Let the advice commence

Hi all - anyone got any solid advice on buying a retro mtb? I'm looking to buy something from my youth - probably mid-late nineties. I always had a thing for Klein bikes, but never really got there and now I'm a bit of a roadie rider (*gasp*).

Thing is, I thought I 'knew' what was good back then, but I'm older and wiser enough to know now that I was probably wrong. I'm also sensible enough to know that certain 20yr old bikes will have aged better than others. SO... what's good? Did Marin/Kona/Specialized/Giant/other brands age better than others?

I have some parameters:
1. I'm not looking to undertake a 'build' or re-build. Don't mind sourcing the odd NOS part, but where possible, want something that is already built/complete.
2. I want something to use, not just look at, so it should be reliable.
3. I have a modest £250 budget in mind (at present).
4. I want something that (with care) will hold it's value.

What can you folks recommend?

If you are after a reliable rider with status Ringo has a very nice orange P7 for sale which in my opinion is a bargain!

Re:

Most steel framed bikes have aged well. A few of the alloy/more specialised ones rather less so. There's quite a few Pace frame failures out there, for example. Kirk magnesium were, of course, notorious for it as were Manitou.

I might also be wary of some of the bonded frames - but if they haven't come unstuck, then they'll probably be OK.

Kona, Orange, Specialized, GT remain popular because they were good bikes back then, and still are. But Kona in particular has a bit of a price premium because of that.

If you are willing to go less popular, you'll get good value from the likes of Claud Butler, Giant, Saracen, Diamondback, Ridgeback, Sunn - and may even find a real bargain.

A 1 1/8 aheadset type headset/stem will give you more options if you need to tweak the length/rise.

The ideal in my opinion is to find something which was hardly ridden back in the day, and has spent most of the last 20 years in a nice dry shed.

Personally, I would be wary of something well ridden, alloy and featuring light weight boutique components. The 90s was a time of experimentation and many of this components were cutting edge, designed to be used by racers for a season and not expected to have a 20 year life span.

Component wise - anything better than 200GS is OK. Deore (in all of the variations) and STX probably the ideal. Personally, I would avoid Suntour or Campag equipped bikes - at least on your first retro ride - simply because there are fewer spares out there.

£250 should get you something pretty nice.

Sounds advice from Greencat. Orphaned bikes with unloved brands also include Trek and Univega which make stunning bargains secondhand. Univegas in particular seem to ride and handle very nicely.

I would avoid early full suspension as it was at an experimental stage and doesn't work particularly well. Early full sus forks are a bit of a minefield with many scarce on parts. A mid 90's fully rigid will be a joy still for cross country riding.

The Orange P7 in the classifieds at £175 is a crazy good deal IMO. Since joining here, I'm genuinely shocked at how cheap the bikes of my youthful dreams are nowadays. I'm sure they were nearly a grand back in the day.

Clockwork's always a popular bike that can be found on here or ebay for £150-£250

hit the classifieds, plenty there in your range.
I would say if you are after one bike a steel rigid or hardtail is likely to give you the best bet of a reliable starting point. Plenty to chose from, personally I had a thing for Orange and Kona so that's where I would start.

Just bought a 1996 P7, I absolutely love it! It rides like a scalded cat.

Thanks for all your responses! I'd never really considered an Orange - not sure why though! It seems those who owned Orange bikes took great care of them - there are certainly plenty of original examples about.

I'm definitely more keen on a hardtail, although I briefly lusted after the STS DH I saw on eBay - soon recalled that "more moving parts = more wear".

If I go fully rigid, I think Kona might be the way to go - it seems P2 forks are reliable as ever.

I presume that Rockshox/Bombers are the way to go for sus-forks, if only because spares seem ten-a-penny.

From memory, 1 1/8th was an industry standard by 1996, or certainly across most brands. Should make fork/stem options easier.

One more thing... what does Greencat mean by 'bonded' frames? - it's a term I'm not familiar with (although that may just be a difference in terminology).

Bonded frames were glued together - typically aluminum and carbon or aluminum and cromolly. It became common during the cutbacks to the US defense industry in the 90's resulted in many aerospace engineers entering into bike design and manufacture. I think some of the old Alan and Vitus road frames were glued and screwed as well so the technology probably pre-dates the mountain bike glory days.

I'd also recommend you consider Rocky Mountains from the 90's and Marin's as well.

lots to pick from but if it were me I would filter as follows

Right size, steel, fully rigid, xt or DX, about 1989 to 1992

Then as good as condition as poss, paint as clean as etc

Stumpy, gt Avalanche, Marin pine mountain, explosive/cindercone,

There are plenty of others too, some small uk brands as mentioned, orange and Saracen too comes to mind.

If you buy one off here that's been taken apart and put back together well you will also be quids in, as every chance new chain/cables/tyres/blocks/cassette have been permed in, which makes a big diff

Plus you can avoid any stuck seat posts, stems, etc which goes with the territory on eBay.

Buy the right size too!