Be sure you've spend some time there in July and August beforehand. That's a radical chance and it's important to realize how radical it is, if you can ride "all year" in this extreme environment, there's almost nowhere that is not "year-round" riding if you have the gear and the bike. There are lots of trail options, if you want to ride a short-travel 29er, there's a good deal of stuff in AZ where that works fine. Same with long travel. Hardtail? You'll see a few, but that's more like bike-packing or some of the raciest-racers that can stand the punishment.
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I grew up in Gilbert, but didn't ride mountain bikes when I lived there (dirt bikes yes, mountain bikes no), so no real comment on the actual biking parts of your question.
Just so you know though, some pools in Phoenix can get very, very warm, depending on the sun exposure. Like, to the point where because of the chlorine, it feels almost like you're swimming in sweat. My parents pool would hit the upper 80's - low 90's pretty easily in the summer. There were times where we checked, and our hot tub was cooler than the pool (admittedly, the tub wasn't turned on, and had its cover on at the time). So, on the hot days, it actually wasn't even very pleasant to be in the pool at my house.
In high school I did what seemed to be every manual labor outside job available (Landscaping, window washing, concrete work, AC repair). You'll learn really quick that early is better, and on the "actual" hot days, to respect the heat, and don't forget about electrolytes. When I was working outside, my water bottle was a standard 2L soda bottle. I'd usually fill it at least 3-5 times per 8hr day. If you've never had heat exhaustion, it sucks. I was with a landscaping crew at the end of the day when I had mine. I hate to think what would have happened if I was out riding solo at the time.
So... Just be aware, the heat is real there.
Also, I don't think you can claim to be a native, until you've burned yourself on the metal part of a seatbelt buckle, or started keeping oven mitts in the car so you can touch the steering wheel after parking in the sun for a while
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Lol, sounds amazing.started keeping oven mitts in the car so you can touch the steering wheel after parking in the sun for a while
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