how hilly is your ride? I rode a taj shortly and you could hop curbs all day and still get around town. You could also change the gearing if you wanted. I think for an around town commuter and bar bike it would be great. But if I was commuting a longer distance and there were hills, I'd just buy a decent geared mountain bike with a single front chain ring. You could hop one up a curb, commute with it, and then you can ride trails and shit with it too. Derailleur might seem complicated at first but it's really not, especially just a single front ring setup. You can watch a youtube video and have it down in no time.
Yeah I agree. Although I can see how a bmx'er might not want many of the "uncool" options in that category. (I was a BMX-only rider, until about 10 years ago, so I've been sifting through all the options for a while).
A cool MTB that is all-rigid, sort of bmx-ish, but also commuter-ish, with 1X9 or 1X10-11 gearing . . . . is a rare bike. Maybe SURLY.
If you get a suspension fork with lockout or with adjust to stiffen it up for city riding, there are lots of options. In terms of a seat high enough for commuter-ish type leg extension, rather than super low like DJ MTB bikes .... then "All Mountain" type bikes would seem to fit...
Like a Transition TransAm. It's going to have a more laid back "aggressive hard tail" head angle though.
A 4x/DJ bike with 1X9 is also doable, but like I said, the lower seat tube, makes a high seat less do-able (at least for taller riders). Note the chain guide system--it has a top guide as well as a bottom tension roller. This is essential for keeping the chain on during bmx style riding with gears. The newer "narrow-wide" chain system though is supposed to lessen the need for this type of chain guide though.
Something like the 2013 Specialized P.Street was a lame attempt to be a mix of DJ style and casual mtb. The two-ring gear system is pathetic on anything even vaguely trying to seem like a dirt jumper or 'urban' bike. The proper way to do it is 1X9, 1X10, etc. with "narrow-wide" or with a proper chain guide system to keep the chain on, the way 4x racers do it.
"The P.Street, a new addition to the P.Series family of bikes for 2013, draws its inspiration from the dirt/park/street lifestyle that the P.Series represents, while offering the A-to-B practicality of a traditional geared mountain bike. No, it isn't intended as a pure street or park bike, but the entry level P.Street features disc brakes, a 31.8mm handlebar and stem combo, street-specific tires, a strong suspension fork, and a two-ring drivetrain with a bash guard that allow the bike to handle abuse while still remaining user friendly for getting around."http://www.pinkbike.com/forum/listcomments/?threadid=163703This is kinda off-topic, but I think Spooky used to make Terrible One frames back in the day.....
http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=75553Oh yeah... and some people are doing internal geared hubs on BMX....
Lets see your Multi-speed BMX'shttp://bmxmuseum.com/forums/viewtopic.php?id=3045798-speed hub on OM Flyer 26"
Oh yeah, and the Volume Generator used an internal-geared hub in their attempt to make a bmx-ish urban commuter
https://vimeo.com/34379415