Cortina Cycles

Raul Cortina, his brother and uncle started Cortina Cycles in Mexico in 1955, in a small bike shop in Mexico City. 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 Santa Barbara, California 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.

• 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.

• Archived 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)