Spending, say, a grand, on a bike to ride, in order to have less bikes.

[albash82]

Get yourself a modern geometry xc hardtail 29er and build it light with fast tyres.
My mate has a highball carbon. He commutes hundreds of miles a week on it across the dales and says it's as fast as any gravel bike on the road but more it's far more versatile and just so much better off road.... Surprising that. Eh. Since it's a mountain bike.
You could tour / bikepack with some bags from restrap. Build it rigid if it takes your fancy.

Saying that, I'm building up an old Explosif with 650b wheels and 47c road tyres to "commute" on. Flat bar. See how that goes, but a highball would probably be better I reckon.

 

[Peachy!]

When I thought it was time to get something modern, I found I just couldn’t bring myself to buy something off the shelf so I bought a 2nd hand Pace RC529 frame off of eBay, only 9 months old when I did, I’ve been slowly chipping away at it when I can afford the stuff I want or when I found something cheap because it needed some TLC. Nearly there…

https://www.retrobike.co.uk/threads/peachy-pace-rc529….431237/

 

[Captain Stupido]

View attachment 581139

That is so nice. A custom built frame has to be the ultimate... This guy locally does some nice stuff.

http://www.askebikes.co.uk/bike-frame-gallery/
On paper the Bootzipper below looks like a cheaper, less pretty version of THM's lovely Coastroad. I've been tempted (especially as it's currently on offer) but decided it was a bit heavy. I'd be interested to know what your Coastroad frame/forks weigh by comparison.

https://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/CBOOBZ29SX/on-one-bootzipper-29er-sram-sx-mountain-bike

May I also make an observation, all of the builds you have pictured seem to be very much arse up head down builds. Maybe a slightly bigger frame with a shorter post and higher front end might help...

There's some truth in this - for a trail focussed bike 19" is my go-to size but I've enjoyed quite a few larger MTBs as do-it all bikes. In fact in between selling the Orange and coming back to the Giant I was riding what is now @widowmaker 's 21" Rockhopper. It worked well fit wise (but needed a short stem) and was certainly comfy, but the issue for me is less related to comfort and more to performance. What I want is something faster on the road, without compromising capability on the trails.

 

[ishaw]

I've been in the same boat. I was actually looking at the bike you've linked to earlier today as it came up in an email and looks decent for the £, though not sure about the groupset.

I bought an on one ti 29er frame and kitted out out with as much good stuff as I could afford, wanting a high end go to bike. I had initially intended it as a replacement for my first 29er, as I liked it, but frame was too small. I was looking to downsize, and was going to move all the bits over from it (Sid's, x0 etc) but 3ndee up it using the bars and cranks.

I ended up with xtr 1x10 gears, FSA carbon ranks, magura mt6 brakes, dropper, 5hompsom stem, Easton carbon bars, revs up front and some nice fulcrum wheels. I'd never have got that spec off the shelf for £1k, but probably spent around that to get the build.

With bike parts going for lots of money, it may not be easy, but if you shop around for parts (sales if you aren't too bothered about having the current years stuff, which lets face it, is more of a marketing ploy than genuine progress), then I reckon you'll end up with the bike you want for your budget.

I didn't get round to downsizing the collection yet, I do need to but when I do, I've got a few keepers that I'd never be able to buy for the money I spent on them.

 

[brocklanders023]

I recently cashed in a few retro goodies so I could buy a rigid On One Whippet while discounted to £800.

I love looking at my retro bikes but the last few rider builds have confirmed I prefer modern bikes with bigger wheels.

My current modern stable is a steel gravel bike, carbon xc and aluminium full suss. I hope to be able to work out what I prefer from those three!

As for retro, I still collect but looks comes first, performance second.

 

[Captain Stupido]

I recently cashed in a few retro goodies so I could buy a rigid On One Whippet while discounted to £800.

I love looking at my retro bikes but the last few rider builds have confirmed I prefer modern bikes with bigger wheels.

My current modern stable is a steel gravel bike, carbon xc and aluminium full suss. I hope to be able to work out what I prefer from those three!

As for retro, I still collect but looks comes first, performance second.

Be interested to hear how you get on with the Whippet. Presume at that price it's sram sx and rigid forks?

https://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/CBOOWHSX/on-one-whippet-sram-sx-mountain-bike

 

[legrandefromage]

I just couldnt bring myself to look at that teeny tiny front chainring, it would have to be at least 44t or a double but many new frames dont allow for anything much bigger than supplied from new.

And theres the cassettes, 12 speed, the expense of replacing bashed up kit etc *suspension forks! - waay out of my current budget!

Then theres the sheer size of the things, far bigger than older stuff and space in the back of vehicles becomes a factor

I'm still enjoying eating cake er, sorry, riding older stuff, all my riders run external BBs and so on, theres only 3 proper old bikes left anyway and two are still real fun up in the peaks (j j jjj jjjusss ttttt dont mention the Z zzz z z z z zaskar)

I do seem to have an alarming amount of road stuff though

Hmmmmmm

 

[legrandefromage]

Then theres just the sheer incompatibility with everything, theres no more 'I'll just' - it doesnt work anymore!

New big volume tyres seem to make 26 ride so much better (some can almost bring the rotating diameter up to 700c road!) so I'll stay there for now

 

[brocklanders023]

Know what you mean about incompatibility mate as I had considered swapping the groupsets on the Whippet and full suss but reckon it's a no go and certainly not straight forward! Saying that, I don't ride as much as I should so rarely wear anything out across the fleet which keeps replacement costs low! I love retro but as I've always had a reasonably modern bike over the years I'm far more tuned in to how the newer stuff rides.

 

[clubby]

Depending on how off road you want to take it, I think the answer could be (whispering) a gravel bike. New designs are very comfy and will fine with rack mounts etc. The on one mtbs you’ve listed will be lovely off road but crap on it.

@legrandefromage is correct, with modern mtb’s, designed for actual mountains, the drive range isn’t good enough for covering road miles. My cover miles 29er has a 34t but even on long steady downhills I’ll spin out. It’s perfect for trail riding though. Big modern tyres can revitalise a retro off road but rubbish on road.

My mate has a Cotic Escapade which I think would fit a lot of your needs, especially if you could stretch to two sets of wheels. Road set with 28c and a off road set with 650b with 48s or 50c (pretty much 2 inch). Comes with drop bars, but nu skool wide flares. Much more useful off road than traditional drops.

Unfortunately I don’t think a grand would be enough for brand new, but think Cotic do rolling chassis options so could save on parts you already have. As mentioned, compatibility can be an issue but tbh, it always was. My first three mtbs had different headset sizes and two different axle spacings and all needed different width bb axles. Buying complete if you can, avoids any issues.

Final thing is don’t get rid of all the retro. I’m down to just one but still love having it in the fleet as it’s so different. As others have found, you need to sell first before you buy otherwise you’ll “never get round to” thinning the fleet.