No one can tell you what you want, but I personally have a liking for the Salsa mostly because of familiarity with them. I'm not familiar with the Fezzari, but it's a nice looking bike. Like you, I'm also partial to 27.5's. I originally owned 26's and have lots of time in the saddle of 29ers. If I were really tall, I might have grown to prefer the 29er, but unfortunately, I'm only 5'10" and the 27.5 feels right. Sounding like the 3 bears here. Good luck with whichever you decide. You might also want to check out Bikes Direct if you haven't because they have a couple nice looking bikes in the bottom end of your budget that deserve consideration also. Motobecane's aren't bad bikes for less money. Good luck and let us know what you decide on. BTW-you mention that you never rode a MTB. Warning-be prepared for harder pedaling (weight) compared to a road bike or don't expect to maintain the same speed (rolling resistance-larger tires) as you do your road bike. That's my boring $.02 worth.