29'er s may be going that way in your area, but in the US, 29'ers are going quite strong and that is what i would suggest -- a decent alloy framed 29'er hardtail if the budget is $1k

29'ers are just faster -- there is not enough of an overall difference in diameter between 26 and 27.5 to make much out of ---- 27.5 riders frequently say -- "I just wanted a playful ride" or something along those lines

Thats all well and good , but current 29'er technology with the more laidback seat and head tubes , longer top tubes and shorter stems has just about cured the early flip-flop nature of the big bike's handling

So unless your really short (under 5'4 ) or need something with more than 6" of travel --- a 29'er is the way to go , and 1k buys a much better hardtail than a FS bike