Need advice on bike
 

I need some advice on if I should upgrade my bike or buy a newone. I know this has probably been covered in depth but let me tell you my situation. I used to ride every day and did several races in the mid 90's. my bike is a gary fisher paragon. I have not ridden in about 4 or 5 years. I am starting to ride again and would like to do a few races. I love the bike and was going to just put anew fork on but then I realized that i need a 1 1/4" fork, then I need new brakes, etc... After looking over the bike and taking it out for a few shakedown rides here is the good: XT rear derailer, lx brakes, grip shift shifters, lx crank. the bad: I need new tires, front wheel hub is shot, front fork is terrible (rock shox quadra 21), brakes are calipers, I need all new rear and front chain rings, probably new cables, and new pedals. This bike has seena lot of action in the past. I do really like the frame though. Do I need a new frame? Has frame geometry changed much in the last 10 years? Should I buy a frameset and build a bike? What is a decent bike for about $1500 ( hardtail) for trail riding and racing?

thanks,
joe

You remind me of "The Hunt for Red Oktober" the way you lurk around on Invisible Mode, dispensing torpedoes of truth on the unsuspecting...

For XC racing?... Common yes, but not the standard. The standard is still 80 mm. Just like hardtail frames are still the standard albiet full suspension is common on race day.

I just wanted to differentiate between choices of 4" and 3", hardtail and full suspension. If Mooch wants a dedicated race bike then he'll probably go 3" and hartail. If he wants a play bike to race on then the conventional wisdom (in my neck of the woods) says 4" and full suspension.

Huh? I don't think Mooch was unsuspecting of a response.

Mooch did that response scare you the way it scared Krispistoferson?

Well, at least they programmed you to use contractions.