I had an NRS2 I bought used from a rental fleet. It was a good bike, but was pretty tired when I bought it. The rear SID air shock was reliable for the XC riding I was doing. After contiunuously replacing parts due to the rough life the bike had as a rental (no fault of the bike IMO) I decided to upgrade to a Santa Cruz Blur. Sure the Blur was more bucks, but what a great bike.

I have not ridden the new Trance, but it looks like a similar design to the Blur. With the VPP type design you get a plush ride without much bob. If the trance rides like other VPP style designs I'd go for the Trance.