[jyl]

If you wanted to get a top-notch hardtail, lightweight mountain bicycle today, what would you do?

I'm not interested in the quasi-motorcycles that weigh 35+ pounds. More thinking about an old-school diamond frame - can be any material, but it should look like a bicycle, not a bridge truss. Concessions to the 21st century would be a suspension fork and, maybe, disc brakes. Has to be on the right side of 25 lbs and ideally closer to 20 lbs than 25.

Seems my choices are:

1. A current manufacturer. Please, any suggestions?

2. An older top-end bicycle. Something that I couldn't have afforded whenever it was new.

3. A semi-custom or custom-built frame, built up.

Thoughts on the pros and cons?

Basically, I'm just getting back into bicycling, feel kind of like Rip Van Winkle - went to sleep in 1994, wake up in 2006, and hmm things have changed. I still have my old mountain bike, and sticking with it is an option, but I want to see what the alternatives are.