My 'ideal' bike changed so much over the years that I finally had to stop looking at the catalogs and stay away from the LBSs
But if I could go back in time and snag one of the models I had the pleasure to actually take for a test spin, it would be the Trek Sawyer.
The shop had that Sawyer set up as a 29er with discs and a 1x_, but the dropouts could also handle SS/FG- and it could be configured with the Gates belt drive as well.