I went to a disco at Lochgelly when I was 11. All I remember are 6 or 7 of the older kids pogo-ing on the dancefloor irregardless of whatever the DJ was playing. There was (maybe still is) a good fish 'n' chip shop on the main road out to Lumphinnans. Anyway...
Velo, if you want a borrow of the Mary, give me a shout - She is also available for Bar Mitzvahs and weddings. You might find it pretty small (18" frame is small for me, although that's not necessarily a bad thing. However, the 400mm seatpost is extended right to it's limit), and as I've previously slavered on at anyone who'll listen, it hoors up (and down) fire-road climbs like nobody's business. Very capable descender despite only 80mm forks up front, I'm faster at Glentress on this than any other bike. Last decent run on it I found myself subconsciously unweighting the bike over the bumpy stuff - first time this has happened to me since I usually have to make a conscious effort. Don't know if that's 29'er related, but was as an eye opener when I realized what was going on.
Having said all that, a build utilizing all the bits left over from the iDrivel does make financial sense (up to a certain price point on the frame anyway), so I understand why you'd want to go the long travel 26" hardtail route.