We have a result
so, in the end: wifezilla ended up with a secondhand older carbon Scale 35 - I figured nice and light also for riding and light=fewer complaints. She hates the colour (black). I ended up with last year's Aspect 940 which had been converted to a 1x (thinking use the now empty front shifter cable run to route a dropper cable?) but has some no-brand Chinese lightweight fork (probably fine as will be mainly gravelly trails for us for a while).
lucky to have trails two streets away behind our house here in Dubai.
cheers everyone.