I'd probably cruise craigslist for a compatible bike. When you have a second nearly identical bike you should always have one ready to ride. It allows you to take a week or two to make repairs on one while still rolling the other. You can have one with slicks and one with semis or knobblies on also.

I got my 1999 Trek outta the trash too. I'm not overly afraid of frame failure, even though the seattube's been compromised a bit from clamping around a too-small seatpost. Besides that, all she needed was hub repacks, decent pedals, rear brake and a front shifter.

So what's your current ride?