I'm old, and I don't understand anything anymore

Greetings and hallucinations.

Many years ago, I wasted all my hours here.  Way back, before there was an NBR even.  I went by Squamch.  

Now, I'm old, and fat (kinda), and had to get a bike to keep up with my 3 year old...and by God this pedaling thing is fun!  So I adopted a bike from a buddy.  A giant AC1 with a bunch of dope parts!  A super T, XT derailleurs, ISIS drive race face cranks, a blackspire bashguard, and Hayes 8" hydraulics front and rear!

So it turns out that the bike is pushing 20 years old, and I'd like brakes that work, and this fancy schmancy chopper geometry is a major throwback to my old snipes hardtail...long story short, I'd like to buy a new frame and fork, and swap parts over.  But wtf, single front ring and 12 gears on the cassette?!  No one seems to be running an aheadset or an FSA pig anymore.

Dropper posts, holy shit brilliant.  Way better idea than an elastomer suspension seat post.

So...my question(s) are...is anything on this bike going to be compatible with a modern frame and fork?  Am I stupid for trying to piece together some conglomeration of antique and modern parts?  Should I just sell a kid and buy a spanking new bike that costs as much as the first 3 trucks I bought?  Where is the line between antique and something I can still buy parts for (whenever stores get stuff back in stock)?  I don't want to get stuck with some obsolete jalopy like I already have.

Cheers!

And stay off my goddamn lawn.

Yeah, welcome back, you're going to need to set aside $5,000 and pray to God that someone has something in stock that fits you and fits your budget. The only parts to be compatible are likely to be the saddle and grips. Nobody makes a new 26" wheeled bike anymore and even 27.5" (the interim middle-child) is taking the way side to 29" wheels.

The combination of everyone clobbering to join the mountain biker ranks and supply chain disruptions, both due to COVID, means that everything is either unavailable or snatched up as soon as it's received by a store.

Devinci is making some nice budget friendly bikes, so is Rocky Mountain at the lower end. Entry level versions of the top-end models have come a long way, but they've also edged higher in price. Stick with alloy and you'll save some money, the same goes for budget friendly suspension.

Thanks for the info.   If I'm looking at the used market...there ses to be a decent number of bikes available.  At what point am I going to be looking at an obsolete bike? 2012? 2015?  2018?  I'm seeing bikes in the sub $3000 price range, they seem to be 2017 and older...again, I don't want to buy something I can't get parts for.

Hmm, so boost rear hub spacing was...2016? Boost fork 2017? Then again buying the older standards might keep the prices way down...

As might 27.5 at this point.

Man, I loved my 2016 Giant Reign. I "upgraded" to a higher end front fork and wheel to non-boost for dirt cheap.

Maybe find the oldest bike with modern reach numbers? The long low slack thing is really nice

I'd say geometry is the main positive change over the last few years. I'd much rather ride something like the Norco hardtail linked below over some 'Gucci' Santa Cruz from 2012 that someone will probably think is still worth $3000. You can really embrace the 'elbows out / weight low' riding position on the steep trails around here on a newer bike Vs hanging off the back of the bike like you are allergic to the front wheel. All you really need is a decent front tire and front brake and you are good to go! 

https://www.norco.com/bikes/2021/mountain/all-mountain/torrent/torrent-s2-ht/

They are doing the Budget Field Trip Test on the other site at the moment which might be helpful.

To be honest most 150mm Enduro/All Mountain bikes are quite well sorted these days.

https://www.pinkbike.com/news/tags/field-trip/

Welcome back! Both the NSMB and the sport. 

As an aficionado of working on old bikes I would suggest you’ll likely not be able to use too much off that bike with a new frame. That which you could use you will still likely drop lots on ancillary items (bb, grips, cables, legacy brake pads and hoses) that you’ll blow the budget quick. 

Challenging time to get back into riding with the supply chain issues. If you can find something in your budget from the last 3-4 years you’ll be blown away. I just moved from a 26” 2014 SC Blur to a 29” Megatower and the geometry is the biggest game changer. Better in every way from climbing to down to goofing off. 

That Torrent would be high on my list. Solid spec and frame at that price. The alloy version too would be great. 

You could also take the bike you have and get some new inexpensive brakes and dropper post. Could do that for about $500 all in with a PNW post and some Deore brakes. Both will be miles better than what you currently have.

Agree with the folks on geometry. The thing is that the pace of change on geo is so fast right now that when I jumped to a bike 3yrs newer it felt like cheating.

Welcome back Squamch!

A new(ish) bike would be awesome but if you want really good advice a sense of budget will help. I wouldn't necessarily shy away from a used bike that doesn't have all the modern stuff - geo or otherwise. A dropper post can be added for $350. Slacker front end can be had with an angleset headset for $200 installed. The question is whether that $500-600 bucks would be better spent on something newer. It's a toss up, and depends on what you're looking at. That's where having a solid idea of budget will help a lot.

All the parts on your current rig are clapped out and non-compatible with current frames. 

Pretty much everyone is making good bikes these days.

Buying used; Covid Tax is heavily in play right now.  Seeing some 1-2 yr old bikes listed for close to or the same as new. 

I wouldn't go Hardtail unless your budget is only allowing for a Hardtail. I'd also attempt to avoid the Carbon (Frame) Tax as much as possible.  Seems to be almost impossible in this industry now. 

The AM/Aggro Trail/Mini-Enduro/DH-Lite/Whatever Branding this is called now/I guess its just Mtn Biking in PNW bikes are at the point where almost all brands are putting out good bikes.  Brands that were a joke a decade ago are actually making really good and progressive bikes these days.

Finding a new bike is a bear right now. If you can find one though, go for aluminum with Shimano Deore or SLX groupset, and a decent fork.

https://www.giant-bicycles.com/ca/trance-x-29-2

https://www.norco.com/bikes/2021/mountain/all-mountain/sight/sight-a3/

https://www.ibiscycles.com/bikes/ripmo-af

The 29er thing is a whole other can of worms. There's upsides and downsides, but it's where the industry is going.

https://nsmb.com/forum/forum/the-shore-3/topic/275-vs-29-for-the-shore-131911/?post=2451847#post-2451847

Used is the way to go for value, same as it ever was. If buying used screw the new standards, just get the most modern geo available. Head angle you'll recognize, seat angles have gotten weird and you'll want it to be steep. Reach has gotten weird too and it's now enormous. If a large has like a 450mm reach for example, it's outdated. 460mm-480mm is a modern large.

holy oldschooler.  I haven’t looked at nsmb for years, for some reason I had the urge to browse the gear forum this morning and saw your thread.  I think I first opened my account in ‘99 or early ‘00.  That was a long time ago.  Sent you a PM, I’ve got a bike for sale (2016 devinci troy) which probably meets your needs, bought new in 2016 and my interest for mountain bikes dwindled not long after so it hasn’t seen much use since then

I wouldn't be afraid of going back to 2017 or even 2016 if you can find something that was progressive at the time. You can have a lot of fun with a 65-66 degree hta and 73-74 degree sta. If I had my choice between 5500 for something in the past year or two or 2-3k for something 3-5 years ago, it would be a hard decision. I'm not sure the 2 degree steeper sta and one degree slacker hta is worth 2k.

I got a med transition 125 squish frame in teh buy and sell