Full rigid 90's Stumpjumper vs full rigid 90's Marin? Any other decent quality full rigid 90's brands that won't break the bank?

[Aybee]

Hi, looks nice but a couple of inches too big for me unfortunately!

Shame but thanks for replying. Merry Xmas!

 

[KayOs]

I had a 94 Pine Mountain until recently and still have a 90 Stumpjumper comp. I find the Stumpi a bit more comfortable but also a bit more sluggish. The Prestige direct drive tubeset is of course also great.
In short, the Stumpi is more cosy and relaxed, the Pine Mountain a little lighter and faster (only my opinion)
I feel a GT Karakoram or Bravado is even more on the stiff and nimble side whereas a Univega is even more comfy than the Stumpi.
I fund all of them for under or around 100€.

All are pretty fun.

Edit:
Ohh and if you can get your hands on an old Giant Chaos, this is also a pretty nice ride!
I found this for 80€.

 

[winjohn]

£300 should get you a Team Marin, my 95 is a lovely ride.

 

[Norwood42]

Shame but thanks for replying. Merry Xmas!

Merry Christmas to you too!

 

[Cloverleaf]

Shout out to Trek, their lugged frames make great roadies, the later 90's TIG frames are super, super nice off road. There's not a huge difference between the different 900 series frames, they were mostly varying components so if you're gonna mod it anyway, you can save some money by buying a 930. As a bare frame it's a great "blank slate"

Agreed, I've got 19.5" TIG 950 that I bought for big epics with panniers but it rides wonderfully when not encumbered with luggage, especially with an 80-100mm fork on the front. It really is a very capable bike that has a nice ride that feels nimble on single track yet stable when rattling down fire roads and Land Rover tracks flat out. From memory the Mountaintracks (800 series) used similar chromoly tubing but fewer of the tubes were butted (maybe just down tube and seat tube?) while the Singletracks (900 series) had butted rear stays too. I think the 990 was perhaps the exception in the Singletrack series with additional/more aggressive butting which was sold as 'triple butted', but at the end of the day these frames are all pretty close to one another with little in it, either from an angle or geometry perspective, so if you can pick an 800 or 900 series frame or bike up for a reasonable price you'll not go far wrong.

 

[DrDaveTampa]

^The catalog says the 900 series frames are triple butted, the technical (dealer's) manual says they are double butted. Either way I wouldn't put em in the weight weenie category.

Which is fine. You only rarely find road bike steel on a mountain bike, with some exceptions (eg certain Italian frames, which are in a different category of exquisite). Keep meaning to get my hands on Ritchey Logic Prestige to see what it's like (MB0, Breezer Lightning, P23) Long as we are spending OP's money ... interesting article on that here ...

Regardless. Combing the thrift shops looking for some fine steel is one of the great joys of this hobby. Dorking out on tubesets while the chick is ringing you up, "Mm that's nice. That'll be $25 please." Get er home, "Look honey I just saved $1275!" If you've done a price check on a new Ritchey or Riv frame lately, you realize, that's the one true statement in "bicycle accounting" so don't be rolling your eyes at me, chica, not this time, no maam

 

[Cloverleaf]

^The catalog says the 900 series frames are triple butted, the technical (dealer's) manual says they are double butted. Either way I wouldn't put em in the weight weenie category.

Which is fine. You only rarely find road bike steel on a mountain bike, with some exceptions (eg certain Italian frames, which are in a different category of exquisite). Keep meaning to get my hands on Ritchey Logic Prestige to see what it's like (MB0, Breezer Lightning, P23) Long as we are spending OP's money ... interesting article on that here ...

Regardless. Combing the thrift shops looking for some fine steel is one of the great joys of this hobby. Dorking out on tubesets while the chick is ringing you up, "Mm that's nice. That'll be $25 please." Get er home, "Look honey I just saved $1275!" If you've done a price check on a new Ritchey or Riv frame lately, you realize, that's the one true statement in "bicycle accounting" so don't be rolling your eyes at me, chica, not this time, no maam

Definitely not! I think most of the appeal of these old bikes is the theme of the ride rather than the specifics, and the paint jobs of course which were mostly pretty stunning. At the end of the day a bunch of '94 frames will all be closer to each other than say a '96 or '98 frame from the same manufacture IMO, or even the same model, such was the pace of change in that era. I actually had a quick search for the '95 Trek brochure and found one that had both my 950 and 850 in it. I thought the 800 series were butted but apparently they were just straight Trek Chromoly. Then again, that didn't stop me doing 60 mile off road rides on it when I was ten. Reading through the brochures from nearly thirty years ago is comical with all the hyperbole and nonsense, but it does take me back to being a kid and being excited to read up on all the latest stuff. Your comment about differences between the dealer and consumer info doesn't surprise me in the least.

It was interesting that the differences between geo of the Mountain Track and Single Track series are minimal aside from butted/unbutted tubing; the ST is half a degree steeper on head angle, has a 1mm taller BB, and a 6mm shorter back end. Yes it'll feel slightly different, but not necessarily better, just different. And depending on what you like doing, the stability of the longer back end and 'slacker' head angle may be preferable anyway - as the OP's use is bridleways etc I would say that he just won't notice any of that beyond the first hundred yards even if you knew both of the bikes well. Of course from that era there was some stuff that was night and day different, like those you mentioned, but that's usually because tubing was super thin and sprightly, and the downside of that of course is compromised longevity which means that not only were they rarer in their day, they're even rarer today through increased attrition, meaning fewer frames on the market and people still lusting after them, all of which lead to them being worth more.