After enjoying a demo day a while back and having a pleasant experience on a Soul, got me thinking what else should I think about?
Obviously, hardtail, steel (other materials maybe considered), 650b (other wheel sizes need not apply, that includes +).

Possibly just a frame, or rolling chassis and build it up myself.

Don’t mess about, just buy a soul if you liked it

I had a soul, loved it.
Then I demo’d a solaris. That afternoon I put the soul up for sale.
Moral of the story, don’t rule out wagon wheels.

I’m hankering for a Solaris also despite absolutely loving my Habit lefty

This is probably of no interest to you, but I rode a BFe for several years and have recently changed to a Production Privee Shan. I like the idea of bombproof frames, which is why I bought the BFe. I ran the BFe withi 150mm Revs.

The Shan is a total revelation. I using 160mm Pikes, and the bike just feels perfect. It climbs perfectly – I’ve cleared stuff on technical climbs already on the Shan that I’ve struggled to clear on my other bikes.

But the biggest thing is that the Shan is so much more compliant than the BFe. I honestly couldnt believe the difference for the first few rides.

Anyway – just in case you were wondering about something beefier than the Soul. The Soul sounds wonderful to me – not sure you can do much better. Friends have Stantons which also look great, but I’m not sure they seem better than the Soul. As you can tell, I’m a big fan of slacker geometry. I think that a 66-67 degree headangle, wide bars and a short stem, just feels wonderfully fun.

Are you thinking of fully rigid or suspension forks?

I really like my Singular Rooster though a Swift would make a classic steel hardtail too. Depends if you want burly or not.

Orange P7 is worth a look – prefer it to my old BFe, although that’s partly down to a much better fit.

Chromag Wideangle. I love mine and it got a great review on here too!

Same as johnhe I run a bfe with 150 rev’s and it’s a belter hardly use my five now

Tried a BFe too, nice, but not the bike I want, a bit harsh.
Yes, suspension 120ish.
Stantons are a possibility.