Its a hard tail, and its aluminum. Has a small fork with 3 inches of travel in the front.
And I'm in my 50's.
It is a mountain bike, and I have put some regular 1.75 tires on it. And some fenders.
And I wanted to use it to commute to work. a mere 4.5 miles. And I did a few times.
But the hills are just long. Like 3/4 mile long. Or they are steep like 1000 feet altitude in a 1/4 mile. (
Hills are great going down, but its slow going up 'em with the office Levi Dockers trousers on.
I did see some ad's for a rear mounted chain drive and a rear mounted belt drive.