Mountain or hybrid bike for a fully paved mountainous road?

My office building is located around 2 miles from home. The road to the office is fully paved and about 75% of the road is on a mountain. I am debating purchasing either a mountain or a hybrid bike. Any thoughts?

If only riding 2 miles (or 4 round trip) on paved mountsinous road -
Then either bike will work.
It will take slightly more effort to ride the mountain bike that distance - mainly because of wider tires that come on a mnt bike. More effort would also equal more calories burned...if that is a goal the MTN bike is better.
A hybrid may have higher gearing too - better for roads. and not great for really steep hills...A hybrid bike will have smoother tires and take less effort to ride in the conditions you describe.

Ask yourself what ELSE will I do with a bike? Are you more likely to ride on dirt trails ever? Or more likely to only ride on paved roads......then you know which to get.

In my opinion a MNT bike is more versatile cause it can do both - but not great at longs distance on the road....but a hybrid would almost never go on real off road trails. And you can buy smooth tires for a mnt bike.

But for only 2 miles on pavement....either MTN or Hybrid will work. A Hybrid works slightly better for just this requirement.

Most mountain bikes are made with the idea of riding off road.. knobby tires etc. Hybrids have smoother tires.. So the fact that it's on a mountain isn't really the factor, other than wanting a bike that will have enough gears to make the ride easy. (go for 21 gears if it's hilly). So the hybrid would be fine. That said, I'd probably opt for the mountain bike because with the knobby tires you have the option of taking off across dirt roads etc should the need arise on some other ride. The mountain bikes usually come with front shocks, which are nice in bouncing off curbs. Some hybrids have no shocks on the front fork. 2 miles on knobby tires won't bother you. I have a mountain bike that I ride almost always on pavement. It's a 2004 trek 3700 and has been a great bike. I put alot of road miles on it.

Either should be fine. If you get a mountain bike, don't overkill on the size of the frame. You won't need it if you're staying on the road.

You have some good answers. The two mile commute could be done comfortably on any bike. It would depend on what else you want to do with the bike. I commute to work 12.6 miles each way and I love my Gary Fisher Mendota hybrid. It peddles easily and will last a lifetime. I have a mountain bike for playing on the weekends.

Your requirements boil down to needing a bike for commuting two miles to the top of a big hill on good roads. A mountain bike is not a good choice for that type of use.

Something light, with no suspension and a good range of gears would suit you best. A light hybrid with road type tyres and a rack (if you have to carry stuff to work) would be my choice. You really don't want suspension if you have to do a lot of hill climbing - most of your effort does into pogo-ing the springs instead of getting you up the hill.

Hybrid will be your best choice for this application.