I bought a used 2016 Giant Trance 3 as my first full suspension bike and love it. That said, it has a little more travel than I really need for the trails I ride the majority of the time. I now find myself wishing I had a cross country type 29er to use for endurance events and the occasional race or Xterra triathlon. If I had $2500 and was looking for my first full suspension, I’d certainly consider a Santa Cruz Tallboy (or maybe 5010), or maybe look at Specialized bikes – Epic Comp or Camber. If you go with the Trance, hope you enjoy it!