some persols and a daystate airwolf mct

i cannot stand to do cardio at the gym, so i'm in the process of acquiring some bicycles.

currently i have a pre-litespeed merger merlin hardtail with a manitou 2 from when i had time to ride in the summers during high school. it's long in the tooth to say the least, i think it's a 93.

i grew up semi-unsupervised and fearless in elementary school and wrecked a gt bmx bike a year launching off anything i could find so my technical skills are solid and all there is here is rocky and slippery singletrack.

i'd love any suggestions from someone more up to date with things than i am. right now it seems like it makes some sense to go with 2 bikes-the lightest 29er i can find-i'm close to pulling the trigger on the epic carbon but i'm turned off by specialized shit in general.

for the other one i'm thinking ellsworth, santa cruz or yeti and putting it together the way i want to. seems worth it to spend on x.x as a group with the lightest frame in the 5" of travel neighborhood. but i'm at a loss as to what kind of rear suspension linkage to get so again, anyone with thoughts please feel free to offer them.