1991 Raleigh Tomac Signature

[CCMDoc]

This was my Grail bike for years - a 1991 Merlin/C9 Raleigh Tomac Signature. You can tell the Merln from Litespeed bikes most easily by the rear dropouts and seattube - monostay connection but the finish on the Ti parts is another, more subtle distinguishing feature.

this build is most similar to that Tomac rode in early 1991 with pre-Answer Manitou fork though the earliest iteration had the famous drop bars he had also used in 1990 aboard his Yeti C-26.

It rides just as awesomely as it looks and I imagine chasing Ned, Rishi and Tinker whenever I'm in the saddle.

I did race a slightly different build - Rockshox and different Tioga disc in the 2014 Keyesville Classic so this bike is no garage queen.

Here's the build spec as seen in the first set of pics:

Frame:​​​1991 Raleigh (Merlin/Easton C9) Tomac Signature
Fork:​​​Manitou (Pre-Answer)
Headset: ​​Shimano XTR M900
Stem: ​​​Tioga T-bone Avenger
Handlebar: ​​Tioga Mountain XT Carbo
Grips: ​​​ODI Attack
Bar ends: ​​Tioga Power Studs
Brakes:​​​Shimano XTR M900 ​​
Brake Pads:​​Shimano XTR M900
Brake Cables: ​​Shimano XTR Grey housing
Cable hangers:​​Shimano M900
Cable Guides:​​Shimano Dura Ace
Shift/Brake Levers: ​Shimano XTR M900
Derailleur Cables: ​Shimano XTR Grey housing
Front Derailleur: ​Shimano XTR M900
Rear Derailleur:​​Shimano XTR M900
Cassette: ​​Shimano XTR M900
Chain:​​​Shimano
Cranks:​​​Shimano XTR M900
Crank Bolts: ​​SRP Ti
Chainrings: ​​Shimano
Chainring bolts: ​SRP Ti
Bottom Bracket: ​Ti spindle
Pedals:​​​Shimano M737
Bottle Cage:​​King Ti
Hub Skewers:​​Ringle
Rims:​​​Mavic 231 Ceramic (F)/Sun (R)
Hubs: ​​​Shimano Deore XTR M900
Spokes:​​​14g (F)/Tioga Disc (R)
Tyres: ​​​Tioga Trail Dawg (F)/Mud Dawg R
Tubes: ​​​Pink Latex
Saddle:​​​Selle Italia Flite Ti
Seatpost:​​Tioga Carbon

 

[Dare]

Very very nice

 

[longun]

looks great dude, really want another disc drive now haha

 

[mynchiboy]

Re:

I imagine chasing Ned, Rishi and Tinker whenever I'm in the saddle.

I bet! I would imagine tailing Frischi for the same reason. Great to see it being used as intended

 

[legrandefromage]

What part did M900 XTR play in early 1991? I'm sure its commercial release was for the 92 season so there must have been loads of pre-production stuff around in 91 but how early?

 

[troje]

Re:

Love it when I see bikes of this caliber being used for what they were designed for!

 

[regan_ev]

This is all kinds of amazing!

I was reading some blogs the other day about Tomac's old frames (the infamous garage sale circa 2006-08??) and there was mention of one that sold for upwards of USD6000 - is this te one I'm on about?

As with many others I'm very envious - I collected pictures of Tomac and had a collage of them on my bedroom wall as a kid, I even did a project for school about him and I was always excited to see the next magazine issues with pics of his bike featuring different components. So the fact that you have a few variations on the build is also very impressive! Especially that mint original Disk Drive and a 32H DD-Pro too!

 

[Giom6]

Re:

Amazing. Grail bike for me too.

I'll never find one though...

 

[uno-speedo]

Re:

That is HAWT!

 

[yeti_bomb]

Insane. Good to see one still charging!