These bikes were a joint
venture with GT bicycles to develop "thermoplastic carbon" bikes.
This is a different way of building carbon bicycles that uses heat to
melt a nylon based resin (glue) and wet the carbon fibers. When the
mold and nylon resin cools it holds the carbon in the shape of a bike.
This technique is different from nearly all other modern carbon bikes
where an epoxy resin is used to hold carbon fibers in their desired
orientation and shape. Epoxy uses a chemical reaction to go from liquid
to solid state not heat like in thermoplastic construction.
The other key difference is epoxy doesn't have very good "impact
resistance" and is susceptible to shattering or cracking when hit or
impacted like the forces you often see in a crash (not a good trait for
bikes).
Thermoplastics on the other hand have exceptional impact
characteristics.
They bend or deform even better than steel and then return to their
original shape due to the nylon base. This makes for a much more
durable bike material, but unfortunately there's a catch. They were
never able to find ways to get the weight down to the same levels or
stiffness of other popular construction techniques. They were also a lot
more expensive to build.
Yeti Cycles was the first to show a rideable Thermo bike (1994 at
Mammoth?). GT and Mantis in their joint effort were next and really the
first to do a "production" thermo bicycle. After that ProFlex followed
with their Thermo FS bike with smart shocks and then Cannondale with
their second edition carbon Super V. After that, the use of Thermo for
frames pretty much died out. Some thermo plastic products are starting
to pop up again recently but not in frames (Easton seat post clamp as
one example).
I have seen varying production figures for the bikes but it has usually
been in the 25 -50 range. The highest serial number so far has
been 22. Many of the bikes were rumored to have been sent to Italy
so there are likely only a handful in the US.
Click on thumbnails below for larger images:
More MOMBAT-themed resources.
"Ive seen mountain bike rides transform people not just their bodies but their way of thinking. Their spirit." Charlie Cunningham