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If you want to race, buy a modern 29 'er. I have a Ritchey P Team (26") with modern 2x11 xt and although it's a superb bike, it's frustrating when everyone leaves you behind (even the ones that have less skills and that can't follow e.g.on a road bike). But if you don't race, a decent vintage bike is as much fun as a modern one. When used in dry conditions, even XTR M900 canti's have plenty of braking power. When it gets muddy, Magura rim brakes or disc brakes are less frustrating though.
WimVDD-
Thanks for the replies @voxelwise, @TvH and @WimVDD it's been helpful.
I don't want to race (nor do I possess the fitness currently) but I want to get back out into the woods. The last bike I rode was a late 2000's Norco Sasquatch that had a more modern RockShox Sektor fork and although old it worked pretty well. Regrettably, I sold that frame and swapped the parts onto a mid-2000s Orange Hitman which I haven't ridden off road yet but can already tell was a mistake. I'm trying to decide whether to transfer these parts onto another, more suitable frame, sell the whole thing and buy something retro or to bite the bullet, drop proper cash on a modern bike.
ricky2slicky
This maybe an odd question but does anyone on here use their retro MTB in it's intended use? I'm wondering how well something from the 90's holds up now and whether its viable to use a retro mountain bike instead of buying something more modern.