I don't know, the new Top Fuel 9.8 looks pretty sick!

Yeti Sb130 or Ibis Ripley

Whatever you get I'm sure you'll love it. Please let us know what you decide.

Spot Ryve 115 (120/115 suspension). Demo'd one recently here in Denver area and it was fantastic. Way more capable than my Yeti ASR XC bike, but still climbs really well. I would add that to a list including the Spec Epic EVO and the Cannondale Scalpel SE, as well as maybe Ibis Ripley.

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Colorado Triathlon Company, CO2UT 2021, Crooked Gravel 2022, Steamboat Gravel 2022

This bike has been on my list to demo. Looks very interesting.

OP, I was in a similar mindset as you for my mountain bike selection. I went to a Canyon demo and tried out a few of their bikes. I tried the Lux, Spectral, and Neuron. All great bikes in their own right, but the Neuron fulfilled that perfect “goldilocks” middle ground for me. 130 F/R suspension, carbon models weigh in at sub 29 lbs, and a couple builds in your price range. Might be worth adding to your “check it out” list.

https://www.canyon.com/.../trail-bikes/neuron/

Now if only they could get them in stock...

I rode the Transition at Outerbike.
My buddy, who wasn't going to be buying a bike, also rode a Transition.
He ended up buying a Transition and 3 years on still loves it.

Update: I don’t have it yet, but I went with a 2021 Epic Evo. Due to Covid I wasn’t really able to test ride anything other than my buddy’s Pivot, which I honestly didn’t love. The Epic Evo is getting great reviews across the board, from locals to all the big websites/publications, so it seems like a safe bet. I wanted the Expert build but my buddy bought the last one in my size! Fortunately LBS was able to get me the Comp frame and swap out the build kit from an Epic Pro hardtail - Eagle X01, carbon bars and cranks, and Roval carbon wheels. I should have it mid next week and will post some first impressions as soon as I can.

Great, I hope you enjoy it. Nice you're getting it so soon. I'm still waiting on mine for a few more weeks.

It’s a crazy time to buy a mountain bike. Nobody has anything in stock. Stoked that my LBS is able to piece together exactly what I want. FWIW I did check with my local Pivot dealer and they said Pivot is averaging 40 days to deliver. Hope you get yours soon, new bike day is the best!

First ride on the Spesh Epic Evo today so I figured I'd post some initial impressions.

First of all, this thing is LIGHT. Like really light. I haven't weighed it yet but with the Roval carbon wheels, S-Works carbon bar, Truvativ carbon cranks and Eggbeaters I'm guessing it's in the 24lb. ballpark.

SRAM Eagle XO1 is way better than the drivetrain I had on my YT, which was a mix of Shimano SLX and E13. Shifting is crisp and super fast. Part of the deal with my LBS swapping over the groupset from another bike was that I got SRAM Level 2-piston brakes which feel a little underpowered. That's probably my only gripe with the bike so far but obviously something that can be easily upgraded.

Suspension is DIALED. The combo of Rock Shox SID fork and Deluxe shock is supple but has a ton of support when climbing. Maybe it's because the bike is so light but it feels like it just skips over roots and little chatter.

The infinite adjustability of the X-Fusion Manic dropper is pretty sweet. It's only 150mm travel on a size L but that wasn't an issue at all. If you're in the flow or steeps all the time you might think about replacing with something with more travel, but here in the northeast it works fine.

Roval carbon wheels are awesome. So light and fast but not noticably harsher than my previous DT Swiss aluminum rims.


Overall ride impressions:
I was expecting this bike to feel a little sketchy compared to my YT. It didn't. With 110mm in the rear and super light weight it obviously climbs well, but I was surprised by how confident it was on the downhills, how it absolutely carved through turns, and how quickly it picked up and held speed on flat and rolling sections. The geometry seems perfectly suited for the type of trails in my area, although I will say the reach feels a tiny bit cramped at 460mm on a large. I know that's not unusually short but something about it felt a little cramped even though my Jeffsy was 445mm. I'm going to give it a few more rides and may end up putting a longer stem on, but the handling was so good that I don't want to screw anything up.

I rode this bike in a spot where I've ridden my YT probably 50 times and the Spesh was better in pretty much every way. It climbed like a bat out of hell to the point where previously difficult climbs felt borderline easy. It carved flowy turns with precision. On the flatter sections and fire roads it felt like a road bike, but on the steeper downhills it was confident and capable. I did notice one time when I was hard on the rear brake over some techy downhill drops that the back wheel washed out a little bit, and I thought to myself that the Jeffsy would've eaten that up. But that's to be expected when you go from 140mm to 110mm of travel. It wasn't bad, just different than what I'm used to, and the Epic more than compensated with it's light weight and lively handling. I was smiling the entire ride and waiting for my buddies at every intersection. In short I felt like this is the exact bike I've been looking for.

I still have some more technical stuff to ride so I'll reserve final judgement until I have a few more rides on the Epic, but today it was nearly perfect. I never disliked riding my Jeffsy but this thing is sooo much better. I literally didn't know mountain biking could be this fun.