Friday News And Views

The Carbon Bucksaw Fat Bike

Whoa!

Unless you are a bike geek and live under a rock,  you probably heard yesterday about Salsa Cycles' newest fat bike creation, the Carbon Bucksaw. It is a carbon fiber framed, full suspension fat bike. This announcement is like mashing the accelerator and peeling out before you have your seat belt on. Let me explain....

First of all, fat bikes are still a relatively new thing, and the fact that they could be mountain bikes is still being absorbed by many folks out there. Now keep in mind, this is referring to rigid bicycles. Now throw out a suspension fork. Boom! Minds blown. But hold on.........

Full suspension fat bikes? Yeah, sure......Salsa had been playing around with the idea for years, but this can't be a thing, right? It's just Salsa Cycles being attention grabbers, promoting fat bikes, you know, marketing. They actually accomplished all of that. Attention came by the bucket loads. People wanted to know if the idea would ever get off the ground. Some folks made "e-pledges" that they would buy one the minute Salsa made one. You know how "e-pledges" can go.......

The Aluminum Bucksaw 2

Well, Salsa dropped a bomb at Sea Otter and pushed out a few examples of the new, Dave Weagle designed full suspension fat bike dubbed the "Bucksaw". It featured a "real" full suspension design for fat bikes which Dave Weagle said he designed from the ground up using his well received Split Pivot design. So this isn't just some marketing angle. This is an actual, "designed to be a full suspension fat bike" fat bike that should, (and by all accounts does), ride really, really well. Okay, so this isn't a novelty. Salsa Cycles is dead serious about this concept. By all accounts Salsa Cycles has a hot model here.

That's awesome and also it is a concept that many mountain bikers will have a hard time wrapping their minds around. Well......at least for awhile. If what I hear about this bike is true, it won't take long for many to want to have one and use it as a mountain bike and not so much as a "fat bike". But hold on......again. 

Now Salsa Cycles hasn't even sold a single Bucksaw at retail yet, and they announce a carbon fiber version.  Talk about being serious about a concept- Salsa has to be dead serious here, since we're talking expensive proprietary molds and certainly a commitment to a sizable number of bicycles from their manufacturing partner.  Plus, it ain't cheap, folks. We're talking 6K, plus some, to get on board with one of these. The question many are asking is "Why?"

That's a great question, actually. I get it, personally. That is to say, "I understand why they did a carbon fiber Bucksaw". In many ways, the carbon usage here is not a weight savings measure. Yes......I just said that. This is another concept many folks will have to get their minds wrapped around. In fact, there are a ton of misconceptions and false assumptions about this bike. A lot of folks got dumped off the back when this concept blasted outta the gates. There are a lot of things to say about this bike. Too many to cover in this post. I'll address some of this coming up in the future. In the meantime, dust yourself off and get back on board. This bike is a game changer, and you don't want to miss why.......

Salsa Regulator Titanium Post

Regulator Long Term Thoughts:

As long as we're on Salsa Cycles today.....

Okay, so I've used the Salsa Regulator Titanium post for several months now and I have a few thoughts on how this post works and why you might want one, or not want one.

First off, if you buy a titanium Salsa post, you should not expect to get a lighter weight post. You should expect a far more comfortable post than most and a post that is really tough.

I've seen a lot of folks bag on this post because it isn't lightweight and some other titanium posts are lighter. Okay- great- buy those posts and do not buy this one. I think that there is another facet to this post that I find desirable that those posts don't have. This post is likely overbuilt. That's attractive to me because it means I likely won't have to worry about it blowing up on me if I come down hard on it, or that it may bend at all. I feel it is built to withstand the rigors of bikepacking, which is Salsa Cycles' MO. It all makes for a tough, comfortable post I can have peace of mind about as a bigger fella.

It is a really different, more comfortable riding post. Would I buy another one? I am probably going to do that. Problem is, I cannot choose just one bike to put another one on.

Registration Update:

I really thought the Veteran's registration would fill up on Tuesday. I was wrong about that. There still are two spots left as of Thursday. If those two spots are not claimed by Saturday afternoon, they will get placed into the pile for Rookies.

Next- There have been a couple entries received that should have been here last week. Well, this week is too late. So, if you sent one in and thought you should be on the roster, and you are a past winner or a finisher of Trans Iowa, you missed your window.

Finally- There are two things you may need to know if you are a Rookie trying to get into T.I.V11. One- If your card shows up too early, (Saturday), you probably won't have a chance to send another. Last year the Rookies filled their quota up in five hours on the first day. Two- Tuesday November 11th is the day the USPS observes Veteran's Day. No mail will be delivered. Monday will likely be your only chance to get in. But I've been wrong before!!

That's it, have a great weekend and get out and ride those bicycles!