To answer the Q’s above aimed at me….
I’ve tried many 29ers over the years, none felt quite right. Now, upto 18 months ago my riding was much much more aggressive, with “pretend” DH playing. Big part of it, so back then my needs were very different. A knee injury and subsequent operation have meant a total change in my riding, so a 29er working for me now might be as much to do with my different style of riding to 29erz just getting better.
But, previous 29ers just felt cumbersome, like a road bike off road. For me, the Fortitude (and other new generation 29ers) feel far more MTB like.
As for the Alfine, the gears didn’t feel right when shifting. Again, my riding has changed a lot in the last few years, as in that time all I’ve ridden is SS, so it might just be the fact I now don’t like gears, but for the money involved I just didn’t think it shifted as well as it should. Other Alfine bikes I’ve tried felt better, but it might all be in my head. Still, Shimano offered to change the internals, just in case.
I don’t want to plug my business here, I’m not posting here for that, but to answer the other questions raised about the Fortitude, there is a tiny blog post about it on my shop blog, http://www.realcycles.co.uk. Bear in mind I’m not a writer!