Type X

Cortez

Automatic

DB10

It's been a few years since the legendary John Tomac lent his name and expertise to a range of bikes, but they've not exactly had the same impact as Tomac did during his racing days. The brand was dropped by owners ABG, but has been reborn thanks to industry veteran Joel Smith. And with experienced designers and engineers like Doug Bradbury, David Earle and Mark Landsaat on board alongside Tomac himself, things are looking promising.

Having bikes always helps, of course, and to that end Tomac has launched four brand new models - an impressive output for a relatively small company. The new bikes cover the XC end of the MTBing spectrum, with two hardtails and a new 100mm full-susser. And the fourth bike? We'll come to that...

The Type X is a new out-and-out lightweight XC race whippet frame, made from high modulus carbon fibre and CNC machined aluminium for the dropouts and disc brake mounts. The 2.4lb (1.1kg) frame is designed for 80/100mm forks, and with its short chainstays and longer front triangle should offer a fast and stable platform for blasting the trails.

While we don't have any prices on these new frames yet, make no mistake that the Type X will be in the upper realms of affordability. The aluminium Cortez should be more reasonably priced. It's based on the original Manitou hardtail that Tomac used to race aboard, and which I used to lust after in my local bike shop when I was first getting into MTBing. It's a custom butted AN-6 aluminium frame designed for 80/100mm forks, weighs 3.4lbs (1.54kg) and has CNCed yokes and dropouts.

Keeping with the XC theme, the Automatic is an aluminium version of the all-carbon Carbide XC. And as such, it uses the same linkage-driven single pivot design, and ekes 100mm out of the custom tuned Fox RP23 shock. Made from 6069 aluminium the Automatic bothers the scales to the tune of 5.8lbs (2.6kg).

As well as the riding legend that he clearly is, for many people the image of Tomac pinning it on a bike with drop bars will be most notable. To mark the ten year anniversary of the Tomac brand, a limited edition custom built straight gauge chromoly bike with drop bars has been built, the DB10. And by limited they mean just ten will be sold. They'll all be custom painted too by Spectrum Powder Works.

Each frame will be built by Chris Herting, who was part-owner and head of research and development at Yeti Cycles between 1985 and 1991, and built the C26 race bike that Tomac rode to victory at the 1991 World Championships in Italy. The bike was fitted with drop bars, and was influenced by Tomac's involvement with a road team at the time.

The new frame remains faithful to that original, as new Tomac owner Joel Smith says: "We really wanted it to be a modernised version of the old bike, so while we kept the basic geometry the same, we wanted to have improvements to make it rideable by today's standards. The DB10 has disc brake tabs, 73mm bb and standard head tube for a threadless headset. The fork was custom painted by Spectrum to resemble the original Answer/Manitou fork that he was riding at that time. The fork is actually an R7. The bike has original Johnny T signature Cinelli bars that we bought brand new out of someone's private stash in Germany. The only branding on the frame is the Johnny signature on the top tube."

More at www.tomac.com.