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.