another help me pick a bike thread

[Camel Toad]

so i want another bike. and the maggot collective is as good a source of this info as any, so here goes.

for a bit of history, i'm down from my max of 4 rides. prefer downhill rides (that i can ride up) and enduro xc trails, as well as hopping around on 2x4s in the backyard.

bike a.
old gary fisher ziggy, much abused. gave it to a girl i dated to use as a commuter. was a fun ride but outgrown, barring serious upgrades. used to practice trials riding with this, the bottom bracket will never be the same...

bike b.
klein quantum pro, full dura-ace aka "my baby" light and fast. sold it when i stopped racing. miss it sometimes.

bike c.
c-dale jekhyl 1000. fun ride. it was actually my friends, but he was in london for 3 years so i got it new and broke it in for him while he was gone.

bike d.
surly 1x1. fully rigid. the only bike in the stable these days. i often overheat the disc brakes on "xc" descents.

i would like a full squishy rig for bombing descents, but i am gone almost all summer every summer to bike unfriendly places. so that would be a costly purchase to have sit in my garage all of the time. i'm looking for someting to smooth out the ride a bit, as i like to go fast and can beat most of my friends down a mountain on my rigid ride (not because i'm that good, but because they are that bad). have been leaning towards a hardtail with a fair amount of squish up front or in short a dj/xc ride. it needs to be able to take some abuse messing around with backyard trials, be able to bomb hills with small (2-4') drops, but also be able to ride up said hills, and being able to cruise 40 miles of singletrack in comfort would be great too. 1x9 is fine, if not preferred. tall order?

been leaning toward the cowan. also not positive on sizing for more of a dj type bike (me: 5'10" "normal" build) i'm thinking of something around 15".

ideas?

[Big Blue]

gave it to a girl i dated to use as a commuter. was a fun ride but outgrown, barring serious upgrades

the girl or the bike?

[Camel Toad]

you can be the judge of that.

[Particle]

Transition Vagrant.
http://www.transitionbikes.com/
I'm 5'10" and riding a Medium (16"). I think you'd want more of a 'freeride' geometry hardtail than a pure DJ geometry like the Cowan so that you could ride longer XC rides. Look for longer seat tubes and slacker head angles than 70 degrees.

Dirt jump...


and ride XC in the same day on the same bike:

[Camel Toad]

Thanks Mr. P.

That is exactly what I'm looking for.