26+ full suspension MB

[us56456712]

I am 5'7" with a 31 inch crotch to floor size. On most charts I fall between a small and medium MB frame. That being said I seem to ride better on small frames. Over the last few days I trailed a Specialized Stump Jumper demo model which is different than the carbon framed ones they had in the store. The demo bike has and aluminum frame and only comes in med and large. I tried the medium, which is a big medium with a 17.5 seatpost tube. It had + size wheels. It felt a little big but really went over the rough stuff and descended over broken rough rock faces much faster than I have ever been able to do. I rode it on a rough expert tail that I regularly ride on my rigid and full suspension 26ers. Overall it was a much superior bike but the up hill and down hill technical corners were impossible for me with these wheels. I tried 5 times and couldn't make one that I always make on my 26er. I never could make it on my 9er either. My friends with 9ers tell me they only make this corner 75% of the time. I know there is no perfect bike but I think I can do better? Another bike shop has small and medium full suspension 27.5 demo models with standard tires and next week I am going to try each of these on the same trail, apples to apples. I really wish the 27.5+ came in small for me to try but they don't make the demo in small. I have a fat bike and have the same problem on technical corners. I just don't seem to do that well on bigger wheels but I am also going to demo the latest generation of a full suspension 9er just to make sure I am not missing something. I have become more of a connoisseur since I now have 2 summers of experience on mountain bikes and have modified quite a few old bikes. My 70 year old knees don't like to push so I have to spin on the hills, so I have modified the gearing on these old bikes. I have found that I ride best with a gear inch of 15.3 to 16.2, which is way lower then what the single chain wheel 28 x 42 (or even higher) now come with. Both bike shops will swap out the chain wheels for a 24, which would give me a gear inch around 15.7 on standard 27.5 wheels. The bars are also too wide as our trails are narrow and I scratched the whiskers 4 times on my demo ride. No pedal strikes.

The last option is to have the bike shop build me a set of 26+ wheels to put on a 27.5 bike. This would be a gamble as I could not demo this bike. I guess I might have a better idea once I try the standard 27.5. I really like the + size for everything except the technical turns, which end out in a spill on the bigger wheels. I am thinking I might be on to something with the 26+, perhaps I could float and corner? Has anyone had any experience with a 26+ mountain bike?