BIKERUMOR.com 2009 SEA OTTER CLASSIC COVERAGE: As you already know from our “iphone” post yesterday, Tomac had this Carbide SL built up in a non-production spec weighing in at a very respectable 21.14 lbs.  What’s even more respectable is that it was done without a ridiculous parts spec…you could probably drop another 1/2 lb off the bike without a lot of effort.
Hit “more” to see closeup pics of the frame and parts…
Box-shaped downtube and top tube make it stiff.  Tomac’s claimed goal with the bike was not only to make it very light, but to make it one of the stiffest bikes out there.  Their rep said this was actually one of the first bikes they wanted to build, but it’s been on the drawing board for three years as they tweaked it to achieve the rigidity they wanted.
Word is the production bike won’t be equipped with a DT Swiss fork…probably a RockShox Sid.
The carbon seat- and chainstays meet up with an aluminum dropout in the rear…
…and an aluminum suspension pivot in the front.  It probably won’t come with that gold chain, either.
The design is claimed to eliminate any side load stress on the bearings.  The front derailleur mounts to the swingarm, keeping it inline with the chainstay throughout the range of motion.
