John Tomac's Yeti C-26 complete with Tioga Disc Drive rear wheel and drop handlebar - Helen Cousins / Immediate Media
Who remembers the Tioga Disc Drive? - Helen Cousins / Immediate Media
The Yeti C-26 was ridden at the 1990 World Championships in Durango, Colorado by Juli Furtado and John Tomac - Helen Cousins / Immediate Media
Tomac famously experimented with drop handlebars - Helen Cousins / Immediate Media
Manitou 1 forks were cutting edge at the time - Helen Cousins / Immediate Media
The Yeti Ultimate was originally built as a project bike for Mountain Bike Action Magazine - Helen Cousins / Immediate Media
Myles Rockwell's Factory Team ARC AS LT, which he rode at the 1993 Kamikaze/Reebox eliminator - Helen Cousins / Immediate Media
This Yeti ARC also had a Tioga disc fitted - Helen Cousins / Immediate Media
Another classic Yeti, this time a 1987 FRO - Helen Cousins / Immediate Media
Geoff Ringle's awesome Yeti ARC - Helen Cousins / Immediate Media
This is frame no.3 of the Yeti ARC AS LT - Helen Cousins / Immediate Media
Ringle's cockpit set up did not skimp on the purple ano - Helen Cousins / Immediate Media
Nick Craig's Scott Endorphin - Helen Cousins / Immediate Media
Foes LTS sporting some more of that classic nineties purple ano - Helen Cousins / Immediate Media
Pretty narrow bars! - Helen Cousins / Immediate Media
A closer look at the Foes LTS's single pivot rear end and Fox air can - Helen Cousins / Immediate Media
Cook Bros cranks command a hefty price today - Helen Cousins / Immediate Media
This Spooky Metal Head belongs to Russ from White Mountain bike shop - Helen Cousins / Immediate Media
A spiderweb chain ring keeps things suitably spooky - Helen Cousins / Immediate Media
You'd have seen Spooky Metal Heads hitting the dirt jumps back in the day - Helen Cousins / Immediate Media
Kerry Bason's Sintesi Bazooka featured at the Malvern Classics show in 2018. - Helen Cousins / Immediate Media
The bike is outfitted with Marzocchi suspension front and rear - Helen Cousins / Immediate Media
Bason finished second at this year's Women's Legends Downhill race - Helen Cousins / Immediate Media
The squared tubed Pace RC 200 was notrious for snapping around the seatstays back in the day - Helen Cousins / Immediate Media
There were plenty of colourful Kleins on show - Helen Cousins / Immediate Media
Pretty narrow bars by modern day standards - Helen Cousins / Immediate Media
A green and very handsome Klein Attitude - Helen Cousins / Immediate Media
The Linkage Tube full suspension GT LTS - Helen Cousins / Immediate Media
Hans Rey returned to the Malverns Classic 2018 and there were a number of his chosen models from back in the day, including a collection of GT Zaskar LEs - Helen Cousins / Immediate Media
GT's Rocker Tuned Suspension system on show - Helen Cousins / Immediate Media
Another classic GT, this time a Zaskar LE - Helen Cousins / Immediate Media
A flashy red GT Zaskar - Helen Cousins / Immediate Media
GT's iconic LTS - Helen Cousins / Immediate Media
GT introduced the first version of its i-Drive system back in 1999 to combat jerky pedal strokes. The Flex Plate and Dog Bone were later generationsthat were released - Helen Cousins / Immediate Media
The 9500 was Trek's first foray into MTB full suspension - Helen Cousins / Immediate Media
A closer look at that suspension set up - Helen Cousins / Immediate Media
The Orange Prestige was once the steel race bike to have - Helen Cousins / Immediate Media
The Orange C-16R - Helen Cousins / Immediate Media
An old Webster Tarantula - Helen Cousins / Immediate Media
Reminiscent of the Verlichi/Ironhorse design, but we're not sure what bike it is? Let us know if you can identify the frame and suspension seen here - Helen Cousins / Immediate Media
A 90's Raleigh M-Trax 400 - Helen Cousins / Immediate Media
At the weekend, and after 20 years, the Malverns Classic mountain biking festival returned to the Herefordshire countryside and the hills that bear the event’s name.
It was a packed weekend of demos, displays, entertainment and, of course, plenty of racing from balance bikes to Legends’ downhill. But in a nod to the event’s heritage, retro racing gear was on show too and we took a walk around the expo village to bring you some of the best.
Yeti C-26
John Tomac's Yeti C-26 complete with Tioga Disc Drive rear wheel and drop handlebar - Helen Cousins / Immediate Media
There was plenty of retro loveliness at the Yeti stand, but this C-26 really stood out. With only an estimated 20 frames produced, the C-26 was ridden back in 1990 by Juli Furtado and John Tomac at the World Championships in Durango, Colorado.
A bike ahead of its time, it used Easton C-9 tubing, which combined aluminium core tubing with a wrap of unidirectional high-modulus carbon.
This bike was John Tomac’s and had Shimano Deore XT, a Manitou 1 fork and a Tioga Disk Drive fitted to 26-inch wheels. There’s some pretty funky bar tape and some classic nineties purple ano touches to boot.
Spooky Metal Head
This Spooky Metal Head belongs to Russ from White Mountain bike shop - Helen Cousins / Immediate Media
Twenty years ago, the Spooky Metal Head was the bike sending huge jumps in the Malverns dirt jump contests.
This classic belongs to Russ from White Mountain bike shop on the Isle of White, and is fitted with Marzocchi Z1 forks, Kenda K-Rad tyres, 24-inch Rhyno Lite rims and Primo bar ends.
Kerry Bason's Sintesi Bazooka - Helen Cousins / Immediate Media
An original Malverns Classic classic, this Sintesi Bazooka was ridden by Kerry Bason back in 1996, and this year took second place on the Women’s Legends Downhill podium.
Fitted with a huge chainring, ahead-of-its-time chain device, Marzocchi suspension front and rear, and (now) dated geo. It was great to see so many riders return to race with their old bikes and race kit.
Take a look at the gallery above for more bikes from the Malverns.
The organisers have already said that the festival will return again next year, bigger and better, and we can’t wait for it to begin a regular fixture again for a whole new generation to enjoy.
Helen Cousins has been at BikeRadar since 2016 and has more than 13 years of writing and editing experience on a wide range of consumer and specialist titles. Helen is now our operations manager, working across BikeRadar, Cycling Plus and MBUK, and can be found riding her Liv Devote Advanced on the gravel tracks of Wiltshire and Somerset, or her Cannondale Synapse road bike on local country lanes. In winter, Helen prefers to head indoors on Zwift, but her favourite place to ride is Mallorca, for sunnier climes and epic climbs.
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