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John Tomac is widely considered one of the greatest (American) mountain bike racers of all time. During the early years of international racing he won numerous DH and XC events. He went on to be the namesake and involved with Tomac bikes. The 204 DH frame in the photo was their flagship model. The bike company then ceased to exist (in the late 2000s?). I also believe he helped coach several (a lot?) of racers over the years including Aaron Gwin for a time. Finally, if you’re into motocross, he is the father of Eli Tomac. Basically, John Tomac was...

Wow. Seeing a Tomac 205 with a belt drive gearbox wasn’t on my bingo card this year.

See any of these?

I'm glad you mentioned that product! I've been moonlighting as a copywriter in my free time, and working on that stem project has been some of my proudest work so far: "Imagine starting your ride, rolling into the terrain on large 32″ wheels, and immediately feeling it: the handling is on point. Every steering input feels controlled, stable, and precise. That’s exactly why we developed this MTB stem specifically for bikes with 32″ wheels – tailored to the unique demands of a modern 32" setup." Just imagine it.

He was just feeling the Assegai for that race. It’s a pretty natural track that doesn’t have the top speed of many World Cup tracks so the benefits of the stability weren’t huge, so it came down to very fine points deciding which tread pattern was going to be best for the track on that day. Both tires would have been fine but there’s something to be said for almost 10 years of experience on a tire vs 1 year if the track neutralizes some of the DHX’s advantages. When I say it does everything the Assegai does that is...

Any questions about the DHX or updated DH casing let me know, both were my projects. In general the DHX does everything our current dry tires do, but has more capability for high load high speed conditions. I designed it to excel in the bike park oriented World Cup tracks but still not give up performance in soft or natural sections compared to current dry tires. Ideally I wanted to simply the racers’ tire choice: if it’s dry and fast- DHX, if it’s soft or mixed- HR3, if it’s wet- mud spike. The updated DH casing is pretty well explained...

We design our tires to be a standalone product. We do some testing to ensure instal is reasonable, but performance of tire + insert isn’t a priority for us.

Yeah, its so hard to disentangle all the variables that go into it. Trail conditions, power output, line choice, is Mercury in retrograde, etc. After going through multiple setups over the past few months I've found I can ride a fairly consistent speed on most any tire (as long as it's matched to conditions) and the rest just comes down to personal preference. But hot damn the TC radial corners so well. Pretty addictive.

Yeah, I can't tell how much of the hype around the DHX as a "dry conditions tire" (whatever that means) is an accurate description of its performance window vs. talking points from Maxxis to create clear product differentiation within their lineup. Mammoth is dry, but it's so dry you want to run HR3's or full mud spikes. So what does "dry conditions" even mean? I'm excited to try this tire at some point, because I live in the land of actual dry conditions year round. Can't tell if this will be a front Assegai replacement for me, a front HR3...

After some more reflection and since this hit the front page I have a few more additions. I'm glad people enjoyed the post and it's fun to share the experience. Trails: Mid-guard is somehow always in primo shape and is like a blue version of Del boca, for sure worth it. Combine with Spin-Gnar to Call me Maybe to BCC for a great mix of tech/corners into creekside. There is nothing safe about captain safety. Original Sin - Blue Velvet - Fatcrobat - Too Mushroom - Too Tight (or D1 if you're a shredder). This is a great single black...

Great stuff! Bummer the trip went sideways, but sounds like you made the best of it. I completely agree with your take on TOTW/Million Dollar/etc. I got to do that a couple of years ago and it’s hands down the best single lap I’ve ever ridden. I’ll think about it randomly now and then and text my buddy who was there with me.

Big knobs, big volume, big speed! And new casing.

I love that you think gearboxes will become ubiquitous on ebikes and will entirely replace mechanical derailleurs and electronic battery-powered derailleurs and electronic hard-wired derailleurs and autoshift derailleurs and internally geared hubs, instead of becoming one more option among a confusing sea of options and pricepoints, like everything else in the bike industry. If only it were that simple.

Looks dishwasher safe tho.