My advice on this matter is to avoid alu forks. The Giant page says the fork is steel so it's a bit strange that the ride was so stiff. Then again, tire pressure and geometry can also affect those. Just by looking at specs and geo alone, my recommendations are the Kona, Brodie, and Felt. Their geometries are relatively similar being performance oriented hybrids.

Out of the three, the Kona seems to be designed the most thoughtfully. All the components are excellent and the Kona P2 is a cromo fork which has been proven excellent on great bikes like Jake the Snake and their rigid 29ers. It(as well as the Felt) also has hydraulic discs if that's what you're looking for. Additionally, the adjustable dropouts on the Kona are an arguably better way to adjust chain tension than an eccentric BB. The Felt has a carbon fork if you're looking for that but honestly, it's probably more of a marketing thing than a function thing. Personally, I really like the Brodie but at the pricepoint, it fails to match up with its competitors as far as components go. However, it is an excellent bike and the only one I have ridden out of the three I have narrowmindedly chosen.

I immediately ruled out the belt drive models. Although this design offers a low maintenance drivetrain, it is also much less efficient mechanically. I mean, you've got an IGH hub which is already incredibly low maintenance, why sacrifice efficiency for a tad bit less maintenance? Of course, if you're really drawn to a belt drive, that opens your options up a bit but I tend to be a traditionalist.