I'd say upgrade.

I upgraded my wife's mountain bike and the differences from a low level 2011 mountain bike (specalized hardrock or something) to mid level 2019 (Trek Roscoe 8) are amazingly different. The 1x is an amazing feature, a clutch in the NX rear derailer is amazing, and the thru-axles help a ton. Not to mention tubeless....

I upgraded my 20 year old 26” MTB last year to a 29er hardtail. HUGE improvement all the way across the board. Even setting aside the component differences (which are large), a 29 inch wheels just rolls so much better than a 26. Goes over bumps and terrain much better and descends a lot better too.

I was following a friend who has a 26” as we were coasting down a gradual descent. I kept having to hit the brakes because I gained on him pretty significantly.

The only downsides are a little loss of manuverability and weight, but overall the 29 is a huge improvement.

Take a look at the Trek Stache. Weight be damned, that thing is scary fast and it’s comical how you can lean it over (even for an amateur like me).

29er for sure.

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Pink? Maybe. Maybe not. You decide.

Is there even a market for a 26” bike anymore? When is the last time you rode a HT? Is cost keeping you from a 29” or 27.5” FS? I got tired of riding my bombproof, but absolute unit 31lb FS Niner Jet9 so I dropped $3k (wholesale) on a decked out 29” carbon HT which comes in at just over 20lbs for a size XL. After a couple of years I find myself riding the FS Niner 90%+ of the time. So much more comfortable and not that much slower.

I have friends that have went to a 27.5” from 29” and love it. One of the fastest guys I know still rides his 26”. Personal preference, but at 6’4” a 26” is pretty much a death trap for me.

ETA: xterra races are actually in that 10% of the time I ride the HT because that minute or two counts. However, if I could only have one bike there is no question I’m going with FS.

Top of my shortlist is the Specialized Chisel. Mostly because geometry is virtually identical to the epic, it's minimalist and pretty with all-internal cables, and my first "real" mountain bike was a Specialized Stumpjumper M2 with the original rockshox. Even the colour is the same. #sentimentality

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Swimming Workout of the Day:

Favourite Swim Sets:

2020 National Masters Champion - M50-54 - 50m Butterfly

yeah, cost. I'll have $2k more or less to play with. Haven't ridden a HT on the trails in about 15 years.

The ones i'm looking at all have boost spacing, so I'll be able to run a 2.6" tire or so for comfort and "fun" trail days, and a 2.2 or 2.0 for racing.

I doubt there's much of a market for a 26" It's really a beginner level bike now. some beginner is gonna get a sweet deal on a Giant NRS Air carbon - XT/XTR mix w/ Mavic Crossmax (tubeless) and an upgraded SID fork.

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Swimming Workout of the Day:

Favourite Swim Sets:

2020 National Masters Champion - M50-54 - 50m Butterfly

Can’t say that I’ve ridden anything bigger than 2.25 on my two. Rode some larger ones when I rented a bike for downhill at Bootleg Canyon outside of Las Vegas. Admittedly not up to date on my research, but I’d be curious if the larger tires really dampen it that much. My back hurts just looking at my HT.

my thought is that the tire pressure can be run so low in the larger tire, it's gotta help a bit.

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Swimming Workout of the Day:

Favourite Swim Sets:

2020 National Masters Champion - M50-54 - 50m Butterfly

 
For a $2k budget I would definitely go HT either 29'er or 27.5. A hard tail is a great all around bike, fast and works fine for the downhill fun stuff too. I have ridden my hard tail on every trail available around here and never needed the full sus. Sure full sus is fun on the downhill, but it is not necessary if you have a bit of skill. And if you only want one bike in the stable, the HT is a good one to have. Make sure to get a dropper post with whatever you get. The single biggest upgrade you can make.

I rented a carbon full sus bike for a shuttle day and ran the same "flow trail" 8 times that day, my time got a bit better every time we rode it. But the rental bike did not have a dropper post. I went back 2 weekends later with my 2009 Gary Fisher HT 29'er with a 2.2 rear tire, a 2.4 front tire and a dropper post. I beat my best time on that flow trial by 20 seconds.

I would like to have a full sus bike, but for most riding it is just not necessary.

That's pretty much where my head is at. I've had great fun on the FS, but I've never felt it was necessary for the types of riding I do. I'm not doing big drops or jumps, cuz that shit hurts if you get it wrong and I've gotta go to work on Monday. I "think" that the Chisel will take an internally routed dropper post, although it is a 27.2 seatpost so options are probably going to be a little limited there.

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Swimming Workout of the Day:

Favourite Swim Sets:

2020 National Masters Champion - M50-54 - 50m Butterfly

If you're interested in buying used, I have a 2013 Cannondale F29 Carbon 1. https://www.bicyclebluebook.com/...=672&model=73376

Also have a powertap rear wheel to go with the reynolds wheels. The frame is the team frame. I had the red/white/blue frame but the insert that held the bottom bracket cable guide in place fell out so they sent me a new frame. It is old and has a XTR 2x10 drivetrain. I think I also have all the parts for a spare drive train, too.

definitely buying new.

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Swimming Workout of the Day:

Favourite Swim Sets:

2020 National Masters Champion - M50-54 - 50m Butterfly

Even the jumps are okay with the HT as long as you make the distance and land where you are supposed to. The full sus can definitely save you if you don't make it though. I recently upgraded to a newer HT 29'er. Bit more travel on the fork and went from old 3X to 2X front chainrings. Doesn't make a huge difference over the old Gary Fisher, but the price was right.

The 27.2 seatpost does limit your dropper options significantly. The Gary Fisher I had was a 27.2. There were only 2-3 options available a few years ago when I bought mine. Most economical option was from X-Fusion. It worked okay, it didn't always rise all the way on it's own, sometimes i had to grab it with my thighs and pull it up, but once up it stayed up really well. It ends up with a really small shaft since the tube diameter is so small, but it did work okay.

My new bike is a 31.6 so it has many more options for dropper post. I would try to go 31.6 if you can, more stout construction and lots more options.