On a sunny day at the Cwmcarn trail centre in South Wales the latest Tomac bikes were unveiled to a small crowd of assembled journalists and, to ensure this product launch would be one for us to remember, John Tomac himself, the legend behind the brand, had made the flight over from the US.

Also making the journey was Joel Smith, who now runs the company since taking over several years ago after eight years as brand manager at Answer-Manitou, bringing a wealth of experience and expertise to the company. John Tomac is still involved in the development of the bikes, and they’ve clearly been busy: a new suspension platform has been unveiled across the range (expect on one model), which Tomac has dubbed Instant Active Suspension (IAS).

The new bikes making use of it include the Automatic 120, Snyper 140 and Vanish 160. The bikes still use a linkage driven single pivot layout but the rocker link has been revised allowing Tomac to tune the shock rate to improve small bump sensitivity.

It’s important to understand the driving force behind the brand. Joel was keen to stress to us the importance of quality that befits a brand named after such an iconic. As a company they’re striving for premium products with a focus on attention to detail and quality control. For example, Joel explained to us just how much time goes into checking each frame straight out of the factory, if it doesn’t measure up, they don’t hesitate to send it straight back.

These guys also test the bikes extensively themselves, so it was really no surprise when they pulled on their riding kit, clipped on their lids and swung their legs over a couple of demo bikes and joined us for a two of laps of the Twrch trail. And what a memorable couple of laps they would end up being!

First up, the Carbide SL. As the only bike in the range that doesn’t benefit from the new IAS suspension design (though it’s still been updated in other areas, namely loosing some weight – now just 2kg (4.4lbs) for the frame) it would offer a good opportunity to measure the improvements in the upgrade suspension design on the newer bikes.

First thoughts when hitting the trail is just how incredibly stiff the frame is. Choose a line, hit the power and it dances up the hills. With only 90mm of travel at the rear wheel you really have to work the bike on the rougher sections, but do this and it rewards. It snaps positively out of corners, turns in with a real focus and blasts up the climbs – it would be a great bike for the UK racer or a fast enduro/marathon bike.

Made from carbon fibre with a different layup for the each available size and a carbon rear swingarm with aluminium dropouts, it’s priced £1999.99. Or you choose from two complete builds. £3799.99 gets you a SRAM X7/X9 groupset, Easton EA70 bars and stem, Fox Float Fit RL100 forks and Easton XC Two wheels. Or raise the price up to £5399.99 and you get a fully blinged setup including a Fox Float Fit RL100 fork and Fox RP23 shock, SRAM XX groupset and brakes, Easton XC One wheels, Kenda Tomac Blue Groove tyres, Thomson and Easton Monkeylite finishing parts

End of the lap, and a quick bike change (and a spot of lunch and chat with John) and we headed out onto the trail again, this time I was aboard the Automatic 120. The shortest travel bike in the range to utilise the new IAS suspension design, it proved a good showcase on these trails for the changes made. Straight away the small bump sensitivity is a marked improvement over the non-IAS Carbide, with all the little roots and rocks that the Carbide was unable to completely disguise smoothed over.

On the swoopy singletrack sections this trail is famed for, the handling is pinball sharp and quick with it too. It may boast 120mm of travel, but on these trails it proved plenty enough. The rear suspension sits quite high in its travel when taking it easy with the result that it’s very stable and a great pedalling platform, and there feels like a lot more travel on tap than there really is when you start pushing on. It’s an involving ride, with great handling and allowing the limits to be explored with real confidence. Who needs more travel!

The Automatic frame is made from 6069 aluminium with butted top, down and seat tubes and there’s CNC machining for the seatstay arch, dropouts and yokes, along with a full-length uninterrupted seatpost. With the fitted Fox RP23 the frame weighs 2.9kg (6.4lbs). Headangle with a 120mm fork is a claimed 69.5 degrees. Buy just the frame for £999.99 or choose from two builds; £2699.99 (SRAM X9/XO, Fox Float RL120mm 15mm, Thomson, Truvativ Noir) and £3199.99 (SRAM X7/X9, Truvativ Stylo 3.3, Easton EA50, Fox Float RL120 15mm).

More on the bikes we didn’t get time to ride, the Snyper 140  and Vanish 160, soon.

For more information point your browser at www.tomac.com

Tomac Bikes are distributed in the UK by www.hotlines-uk.com