Unfortunatly my season is cut short due to injury. So I’ve decided to start mountain biking again to do something different. I’ve been enjoying it quite a bit and I think I’m going to do some Xterra races next year. I have a 2003 Gary Fisher Sugar 3. At this point, the only thing wrong with the bike is the bearings on the wheels are a little loose so I’m planning on replacing them. Beyond that, the bike has all 9 sped XT and LX components. A Fox Float R shock and Rock Shox Duke adjustable fork. No lock outs. What type of frame updates other than moving to carbon have been implemented since 2003? Weight wise the bike seems to be on par with the other aluminum frames out there. If I were to get a new bike, I’d probably get a hard tail. We have a lot of rocks and roots on the trails here in Michigan but I don’t think the XC trails around here really need full suspension. You can see some in this video I did with my GoPro. http://youtu.be/eU-mDmqjA-A
If you are going hardtail and are not pretty darn short, I'd go 29er. For going fast through the trail, F/S is still nice, and I think a step forward in suspension design is the DW link. Several manufacturers have an entry using this design now, and it does truly rock.
Recently did a race in the DC area on an old hardtail race bike, about the same year as yours, that I had sent up there to use as a path bike, and seriously missed the 29er wheels and plush 4" travel that I am used to now. Was also probably the only guy in the small field of 25 or so experts that was on a 26" bike. Got beat to death by the bike, and the competition..but it was the bike's fault, I'm sure of it. ;)