better off with a flat bar road bike or sports hybrid.