This just in from Joel Smith from Tomac Bikes on the new Tomac DB10.
-The working name of the bike has been the DB10 (drop bar 10 years, 10 total to be built)
-This is the ten year anniversary of the Tomac brand, and this limited edition bike to commemorate the occasion.
-Johnny raced in drops back in 1990 and 1991. He was racing pro on the road as well as in the dirt and was very comfortable racing with drops.
-Custom build with straight gauge chromoly tubes by Chris Herting and custom painted by Spectrum Powder Works
The Background Story by Joel Smith
Johnny raced his drop bar bike back in 1990, at the time when I was racing Expert-level cross country and I saw him race the bike at Mammoth. He was absolutely flooring it, screaming by people on the descents, and I was highly impressionable when it was my cycling hero. The day I got home, I pulled an old set of bend drop bars out of a trash can at the local bike shop, took the shifters and road levers off a bike that someone had abandoned in our college house basement, and converted my mountain bike. Since that day, I’ve always wanted to make another one, but do it the right way.
I knew that Zap had the original drop bar bike that Johnny raced. It was given to him by John Parker back in the day and it is Zap’s prized procession. Anyway, I talked to Zap and he shipped it to Chris and Chris took all of the measurements off of it. We really wanted it to be a modernized 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 DP10 has disc brake tabs, 73mm bb and standard head tube for a threadless headset. The fork was actually custom painted by Spectrum to resemble the original Answer/Manitou fork that he was riding at that time. The fork is actually a 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. Tomac’s Clarke Dolton managed the project throughout the process.
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Chris Herting
If you haven’t heard of Chris Herting, it’s not for lack of accomplishments. As part owner and head of R&D at Yeti Cycles from 1985 to 1991, Herting was a central figure in the racing career of John Tomac and many of America’s top racers. Besides building the C26 race bike that brought Johnny gold at the Italy World Championships in 1991, he also built custom race bikes for Paolo Pezzo, Travis Brown, Dave Cullinan, Ruthie Mathis and Todd Wells. As the owner of 3D Racing in Durango, Colorado, Herting continues the craft he started at 12 years old: make custom handmade frames for discerning racers.
Spectrum Powder Works
Located in Colorado Springs, Colorado, Spectrum Powder Works is known, for producing some of the highest end custom paint finishes known to man. One of the pioneers in creating liquid-like paint finishes from powders, the DB10 paint scheme is a take off of the Tomac eagle wings. The Manitou fork is custom painted to resemble the early Manitou’s that Doug Bradbury built and Johnny raced.
Here's a picture of the bike that inspired it all, the iconic and beyond rare Yeti C26
-The working name of the bike has been the DB10 (drop bar 10 years, 10 total to be built)
-This is the ten year anniversary of the Tomac brand, and this limited edition bike to commemorate the occasion.
-Johnny raced in drops back in 1990 and 1991. He was racing pro on the road as well as in the dirt and was very comfortable racing with drops.
-Custom build with straight gauge chromoly tubes by Chris Herting and custom painted by Spectrum Powder Works
The Background Story by Joel Smith
Johnny raced his drop bar bike back in 1990, at the time when I was racing Expert-level cross country and I saw him race the bike at Mammoth. He was absolutely flooring it, screaming by people on the descents, and I was highly impressionable when it was my cycling hero. The day I got home, I pulled an old set of bend drop bars out of a trash can at the local bike shop, took the shifters and road levers off a bike that someone had abandoned in our college house basement, and converted my mountain bike. Since that day, I’ve always wanted to make another one, but do it the right way.
I knew that Zap had the original drop bar bike that Johnny raced. It was given to him by John Parker back in the day and it is Zap’s prized procession. Anyway, I talked to Zap and he shipped it to Chris and Chris took all of the measurements off of it. We really wanted it to be a modernized 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 DP10 has disc brake tabs, 73mm bb and standard head tube for a threadless headset. The fork was actually custom painted by Spectrum to resemble the original Answer/Manitou fork that he was riding at that time. The fork is actually a 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. Tomac’s Clarke Dolton managed the project throughout the process.
Click for rest of article
Chris Herting
If you haven’t heard of Chris Herting, it’s not for lack of accomplishments. As part owner and head of R&D at Yeti Cycles from 1985 to 1991, Herting was a central figure in the racing career of John Tomac and many of America’s top racers. Besides building the C26 race bike that brought Johnny gold at the Italy World Championships in 1991, he also built custom race bikes for Paolo Pezzo, Travis Brown, Dave Cullinan, Ruthie Mathis and Todd Wells. As the owner of 3D Racing in Durango, Colorado, Herting continues the craft he started at 12 years old: make custom handmade frames for discerning racers.
Spectrum Powder Works
Located in Colorado Springs, Colorado, Spectrum Powder Works is known, for producing some of the highest end custom paint finishes known to man. One of the pioneers in creating liquid-like paint finishes from powders, the DB10 paint scheme is a take off of the Tomac eagle wings. The Manitou fork is custom painted to resemble the early Manitou’s that Doug Bradbury built and Johnny raced.
Here's a picture of the bike that inspired it all, the iconic and beyond rare Yeti C26
