1993 John Tomac in the Grundig Mountain Bike World Downhill Championships - John Tomac

[@michael2704]

Finally a downhill-course I could ride without killing myself 😂

[@graybollocks]

Assuming you don’t have to ride it on JT’s original bike…

[@jonnynash364]

It’s literally a 2” travel hard tail

[@l21n18]

@@graybollocksjust go really slow

[@l21n18]

Late 90’s one’s even don’t seem impossible, the ones today are just nuts

[@keepon239]

It's insane how much better the camera coverage is here compared to what we have today.

[@jarekw4262]

I mean... it's basically flat terrain, put a camera on a high stand and from one place you can cover almost quarter of the run. Now put a camera next to the rockgarden section on downhill track and... woooosh that's all for this spot. But still this video is really nice to watch.

[@QuixoteCoyote]

Today's XC courses make this look chill. Amazing what modern bikes eat up. Now you have people going to gravel bikes to get a thrill out of simple trails like this again.

[@maxdeutsch4077]

i mean that bike is basically a gravel rig of modern times

[@DjNikGnashers]

Enjoyed watching this, it brought back memories. I got my first MTB in 1988 (a Giant). Todays XC is much more extreme than this 'downhill' it's incredible how things have changed.

[@br5380]

I was thinking the same, if not at the level of 'trail' that gravel bikes can handle.

[@OregonCrow]

ok bye

[@JubeProductions]

I had been riding MTB for about 3 years by this time and Tomac was like a hero. We went to Hunter Mtn in NY 2 weeks after the World Cup and it was the first time I rode lift serviced trails. I was hooked from that moment on. It took another 6 years before I bought my first DH specific bike, a 1999 Kona Stab Dee-Lux. That time was basically the birth of DH riding. John Tomac was the Godfather on Mountain bikes back then. He would race XC on Saturday, then change tires and race the same bike DH on Sunday.

[@jonbeale4890]

Wow!!! Amazing how the bikes and tracks have changed over time 👍 👍 👍

[@montecharly122]

... looks today like a CROSS COUNTRY race.. 😅

[@BG-il2ym]

​@montecharly122 it's more like cyclo-cross, XC courses these days have rocks and roots.

[@ryanford5387]

Lots of flat turns

[@stirfrybry1]

Wow, I reading about Tomac in Mountain Bike Action in 93 and by 96 I had won two races at Plattekill. A perfect role model for the rider. Emulate the skill and the drive and you're on you're way

[@Gazzaloddi-ml9ej]

30 years ago, man time flies. I got into bikes in 91

[@pederfallbom]

Wow that brings back memories! I raced in the juniors class at that race. Broke my chain coming out of a gnarly section. Coasted down goofing out for the crowd which was massive! Tomac was my hero back then even as a kid coming from Sweden 🇸🇪

[@icyroadwarrior]

he could win cross country, downhill and road bike (1988 USA Nat criterium Champ)

[@pederfallbom]

@@icyroadwarrior Yes he could. I was in the US in 1996 and did the Redlands bycicle classic stage race (big roadrace) and Tomac was in it. At a stage called Oak Glenn Tomac and I had been cut off from the lead since we didnt have the legs so we had a chat on our way to the finish at the top of that mountain 🙂👍 He is a great guy.

[@dinozoiks]

Showing my age but I was there too. And rode the course on a hardtail Zaskar. Still got the muddy number plate in my souvenirs box. Rained all week and was lethal. That off-camber corner at 1:38 was a proper drift lesson. Fun, but sketchy as hell. Best bit was I rode up on the chairlift with Tomac and he signed my GT jersey. And Hans Rey. ✊

[@pederfallbom]

@@dinozoiks 😀👌 Cool memories! Tomac is very friendly and a real character! Yes that off camber fast turn was reallly hard. I crashed right there during training and coasted to a stop on my backprotection. If it had been dry I would probably Hurt myself really bad. I rode a hardtail Rocky Mountain 😀🤘

[@SurferJoe71]

The Real Legend of MT.Biking

[@CyclingWorld1]

Yes he sure is, Such a character on the Bike! Please subscribe & share if you like thanks

[@CyclingWorld1]

Thanks for the Feedback, Really appreciate it a lot! If you could please Subscribe that would be a huge help for me & my new equipment to get more footage on here! Thanks Again!

[@kw68]

And his son is now an mx/sx legend!!. Sick

[@danhirtle7825]

JT is still a stud on a bike. A few years ago he was out on a training ride with Eli and had a huge get off resulting in fx/dislocation of his elbow. Still rode 90 minutes on single track back to the trailhead where the truck was parked. I still have my '91 Serotta T-Max mtb hanging in the garage. Long stem, no dropper post, you feel like you're going over the bars just sitting on the thing. How those guys went as fast as they did back then is pretty impressive.

[@Periskop55]

Я тоже однажды получил вывих локтя, упав с горы на велосипеде,это очень болезненная штука🤕

[@落井隆一]

ヤバイほどカッコいい

[@twotwentyswift]

Johnny T is gnarly! Awesome to see his son Eli tearing it up on 2 wheels as well!

[@CyclingWorld1]

Yes it's great news that they are coming through, Please Subscribe & share my Channel if you can thanks

[@CyclingWorld1]

Thanks for the Feedback, Really appreciate it a lot! If you could please Subscribe that would be a huge help for me & my new equipment to get more footage on here! Thanks Again!

[@robertmcfadyen9156]

This is the downhill that I learnt . Also I have a selection of new old stock , Tioga Multi - Control saddles he used , one of which he signed in 1996 for me .

[@BadMonkeyFinger_Audio]

This brings back a LOT of memories. Watching this makes me see just how much more difficult things were on these old bikes by comparison to current bike tech. I currently have a 1997 Specialized Stumpjumper, which I use for city riding only. I couldn't imagine riding a downhill like this on it - not a chance.

[@sigalfamily4771]

I raced amateur in Tomac's era on a fully rigid for a few years, then got a Stumpy in 1996 with FS. Like a magic carpet! But, on the other hand, the courses were totally rideable on the equipment of the time. So I"m not sure it was more difficult, as once everyone had FS and big wheels/tires, the courses just got harder. You could have ridden a lot of XC courses in the 1990s on a modern gravel bike without much of a penalty.

[@samblenkharn8099]

Great to see this footage from back in the day.

[@GT-cx8vd]

An absolute character? And an absolute fucking legend I may add. This guy was phenomenal. That's all there is to it

[@CyclingWorld1]

He was amazing! So good! please subscribe to my channel & share if you like

[@SteveMuir]

Legend. !!!! i I have managed to mainly useJohn Tomac Kenda tyres on my mountain bike since i got it in 2011. Nevegals, slant 6 and the wife has small block8s on the back of her bike. (All but one week when I had a Conti on the back. )

[@ganimed1976]

I also drove such a Tioga Disk Wheel in the 90's on my bike. The sound in made was awesome. I had the first model of these Tioga wheels (dark one) and later the transparent second version. It was THE eyecatcher on every trail. I drove it with a XTR M900 rear hub. These Tioga kevlar webbing wheels are hard to find nowadays and very expensive in good condition.

[@CyclingWorld1]

Ahh yes I remember! I had one too, I remember now, one could only build them up on a 36 hole drilling hub! I used a Ultegra 600 road hub that was too narrow on the width! ha ha Please subscribe & share if you like thanks

[@CyclingWorld1]

Thanks for the Feedback, Really appreciate it a lot! If you could please Subscribe that would be a huge help for me & my new equipment to get more footage on here! Thanks Again!

[@RickyDownhillRDH]

Crazy how much the bikes and tracks have changed over the years… those narrow bars always give me ptsd!! That would be a blue trail now days!

[@tedecker3792]

What an event that was! I flew in to Geneva with my mountain bike, ride the VTT trails in the alps, then spent the last week in Metabief.

[@AngelGonzalez-hc4zw]

Oh man, great to hear David Duffield voice of Eurosport Cycling network. Love listening during the Tour.

[@waynemcclean1180]

AMAZING Work Thank you.

[@waynemcclean1180]

robert savage out, stinker juarez out, wayne croasdale in.

[@toddh2952]

The Tomes had the best style and all around champion

[@shawnomeara6153]

Can you imagine how rad JT would’ve been on a modern bike!

[@TheDesertRat31]

The year I started riding mtb.. those were the days. My first bike was full rigid.

[@bigdaddytreevo4120]

Just after he took the crown from The OG Ned Overend. Both amazing racers to watch back then.

[@donnovicki9771]

Pretty sure he was on the cover of Mountain Bike Action magazine more than any other rider, even Ned. Wish I still had all my old Magazines......

[@pitibus4069]

This is the best channel on YT : ))

[@CyclingWorld1]

Thanks please subscribe if not already as want to raise numbers up to get more equipment as got more footage thanks 🤗👍🏻

[@jasonelicker3473]

I miss those days for sure

[@csedan510]

I raced at Mammoth Mtn. in '93, it was a treat seeing him and Ned Overand battle it out.

[@EarthSurferUSA]

And Ned was almost 40, or may have been in 93. A guy named "Tinker", (a Mexican dude with big hair), was also right up there with Tomac and Overand. Those 3 guys always gaped the rest of the field.

[@csedan510]

@@EarthSurferUSA Tinker Juarez, he was a badass!

[@emmanordal5980]

Great value, works perfect

[@benjaminniem8605]

He was my first teacher in MTB.

[@dalialove1607]

90 forever

[@CyclingWorld1]

Tell me about it mate! without sounding like a last of the summer wine fan, the 'Old days were the best' , It's true though but they were.....Please subscribe & share if you like thanks

[@CyclingWorld1]

Thanks for the Feedback, Really appreciate it a lot! If you could please Subscribe that would be a huge help for me & my new equipment to get more footage on here! Thanks Again!

[@jag69rider]

Was at this race World Cup championship @ Bromont Canada

[@Townchild1]

This rear Wheel was in This Year very interssting and possible to buy. My First Bike was a Moongoose Iboc Team in a very Nice Grey.

[@m.koaguirre6609]

Actually Will be a special stuff remake a tioga disc rims 29, looks great

[@anzilaj8276]

God.blessyou.johntomac

[@gromajor]

aaaah, the time when metabief was one of the top spots of the sport... ❤🙂 incredible to see how the sport evolved, from the downhill to the freeride. 👍

[@shirtlessGraveler305]

Mad skills wow !!, impressive!!

[@jayanderson6016]

My first real mountain bike was a '94 Raleigh Tomac MTI-1000 titanium frame XC bike. It cost US $1800 in 1994.

[@EarthSurferUSA]

I would think, pretty much, the frame alone costs that much in 94. About $1,500 was the cost of a Ti frame back in those days. A good shifting/brake group-o was about a grand. A set of aftermarket wheels about $600. Seat/post, stem/bars, a Ti bike was about $3000, and they were the high end bikes of the day.

[@doxielain2231]

Wow, we have come such a long way. That would be a green trail on a modern bike.

[@EarthSurferUSA]

In some cases, too long IMO. There is a guy flying down hills (these are the early day downhill competition when most riders still rejected rear suspension, and disk brakes), with a short chain stay and a 71 degree head angle. I bet a modern stretch hard tail with a 68-65 degree slack head angle, 29" wheels, can't go down that course as fast as Tomac did here. If we did not build berms, would the bike geometry head angle get steeper? I think it would.

[@l21n18]

@@EarthSurferUSAcan’t really compare with different tech

[@fatbikedad384]

LEGEND

[@duenodelustucru]

Geometry isn't even appropriate for downhill. Respect for those pioneers.

[@Main.Account]

Legend!

[@luiggiserrano1735]

Qué diferencia 30 años después. Las bicis, los recorridos... Actualmente predomina el desnivel y la dificultad tecnica. Entonces era la velocidad y ausencia total de dificultad tecnica. La evolución de las bicis han determinado los recorridos, o viceversa.

[@EarthSurferUSA]

I can't argue with that. But I can't agree with it either. Tomac was the King. The guy who won everything.

[@marcjohnson7882]

Great rider, but a very different downhill than we have today.

[@renaissanceman8564]

Goat,,Lemond, Phinney, Hampsten, hell all of the team 7-11 yes even Bobkie

[@stuartwood9339]

And then you get Eli on the motorbike

[@samj1185]

Hope Eli heals up strong and can come back!

[@8paolo96]

This looks like cyclo-cross with a slight downhill gradient. Probably the bike field where there have been more changes/improvements

[@kermit56780]

.. "Back in the day" when your balls weighed more than your entire bike 😅

[@johnmausteller]

Dudes flying

[@m.koaguirre6609]

Super tomac

[@CyclingWorld1]

Yes, one of the best characters in MTB ever, and a lovely guy.

[@Sustrii]

our xc regionals is the same has the 93 downhill world cup

[@staffh3815]

These are gravel bikes now

[@CyclingWorld1]

700c Wheels nowadays whereas here they were 26" but nearly!

[@JoshuaTootell]

26 and 700 are virtually the same circumference

[@Gadulaksinjan]

​@@JoshuaTootellWhat? 700 are exactly 29", not even close to 26.

[@scottoneill774]

check out those narrow bars!

[@MongolMan1983]

That’s wild…they put an aero disc on the rear wheel just like TT bike lol The 90’s really were crazier in terms of MTB tech

[@EarthSurferUSA]

Kids don't have the building toys we used to have on the 60's and earlier. Tinker toys, erector set, Lincoln logs, model cars and planes, (including fuel powered COX stuff). So we grew up with what may be the last of that 'building mentality", in the USA. But I can tell you from my own experience in Mt. Bike production in the mid 90's (when they were pretty new), and the business I found using my skills, (which was also a new industry), "Getting involved with a new free enterprise industry",---is where all the big excitement is at. Everybody going for it with their own ideas. That is freedom. Start an industry. (and for God's sake and the sake of mankind, keep government out of it.) :)

[@toastopia1]

It's like a modern day gravel bike

[@alwaysshifting9574]

93 looks like the 70’s.

[@michaelwoodward5787]

How things change.

[@herbie5263]

If this was DH, what did XC look like?

[@mahiru20ten]

His son may not be riding a bicycle, but John's offroad ability surely goes to Eli too.

[@donnovicki4918]

Check out the size of that front chain ring. Need some big thighs to move that thing.

[@CyclingWorld1]

Think it was a Road Chain Ring of 52/53 or even bigger like the Kamikaze DH ratios he used to do years before it! Please subscribe & share if you like thanks

[@CyclingWorld1]

Thanks for the Feedback, Really appreciate it a lot! If you could please Subscribe that would be a huge help for me & my new equipment to get more footage on here! Thanks Again!

[@reapanomin899]

Holy shit,you're actually right.Makes all the MTBs of today look wimpy.And then the rear disc wheel.

[@loreleiwhitcombe6371]

Eli traded in pedals for a 450.

[@nellawell4976]

Yep, wanted something with shocks!

[@daviddurok]

I had a 1992 Raleigh Dyna Tech titanium bike, xtr/ xt group set titanium forks, my god that bike could move, still got it hanging in my gym at home, I will never part with it 🚴

[@EarthSurferUSA]

I have a lovely welded 95 Nuke Proof Ti 17" Mt. bike, (Mark really got the welding down pat in 95). It may be the most complete vintage Ti. NK bike in existence today. I used to work there in 94/95 as their first machinist. I am the guy who got the hubs to stop breaking. My retailer is younger than me and still rides, so I am getting the forks fixed up and giving it to him for 20 years of us doing great business together. It will probably end up in a Museum after he is done riding it. With Ti forks, you were probably under 21lbs. I think mine is just over 22 with telescopic forks. They are fast bikes. Ti is a special material for hard tails. Doug in Michigan

[@daviddurok]

Nuke Proof do some amazing Ti/ carbon bikes, I absolutely luv them. Michael Cowan who continued the Nuke proof name has stuck to the ethos of original Nuke Proof, they very much are riders choice. Thanks for sharing your story I enjoyed reading it 😁

[@TheyForcedMyHandLE]

You'd be in for a shocker if you showed to up a DH race today expecting the track to be like this.

[@CyclingWorld1]

Too right mate, how things have changed so much 👍🏻

[@JoshuaTootell]

Local XC race courses are more advanced than this, let alone WC XC.

[@l21n18]

Well to be fair the tech has changed to not exactly like comparing old gymnastics to modern gymnastics

[@MD-uu5nt]

You couldn't ride modern courses on those bikes. A gravel bike would be better than those old DH bikes.

[@Firubak]

​@@MD-uu5ntits actually kinda possible. I got a Raleigh Titanium XTR from my dad 3 years ago and learned to ride Enduro on it. Sure you cant Do all those fancy jumps and stuff, but to some extend those old bikes can handle gnarly shit.

[@Colin.Robinson1]

Pedaling on a DH Track! Crazy sh.t😂! Farmer John , Legend

[@duncanjbrown]

This is literally the gravel bike world champs non?! 😅

[@wombatfeeder999]

Back when people cared about mountain biking...

[@Ramon-xh2un]

O DH de antigamente parece o XC de hoje.

[@FUJITRACK10]

JT got his courier bars on

[@MTBTrek34]

This trail is gravel bike worthy now.

[@serenhe7631]

Is Eli Tomac father?

[@dunsbroccoli2588]

The geometry looks so proper. We need to find a way to make bikes perform like they do currently but while looking like bikes, not anorexic, engineless motorcycles.

[@EarthSurferUSA]

Although I dig hydraulic disk brakes, I am not a fan of today's slack head tube angles, heavy bikes, 29" wheels or single chain ring shifting system. I don't think they turn worth a darn with out a sculptured berm, (because of slack head angles and big wheels), and the gearing runs out at both ends, at grunt and top speed. I think we have entered a irrational generation. Frame geometry is "arts and crafts" bizarre today. Doesn't make any sense to make your trail bike handle like a Harley chopper to me.

[@robertomachadotech]

Nessa época era aro 26 de folha simples, não tinha aero parede dupla....o ciclista tinha que ser bom mesmo

[@lo76er82]

1993 = 😮😬🫣 2023 = green trail PS No disrespect intended, I started mountain biking in the 90’s and remember well how the bikes and tracks were back then!

[@teamdoa]

Thing is, although it isnt as technical as modern courses, the tech of the bikes at the time kind of made riding them as hard and scary in my opinion.

[@l21n18]

@@teamdoagood point

[@rodneysmart9774]

tights and tucked

[@DIY-DaddyO]

It was so much more fun with light full rigid bikes without all the near vertical rock garden stuff...

[@neuvocastezero1838]

Wow, didn't know they had carbon fiber frames in '93.

[@MyDemon32]

Carbon fiber frames go as back as 1978 with Assos making the first prototype.

[@aleurodont]

Cuando no había doble suspensión, había qué tener unos huevotes para practicar down hill, de hecho ni existía el termino

[@zydecbro]

imagine JT in his prime with today's technology!!

[@Metal-Possum]

Put his drop bars on and it'd look like a cyclocross race...

[@CyclingWorld1]

Yes it's great news that they are coming through, Please Subscribe & share my Channel if you can thanks

[@CyclingWorld1]

Thanks for the Feedback, Really appreciate it a lot! If you could please Subscribe that would be a huge help for me & my new equipment to get more footage on here! Thanks Again!

[@ДмитрийДунаев-е1л]

Today we calls it Cross Country

[@EarthSurferUSA]

Cross Country has much more up-hill, (Sans the flat ground, any loop is 50% climbing.). But today, you have electric bikes. lol

[@whitefrost6434]

this is downcountry

[@staffh3815]

So many mtb champs came from bmx

[@CyclingWorld1]

Tons did yes, thanks for watching

[@danielrauer5864]

Todays MTB riders would not take a bike with that few suspension travel to ride to the ice cafe 2 blocks away.

[@islarun4103]

So fun not like today

[@fast22fast]

Stud just like his boy Eli

[@AngelGonzalez-hc4zw]

No 29ers here 😊

[@victorallanpmatias]

wanna see mike kings winning run too

[@CyclingWorld1]

Will have a FFWD & try to see if he's on there, Please subscribe & share if you like thanks

[@CyclingWorld1]

Thanks for the Feedback, Really appreciate it a lot! If you could please Subscribe that would be a huge help for me & my new equipment to get more footage on here! Thanks Again!

[@santiagocarrizo2425]

Los de ahora le das una rígida y empiezan a llorar jajaj

[@DiegoRuiz1991]

I'm shit at banked turns and drops... so I guess I could've been a very much decent DH rider in the early 90s

[@bikebudha01]

wow, "downhill" was a bit different back in the day...

[@dirttrackdieter]

Gravel, Cross country

[@davidmoore9385]

26" wheels and no rear suspension

[@CyclingWorld1]

Yes mate the good olde day's 👍🏻

[@guillaumebresson3260]

Ça pédalait beaucoup pour la DH! 😂 un autre temps. Des freins patins, une largeur du centre bien court. Pas de casque intégral. Une descente qui serait du XCO.

[@ThisIsGoogle]

Holy hell they were bad back then.

[@l21n18]

Um ok

[@mfnd502]

Those bars 😂

[@Turmogo]

Most riders cut the handlebars short. Having wide handlebars was considered noobish.

[@mfnd502]

@@Turmogo Im old man, that's what bar width looked like in the day.

[@Turmogo]

@@mfnd502 Well, I'm in my forties, although I consider myself still young 😅 I think the standard width at that time was around 580 mm, but in the competition videos of those years the handlebars look even narrower. People used to cut them down to 550 or 560, partly because there was an obsession with weight and every gram counted.

[@miniorek]

Downhill on a gravel bike.

[@Ammotive28]

Imagine having a Time Machine and going back with a 170mm 29r. You’d be unstoppable.

[@EarthSurferUSA]

I bet Tomac would beat a 29er slack head angle bike down this hill no matter who was riding it.

[@3ester]

lol