The scout is still an incredibly capable bike, all the professional and regular bloke feedback seems to agree and still 140 up front.
I too demoed a bandit and a covert. I was pretty sure of the bandit before I went and the demo confirmed it. The covert swallowed everything and climbed ok but the bandit made for a fun ride and has coped with everything I’ve ridden it on around exmoor, quantocks, Dartmoor and Welsh trail centres. Admittedly DH runs are above my comfort zone on any bike and I ride a hardtail 80% of the time but still….. It climbs great too.
If I was in the market for a new FS bike the scout would be very close to the top of the list!