Hah, no ridicule please. Would it be couth to put drops on a Cross Country bike? I mean, allot of the XC races I hear about are mostly paved, anyways.

The one XC race I did from efta had like a little 2 or 3 footer with XXX in front of it........of course it had a B line. What kind of XC races are you racing that mostly paved? Short track?

Tomac raced DH with drops...

I dont recall if he did straight XC with drops on the bike though

Ive seen more than one ride a single speed cross bike with drops in XC racews... and no there wasn't any paved sections, there were some wicked rooty sections, I always wonder how they managed em?

there was jumps and drops in the olympic course. I know guys who do drops on xc bikes in races (we have one race here called samuri...you would be shocked at what these guys do on xc bikes over a 6 hour period on the fr single tracks)...

How about those hard to find WTB Dirt Drops? I've got one and they're alot wider than standard road drops.

I think Ritchie makes a flaired drop bar as well... Not quite a Moustache bar, but similar.

Wondring when poor Mael will catch on... Just kitting you... not that you can ride faster mad than I can scared, well.. as long as we dont go uphill...

I think Phibber was asking about Drop Handlebars.

ummm..maybe I am too sick but you both confused me haha...

Oh..crap now I get it...damn having to work with a fever...ok..I am a dumbass..buh bye...

Ha, I didnt read it right. Next time say drop BARS silly.

Paved? I have never heard of one...

Mael, take som Nyquil and call it a night, hey, any snow out your way yet?

Tonnes up top...tis the season for snow

Its ok people, I read it wrong too until they started talking about bars

I suppose you could put drop bars on an XC bike as long as you dont put them through too much hard/rough stuff, after all they are built for smooth, no-bump roads.

Of course he was also racing on a carbon frame (carbon bonded to Al lugs) that was discovered to fail due to delamination.

And let's not forget about the full-disc wheels and I'm not talking brakes here...

Also, check out them chainrings.

Oh thank hevan for 7-Eleven

I recall seeing that and wondering if he had a death wish?

Hey Khuon, how many seasons did he ride like that, and did he ride both XC and DH like that?

That's insane! Sorry about not being too clear I come from the Cyclocross forum, after all. At least here though there aren't as many yuppy whiners! >_<

Thanks all! I will check out the WTB and Ritchy. And about drop (bars) being fragile. Check out some of the stuff they are doing in CX. Heh, bunny hopping barriers with road rims!

I believe he raced that setup from 1990 through 1992 and yes, he did ride both XC and DH with it. Speaking of 7-Eleven. I'm not sure if you knew it or not but that's a great response as Tomac started racing MTBs after leaving the 7-Eleven road cycling squad.

Did he also not say in retrospect he would never do dh again with them. I remember reading in some mag, he did it, won, but at the same time was scared crapless the entire time.

Quite possibly. But he kept riding that setup for quite a while. The images above were taken at the 1990 Worlds. I do know he switched to a more traditional setup later on.

"Tomac was never afraid to push out the boundaries of technology, he was one of the first XC racers to use suspension (with Manitou) and was riding SPDs whilst still in the prototype stage. Sadly the
off road drop bars, Tioga Disk drives and downhill skinsuits he pioneered never really caught on."

You sure about that

ummmm...ok...

Downhill skinsuits are getting there. Spandex has started to invade our top WC's...and I imagine as times get better it is only a matter of time. If the sport wants to really push speeds they eventually need to move over to the evils.

Tioga disk drives?...

I couldn't imagine on todays dh courses the off road dopr bars offering much control during the big airs and big drops being done. I have seen footage of the old dh and drop bars would have been a god send for speed. I just don't see how it would work on the dh trails around me anyways. hmmm maybe I should give er a go sometime haha

Before you do that, let me come up and visit, take you out to some bars, get you all liquoured up and casually submit for your signature a will made out to me for all your bikes.

Hahaha...deal...hey you live close enough. You ever gonna come to whistler for a ride? With the variety of riding you do I bet you could ride here for a week without repeating any trails haha

Yeah. I really do need to make it up there. The problem is that I need to figure out a graceful way of ditching the wife on those sorts of trips in order to go ride since she's not a MTBer.