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

[MartinYorkshire]

Hi all,

Been wrestling with this for a long while.

Our retro stable is a little depleted and I have designs on a couple of older high end frames which I blow hot and cold about.

I just wonderered, if money was no object, what would you choose for a long term daily use retro off-road bike? Groupset - I'll just assume XT or XTR for the most part, as its so durable, so it comes down to frame and forks I suppose. Maybe certain accessories could be included, like a Flite Ti which I always thought were durable.

Being a daily ride bike over rough terrain, lets say 100 miles a week, I think it would pretty much exclude anything too boutique, would it not?

So what is left over from what we might consider out "dream" bikes, like wall hanger Kleins, crack prone titanium frames and so on. I'm guessing steel, but does that necessarily mean someone would long term a Fat Chance Yo Eddy and add plenty of mileage?

I've not seen this discussed before and I'm curious what the concensus might be.

Cheers.

 

[longun]

Pace rc200 f3 with xtr, mxd forks. Just perfect and reliable

 

[MartinYorkshire]

Pace rc200 f3 with xtr, mxd forks. Just perfect and reliable

Ohh, as a Yorkshireman I appreciate Pace very much. However, did they not have somewhat of a reputation for cracking, or was that the RC100?

Nevertheless, it was a much drooled over brand back when I was a teen.

 

[doctor-bond]

For actual, regular, sustained off road use, good steel, as light as possible, strong as necessary & won‘t make you cry when (not if) you dent it.

So that leads us to underrated “mid range”: loads of way-capable frames from the likes of KHS, Trek, Kona, Specialized, Alpinestars, Peugeot, Schwin, Univega, etc.

I prefer True Temper stuff and am digging e-stay so will vote for the AlpineStars Cro Mega that I’ll be ragging round Dalby tomorrow.

 

[ishaw]

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.

 

[al]

Santa Cruz Superlight....not built until 98, but as a reliable 'do it all' strong lightweight tool, they are hard to beat.

al.

 

[rwm1962]

Orange P7 - the hammerhead. I did ride one 100 plus miles a week as an offroad commuter. I usually rode a 2001 or 2002, the 02 being disc but the only difference outside of brake mounts was the headtube - 1" up to '97. Boutique? Nah! Would be my choice regardless of funds.

 

[sinnerman]

Bontrager.

You could build an every day retro ride, that will fit like a hand in glove, with top spec, that's light and pretty indestructible these days for £500 with a little time and effort.

 

[tintin40]

A Trimble with 26'' wheels

 

[madjh]

A Marin team Issue, team Marin or a Merlin or Clark Kent Titanium frame, XT XTR, V brakes, mavic 220 or 217 with White Industries hubs, and a fork ... I don’t know what fork, perhaps a Judy SL