Finally had more time to ride my Stumpjumper EVO more frequently over the last 6 weeks and do direct back to back comparison's to my Forbidden Druid (size medium; 130mm in the rear and 2019 Fox 36 Grip 2 at 150mm). Just to clarify up front, I just ride for fun anywhere between 1-3 times a week. Racing, racing times and KOMs are irrelevent for me personally. I am 5'7" and currently 155 lbs out of the shower. S3 size EVO Comp, which is pretty much stock except for the fork (2020 Manitou Mezzer Pro at 160mm), dropper (150mm OneUp) and handlebar (OneUp carbon bar). I have to say, the EVO's geometry and handling are it's best attributes. It feels always very balanced and handles very neutral in all situations, whether it be cornering, high speed chunky stuff or slow, tight uphill switchback climbs. I feel always perfectly centered, in the saddle or standing. I am usually pretty active and moving around a lot when descending, but definitely noticed there is less need to do so than other bikes (compared to my Druid or my YT Jeffsy 27 or other bikes I demoed like the Ibis Ripmo). I find it also pedals very well and efficiently for a 150mm travel bike and am perfectly fine riding the shock in open mode at all times, including my 1-2 hour fire road uphill grinds. Rear suspension performance descending is pretty good, but not great with the stock DPX2 Performance shock, using the larger 0.8x spacer. I played around with higher pressures initially, but settled at 170 PSI, giving me close to 15mm sag and leaving me around 5mm unused travel after some air time and the biggest compression I can/dare to dish out, which is a 3 foot drop to flat. I am happy with having those last few millimeters left in reserve as additional margin for error...just in case. The standard volume spacer was definitely not working for me.Talking about suspension performance, that's where my Druid truly shines and outperforms the EVO, even though it nominally has "only" 130mm of rear travel. Pedaling performance and climbing efficiency are a coin toss between the EVO and the Druid and both feel equally good to me. The EVO may feel slightly snappier for sudden power burst, but we're talking minute nuances and it's not a trait that's particularly important to me for how and where I ride. The Druid's suspension performance in slow, nasty, rocky, loose and ledgy climbs is excellent. I cannot judge that aspect for the EVO, since I didn't have a chance yet to ride it on those conditions.The EVO handles tight uphill switchbacks effortlessly, whereas my Druid requires more active riding style and handlebar steering to stay on course for those same tight switchbacks.I think this advantage is solely due to the EVO's super dialed geometry, even though it has significantly longer static wheelbase than my medium Druid. The Druid's suspension magic kicks in when going down fast and hard and is always super capable to handle any kind of hits, i.e. landing after some bigger jumps and drops or fast repetitive ledgy and square edged hits.It's not the most plush suspension out there, but feels always very composed and super capable at all times. This is with the DPX2 Elite shock that comes stock with the Druid, so in essence the same shock that came with my EVO comp (yes, the Elite has adjustable LSC, but I run it one click from full open on the Druid). In short, for me the EVO has more dialed geometry and better more balanced handling, whereas the Druid outshines the EVO in terms of rear suspension performance when descending. That said, now that I have the direct comparison, the Druid's steering feels more twitchy for high speed cornering and bermed sharp high speed turns, whereas the EVOs steering in those situations is rock solid and secure. In a perfect world, I'd want the EVO's geometry combined with the Druid's suspension performance. Sigh...I can only keep one of the two...that's the deal with my wife. Deep down I love the Druid more than my EVO, probably due to purely emotional baggage like underdog small company factor, liking the design and lines of the Druid more than the EVO and suspension performance. Rationally, the EVO is probably the better choice, as the geometry feels definitely more dialed and balanced (i.e. more forgiving with rider errors) and suspension can be improved with better shock or custom shock tune or both. That said, now I am wondering if a Large Druid would bridge the geometry gap to my S3 EVO or playing around with slackening the head angle on my medium Druid by 1-1.5 degrees for longer wheel base and less twitchy handling for high speed cornering and leaning the bike in high speed bermed turns. Sigh, we'll see, need to make up my mind in next few weeks.