It has no lockout, correct? So standing climbing it will get bouncy but as a seated climber you don’t notice it much is that accurate?
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I don’t think the OP needs to go as slack as the Transition Spur. Something with geometry like the Trek Top Fuel I think would work.
FWIW, I ride a 2017 Trek Fuel. 130mm front and rear. 67.7 HTA. If I could make a change I’d slacken the front end a bit (which I can do with the flip chip, but then I’d need shorter cranks as the bike already is prone to pedal strikes).
I have a Santa Cruz Hightower which has more travel than you’re after but a great all around bike. I did demo the SC Tallboy, a solid option in your zone. Modern geo and the new suspension design is really solid. The SC Blur is a rocket. If I had the approval of my CFO (wife) I’d have one just to go kick my buddies ass every now and then.
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The shock has climb/trail/descend modes and the fork has a firm/soft adjustment. It’s just not remote. I generally leave it in trail mode, which is fine for most seated climbing, but for an extended paved or fire road climb the switch to climb mode can be felt. I never touch the fork.
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@maggie08mae, as i think you can see from the responses, there’s no one perfect answer. It all depends on the terrain. There are some courses where a short-travel or even a hardtail will be fastest, others where a little bit more travel would be ideal. I will say this though:
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for descending, however good at descending you are, you’ll be faster on the FS. People will say “oh if you’re good you can also descend on a hardtail” and it’s true, but you’ll go faster on the full suspension. You can carry more speed over choppy stuff, you can be less strategic about bleeding speed because there’s more terrain you can brake over, you can be less cautious about approaching drops that you’re not sure whether you can roll over, etc. I have a climb near me that is 2.5 miles up, 2500 ft of gain, some of it twisty and smooth but some of it technical. Whatever i gain on my hardtail on the way up i more than lose on the way down. My 35 lb trail bike is overall faster.
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Even when you feel like you’re faster on the hardtail, often you’re not. I used to ride on the east coast (NY and CT) where there was a lot of singletrack that was flowy in some respects but also full of trail furniture, like littered with roots and babyheads, sometimes in inconvenient spots. On the hardtail i felt fast–you could stand and smash and just jam out of corners–but on all of my favorite loops, the trail bike was still faster, once you learn how to ride it.
I would only pick the hardtail if it was going to be a lot of double track and fire roads and/or singletrack that’s mostly smooth, even if it has some techincal features.
If i were you i’d be choosing between the down-country and the race XC full suspension, given that a lot of the short travel ones have slacker geometry and are overall beefier and more capable than they were a few years ago.
I’m in the market for the same and am planning on demoing a pivot mach 4 sl over the weekend. The transition spur was also recommended but i’m worried it’ll be too slack and the front end will wander when the climbs are both steep and sustained.
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I chose my Scott Spark RC on this basis as I’m very much a confidence rider. Its geo - from 2018 - was erring toward longer and lower before it was a hardtail trend and has a 68.5 degree HA on a 100mm fork or 67.5 on a 120mm fork.
100mm rear and 120mm up front is going to be both fast and capable. Lots of great options in this range of bikes, many already suggested in the thread.
Couple of thoughts.
The Fox 34 SC 120mm is going to be about the same weight as some prior gen 100mm forks, yet the extra 20mm of travel add a lot both in terms of capability but also comfort. I haven’t ridden the SID Ultimate in 120mm, but I have it in 100mm and it has a been more challenging to dial in compared to the Fox 34 SC 120mm.
Always worth considering what bikes have the best local support in your area. Having a great local shop with good mechanics that back the products they sell can be worth its weight in gold, especially with mountain bikes.
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If you’re serious about XC racing, I think you need a bike with a remote and a lockout.
I rode a 40min smooth singletrack climb the other day on my new gravel bike. I was 1.5 mins faster vs. my best time on my full sus MTB (it has a “firm” mode, but not lockout on the shock). Tires are also different, but I suspect a bigger portion of the time saved was from better pedaling efficiency.
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Oh yes, I’m with you on that. It was the reason I dumped my Epic last year and went to something better suited (for me) for racing which includes a full suspension lockout. I’m also on a steep HT angle and for that reason I didn’t suggest my ride to the OP as I think it is probably a little on the hot side for descending for someone that puts confidence inspiring as a box to check.
Love this TwistLoc suspension lockout from Rock Shox on my ride!
I was just curious if the new Evo was a more stable climbing platform.
Sorry to derail this thread briefly as I know there are a lot of great recommendations above. I was just asking for a friend on the Evo 
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I’m looking hard at the new SID 110mm 35mm stanchion Select on my Spark - it’ll give an HA 68 degrees but will likely be much stiffer upfront than the F32 Stepcast GRIP it would replace.
I ran the FOX SC 32 100mm on my hard tail Niner Air 9 RDO last year. For me it was plenty stiff, but I built that bike for races like Leadville and Wilmington Whiteface, so not that taxing on it. For more aggressive riding the SID 110mm with 35mm stanchions will likely be pretty sweet.
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Yep, I’ve no issues with the Fox until it gets to lengthy and receptive big stuff. There’s two Marathons in the UK which contain multiple DH sections with biggish baby head type descents and the fork seems to get “fed up” of the multiple big hits.
have you tried adjusting the rebound damping?
MTN bike racing in the DC area means traveling to WV, PA or western MD to me. And this means technical riding, can be very rocky, usually lots of roots and can difenently be lots of climbing followed by long downhills.
Me, I ride primary at Gambrill, the Watershed and Sugarloaf. Also at Rolling Ridge. FS is the only way to go. I’m an old guy (63), started riding at Gambrill on a rigid bike 30+ years ago, raced on Kleins and then onto a Scapel. 3 years ago I got a Pivot 429 3 years ago and that relit the fire in me. So much confidence (fun) flying down hills littered with rocks and roots, it scares me to think how fast and easy it is. Climbing may be a bit slower, but I’ll give that up all day long for the handling.
Something else to think about, on your longer and more brutal races like Michaux in PA, that FS will save the body and you’ll be stronger later in the race.
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Yeah, that’s a great bike too.