I'm mainly going to add that don't discount 29ers (or mullet) because of floppy steering. I've had / have four fairly recent 29ers (including my current mullet), and only my Norco Sight had floppy / oversteer type handling. People seem to like them so I'm not saying that they are bad bikes..... My current bikes have nice neutral steering even though they are all sub 64 degree head angles and 170+mm forks. One mullet FS and one 29er hardtail. You can't pin floppy steering on one aspect.
I'd try and ride a few bikes if possible.
