Cortina Cycles is a bicycle frame manufacturer in

Santa Barbara, California Santa Barbara ( es, Santa Bárbara, meaning "Saint Barbara") is a coastal city in Santa Barbara County, California, of which it is also the county seat. Situated on a south-facing section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coa ...

. It has made frames for Italian companies such as ''Bennotto'' and ''Gios''.

Background

Raul Cortina, his brother and uncle started Cortina Cycles in

Mexico Mexico ( Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guate ...

in 1955, in a small bike shop in

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley of ...

. It acquired factory outlets within Mexico selling Cortina frames and moved into the factory it still owns in Mexico. Cortina Cycles built frames for companies such as Bennotto and Gios. Raul Cortina's son, Esteban, started designing mountain bike frames ing the 1990s after graduating from college. He created ''Cortina Cycles USA'' in

with his brothers Daniel and Adrian, who are professional racers. Cortina in 1994 became one of the first to produce a downhill frame with 8 inches of rear travel. Cortina now make frames from BMX to tandems.

Frames

Production Frames (By Year)

''(Please add information if you can help)''

Other Prototypes (By Year)

Technological Innovations

*Semi-Parallel Linkage of DHExtreme-8. This unique linkage design enables the rear triangle to move up and down on an almost vertical plane rather than pivoting about the bottom bracket conventionally. It therefore enables better tracking on the rear wheel. *Fully Floating Linkage Design. This linkage design features on the Joyride and Europa-FS (semi-floating). This unique variation on the 4-bar linkage delivers progressive suspension whereby the ride becomes firmer as the shock is depressed. The shock is not attached directly to the static part of the frame at any point, hence 'floating'. *Adjustable Wheel Base on 12 mm Thru-Axle. This axle setup features on the DHExtreme-8, Europa DS (12 mm version), Europa FS, and Triton DH. The Wheelbase can be adjusted horizontally by 1 inch to effect the handling of the bike. The axle is tightened with a 9 m allen key and memory locked with two smaller horizontal allen bolts, creating a very stiff wheelbase. The disk-brake mount and derailleur hanger make up either side of the moving section, and can therefore be replaced if damaged.

External links

*Official Website
Cortina CyclesArchived Review of DHExtreme-8
at Mountain Bike Action (2000) from Waybackmachine
Cortina Team Profile and Info
at SponsorHouse.com
Reviews of several Cortina frames
at Mountain Bike Review (mtbr.com) {{American bicycle manufacturers Cycle manufacturers of the United States Mountain bike manufacturers Manufacturing companies based in California Companies based in Santa Barbara, California Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1955 1955 establishments in California American companies established in 1955