Originally Posted by
chaadster
I agree with you a vintage MTB is not a great starting point for the OP, ot only because of the geometry tending to be long and low,
It is true that vintage mountain bikes have a lower bottom bracket than the newer 27.5 bikes. But there is no planet where a 90's mountain bike is longer than a current 27.5.
While my Serotta T-Max is an oddity, the original wheelbase was sub 40". Even my '95 Trek 970 has a sub 42" wheelbase. I'm pretty sure that the ETT is shorter on both bikes than what is available today. I can measure them if you'd like?
You can say what you want about vintage mtb's, but long geometry is not is not one of them.
I'm not suggesting one for the OP.
John