Raleigh USA John Tomac Ti Titanium + Tioga blue

[fguki]

The wheel keeps spinning! Today, I scored this beautiful Raleigh USA Ti Titanium "John Tomac" model for - lets say: half the price I usually see (well known branded) titanium mountain bikes ever start from! At first, I was quite unsure about it - especially because I found my absolute dream Merlin only 2 weeks ago. I didnt know whether I would really like it or not. But I have to admit: the more I look at it, the more I like it quite a bit.

This was more of a: "I dont know anything about this model, really. But I THINK I should have to have it in my collection. Could be worth something and could eventually be growing pricewise". Maybe you guys can provide me with more info about this particular model. Its a full XTR M900, Mag 21 forks that work perfectly and its been barely ridden! Very very low mileage.

The seller (2nd owner) told me he got it directly from the sales director of Raleigh and Wheeler (I think it was) Germany / Europe. He claimed, this was / is the very first one of its kind that was owned by anyone in Europe. What the hell do I know!!!???

Im trying to gather information on this one.

Enjoy!

 

[fguki]

Found this assessment at bikepedia. What do you guys say? Legit pricing or full of shit?

 

[Once A Hero]

I love the look of these, and have come close to going for a couple - but just can't justify the outlay. Probably not a huge amount of them in Europe, all sales posts I have seen have been in the US.

Looks like you've not got anything to do to it?

 

[fguki]

Thank You! ...no, I wont do anything to it. It can and should stay 100% original.

 

[Geergirl]

Would you be willing to share some pics of what your dropouts look like? I won a similar looking bike at a bike charity auction that rebuilds bikes - they claimed it was a 91-92 era Litespeed titanium MTB but I've since confirmed it isn't. Now trying to figure out what it IS!
My bike lacks any sort of decaling so I'm at a loss to identify it, especially since I have no idea what parts other than the frame are original vs replaced. Appears to have a clear coat over the Ti.
BUT it looks quite similar to the Raleigh you shared, AND Raleigh is one of the bike companies I'm fairly certain existed/were sold in my tiny city in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada back in the 90s.
My serial # is stamped on the BB and starts with D#####.

 

[fguki]

Here you go

 

[Geergirl]

Thanks! Based on the pics, it looks like I likely have a similar Raleigh bike!
See the comparison pics below - where the seatstay meets the dropsouts looks very similar (eg no fancy cutout work), as does the odd-styled cable-guide! Yours is in MUCH better condition though. Mine does have a boss on the seat stay for the brakes which is different? Perhaps same manufacturer, but different model years?





I'm still fairly new to cycling - anything cool or useful you've learned about this bike I should know about?
Cheers!
Roberta

 

[fguki]

To be honest: I dont know. The frame is russian titanium

 

[Geergirl]

Haha, Fair enough! I paid $60 in raffle tickets for my bike, so I really can't complain!

 

[kingoffootball]

To be honest: I dont know. The frame is russian titanium

I'm not sure aboput the details for Raleigh USA, but that negative tag is firstly probably not as negative as it sounds and secondly has been stated as inaccurate for Raleigh UK:

Raleigh RSP titanium frames

Hi I'm told there may be some Raleigh Special Products experts on this forum!! I have an RSP titanium frame (actually two but that's another story...). I love these frames - here's a pic: I'm trying to piece together some history of these frames because I've heard several stories...

www.retrobike.co.uk