No matter the tire size- ride a bunch of bikes! The short travel fs 26ers are what I like- but I'm old and I get sore easy, and there are plenty of stoopid fast doods on 29er full rigids.

Ultimately, every bike has minor differences in geometry that make major differences in feel. If you want to see how much, change the stem you have to something 20 mm shorter or longer- COMPLETELY different handling bike. If a stem makes that much difference, imagine all the changes that go into upsizing the wheels!

Ride your buddies bikes, ride their buddies bikes, go to the bike shop and ride some more- when you find one that feels pretty good, start looking into them and narrowing it down- figure out WHY it feels right. Eventually, you'll find the bike that lets you ride the speed and style that you enjoy, and THAT will make you enjoy riding more no matter how big the wheels are!

If you find that you don't enjoy the ride- for instance- you get frustrated because the quick, tight and twisty stuff is too much for you now, or people don't go fast enough on the climbs for you to pull the gearing you chose, or you start complaining that the trails should be changed to accomodate your new bikes handlebar width, then you probably chose the wrong bike for the places that you ride, and that's bad. (NOTE: The term "quick, tight and twisty stuff" is NOT referencing a fast, flowy trail with a bad corner in it- we all know those should always be looked at.)

In any event- wheel size and the amount of travel make a HUGE difference, so the 1st thing you should do is to decide to enjoy the search- and ride as many bikes as you can!!!