29ers in the Wiss

I'm with Hunter on this one- I have 2 of the 3 bikes (missing that DH/FR one still). I generally use a giant reign for everything but there is advantages to having a 29er on fast & smooth singletrack areas like White Clay, Fairhill, or the stuff at Allegrippis. I ride my HT29er sparingly for the most part but it's nice to have for these areas especially climbing. I've rode my 29er at French Creek quite a bit & definitely noticed I'm faster on the climbs but I suffer on the downhills there. 

For Wiss, I like my reign for group riding just b/c I think I have better control on the downs w/it. But if I'm solo or know I'll be riding slower (like with the dog) I'll use my 29er.

In your case, I'd go with a FS 29er then.  It gives the advantage of big wheels and has the suspension.  The debate, until a couple of years ago, was always HT 29er vs FS 26 but now there are a handful of FS 29er bikes.  If I had to do it with one bike and one bike only, the FS 29er seems to make sense for all the area trails.  As it is, I am working toward having the whole armamentarium because, well, bikes are just cool and the more the merrier. 

In skiing, the tongue-in-cheek defintion of All Mountain Skis is: A term for skis designed to perform equally poorly under a variety of conditions and over many different types of terrain. It's an exaggeration but it makes the point.  Some idea applies to mountain bikes.

In skiing there's another equivalent term, if you have several pair of skis, it called a quiver, a pair for ice, a pair for powder, a pair for everyday use. Same idea here.

I've been very happy with a 4" travel FS 29er (Ventana El Capitan) for the past 3 years as my go to bike.  When Blue Mt. opened up it's lift served trails, the 29er platform worked up there but not as well as a burlier, slacker angled 26" bike did.  For Wiss and anywhere else that's not exclusively steep and very technical terrain, I'm very satisfied with 29er full squish. 

That being said, some pedal uphill more efficiently than others and there've been some really well thought out linkage systems.  My Ventana is very dependent on platform dampening in the shock to climb well.  I demo-ed a Pivot 429 at Dirtfest - really efficient climber but Allegrippis isn't rocky/rooty enough to give it a fair evaluation against my current ride. 

I meant 29er FS is best option for the average rider, not SS 29er.  SS 29er is probably the fastest bike though on average if you're willing to stand up in the rough stuff.

I like my HT 29er and the way it rolls. It feels much like an FS 26er on logs and steps, until you get to a rock  garden or obstacle where you could really use an FS, and the you're quickly reminded that it's not an FS.

I began riding a softail 29er, which I feel is really the best all around option for speed and ability to deal with some basic technical. Though you give up some of the the efficiency of the HT, the 1" or so of rear travel is just enough to take the edge off my older bones

29ers in general have a better attack angle and just roll over things that much easier. (If they made a 31er I'd be riding it!). But they also stick to the ground a bit more with more surface area, and if you can roll a larger volume tire, at low pressure, ideally tubeless, you end up with a feeling of of more suspension. So chainstay width might be important as if you can only fit a 2.1, and you get an HT, that will equal a bit more pain for the older heavier rider.

More surface area grabs the trail with large volume tires, on a 29er, and more grip. There's a lot of variables to this, but what's sometimes hard to comprehend is that lower pressure often means less rolling resistance on trail terrain. The rougher the terrain, the lower pressure, the less the rolling resistance. The smoother the terrain, the more pressure you want, however, even then you want less than you think. . It's the opposite of the road. You just go faster with lower pressure as the tires don't bounce inefficiently off the rabble of the trail (compared to pavement).

If I had a first choice in a bike right now it would be a FS 29er. Maybe the Ellsworth Evolve. The Salsa Spearfish is probably where I'm aiming though, coming in a $2250 for a decently spec'd and reviewed FS 29er. For my average mileage I think an XC FS 29er would be great for training, and I'd keep my HT for racing and Middle Run.

But another choice would be the Moots titanium soft tail 29er. I'd still be riding a soft tail if I hadn't destroyed my previous frames. But the Moots is a premium bike and I reckon it would suit me fine. There are a number of other 29er soft tails on the market and maybe one of them would be a good 'compromise' bike for you.

Recently, after 4 years, I rode a FS 26er that was super squishy. It was like a cruise ship! Super comfy and super sluggish! I really enjoyed the comfort though... FS 29er probably offers the best all around ability and comfort, so for me that would probalby take precedence over even the softail.