Out of everything, what retro would you choose for a long term DAILY off road bike?

[Tootyred]

Any marin frame and forks from 89 to 92. Pretty much indestructible and cheap. Good position for prolonged travel.

 

[slackboy]

You'd struggle to go wrong with a steel stumpy or rockhopper. While I am a fan of bontrager the 1" head tube makes it difficult to get hold of parts.

Maybe a late '99 privateer is the perfect compromise?

 

[WimVDD]

I really like my 1993 Scott Pro Racing with XTR 900 groupset. Chain, chainrings, cassette and brake shoes are modernish stuff as I don't want to ruin the original "wearable" xtr components.

 

[Woz]

Money no object, as you state, everything would be Ti if it could !

 

[MartinYorkshire]

Money no object, as you state, everything would be Ti if it could !

I had to state money no object, otherwise it would come down to price rather than rideability/durability in daily use.

What I should have stipulated, is that whatever you choose, you can't simply replace easily if it breaks as some retro ti is known to do.

 

[MartinYorkshire]

I really like my 1993 Scott Pro Racing with XTR 900 groupset. Chain, chainrings, cassette and brake shoes are modernish stuff as I don't want to ruin the original "wearable" xtr components.

Scott are one of those brands that I've never seen as "glam" or particularly fashionable, but they have always been there in the background of the high quality bike scene, plugging away. Who makes them these days, is it another Merida or Giant type sub brand, or still independent?

 

[Raging_Bulls]

Who makes them these days, is it another Merida or Giant type sub brand, or still independent?

From the wiki page on Scott Sports :

In 2015, Scott was Acquired by a Korean company, Youngone Corporation and became its subsidiary

Apparently Youngone does athletic apparel, footwear and "gear" (backpacks etc). So they specialize in outdoor sports stuff really.
They don't seem to have any other bicycle brands.

 

[pw_pw_la]

Hopefully this bike I'm building (which just happens got be an S-Works from 94)!

I'd say my most durable retro steed is my dbr axis tt. Yes it is ti, but possibly one of the best retro ti frames of its time, made by sandvik. Not seen any that have cracked or broken, unlike some retro ti.

I've built and rebuilt it many times, my last/current build saw it shed the uber reliable xtr m952 groupset in preference for m970 xtr, just because I had a new groupset I had mounted to an sts, but never actually used it.

I also went with rigid pace rc31 ti forks to keep it simple up front.

Retro ti post, bars, stem and bar ends were replaced with Thomson just because it is strong, light and reliable quality.

It rides really well, frame is light, balanced and strong. Gearing is in my view st least the pinnacle of xtr (and I don't say that lightly as m952 is my favourite retro ish gear). The rest just works and looks good.

Other parts that top it off are purple pauls v brakes, ti odyssey brake booster to stiffen up the rear, spinergy xyclone rim brake wheels and a flite tt csrbon/ti saddle.

All adds up to a nice lightweight, reliable and of course pretty bling retro mod.

The only thing I would change is the frame has a canti cable mount not in use. I did remove this on another tt frame I had, but not doing that to this one.

I'd quite like to see this... It sounds fun! Any pics?

 

[rogerzilla]

1991 Kona Explosif. The geometry and styling are just right.

 

[MartinYorkshire]

1991 Kona Explosif. The geometry and styling are just right.

A solid choice. Old Kona's were bombproof.