News Season: Part 6- Fat Bikes

Okay, here are some of Salsa Cycles fat bike offerings, (besides the carbon Beargrease models), for 2014, as photographed at Saddledrive. (Credits given where known)

Muluk Titanium (Image courtesy of Cycle Haven)

For 2014, Salsa Cycles has decided to change the look of their titanium bikes by painting parts of the frame on the different titanium offerings they have. The Mukluk Titanium gets this awesome looking lime green front end with some green ano accents. This is offered as a complete and as a frame set.

You'll notice that the fork features the Anything Cage mounts on the front facing side of the fork instead of the rear. This was done to help make the things mounted to these bosses not want to rip the cages apart that hold your bottles, or cargo. If the cages are mounted to the front side, inertia created by the objects being carried will want to push back against the fork,instead of pull away from the fork if the cages used are mounted on the back side of a fork. It also has the benefit of cargo not smacking your down tube in the event of a crash or accidental release of the handlebar. (No word yet on the redesigned Anything Cages yet, by the way.)

Of course, the Mukluk Titanium continues with the overseas manufactured, formed, triple butted titanium tubes and Alternator drop outs. These drop outs should allow single speed set ups or use of Surly's biggest rubber on 82mm rims. The bike will feature a 2X10 drive train,and if you do use the really big rubber, you may have to modify the cassette for full use of both rings up front. It'll be close, from what I've read, but doable. Good to know you can do that, since this is the ultimate expedition fat bike from Salsa.

Salsa Cycles' Mukluk 2 (Image courtesy of Cycle Haven)

Salsa comes back with the Mukluk 2 in a Metallic gold this year. The bike retains the basic layout from last year with the exception of the fork. This is the aluminum Beargrease fork with Anything Cage mounts, which should cut a lot of weight out of the front end of the bike for 2014. The Muk 2 is also available as a frame set.

The Mukluk 3 in red

The Mukluk 3 continues on and will come in this brilliant red or with a matte black scheme with white rims. Both come in aluminum and will feature the Alternator drop outs.

There will be no frame sets with the Muk 3 color schemes. Big size range available here though, from XS to an XL, so the bike can fit a wide range of folks.

All Mukluks feature trigger shifters now and will come shod with Surly Nate tires. The Mukluk 2 gets Holy Rolling Darryls while the Mukluk 3 gets the non drilled Darryls.

So, with the new Beargrease carbon bikes, Salsa has moved into the upper end of the fat bike market and have the widest range of fat bikes available in several price points. The low end has "risen" a bit. Expect MSRP on the Muk 3's to be a tick higher than last year's prices, but that still represents a heck of a deal when you get Alternators and a proven package.

Fargo bikes for 2014: Alternators! (Image courtesy of Bike World)

Big news on the Fargo. It finally gets the Alternator drop out! This, in my opinion, was one of the only weak spots on a solid drop bar adventure bike. But that isn't all here. The blue Fargo is a Fargo 2, and it sports Salsa Cycles new carbon Fargo fork. Featuring a suspension corrected for 100mm fork in carbon with Anything Cage mounts in the new forward position for better load stability and durability, this brings the Fargo up to snuff. Salsa also tweaked the rear stay length to be a bit shorter to pep up the handling a bit as well, but you can still get that longer, stabler rear with a move on the Alternator drop rearward. Of course, your IGH and single speed talk is all welcome here as well.

Also, there are more Shimano bits, and no bar end shifters on the Fargo 3, (shown in Mustard here), which should please a few folks. All STI style now!

El Mariachi Titanium (from QBP's feed)

El Mariachi SS Limited (Image courtesy of  North Central Cyclery)

El Mar Ti, foreground- and other El Mar variants- (Image courtesy of Bike World)

The El Mariachi line up reflects Salsa Cycles move to cover more of the high end market with two offerings in titanium. Both will feature the partially painted titanium triple butted and formed frames made overseas. The top of the line El Mariachi will come with Shimano XTR and features top tier racing equipment. Of course, the Alternator drop outs are featured throughout the El Mariachi line up.

Salsa is maybe one of the only remaining companies, ( Specialized, and Raleigh as well), that retain a nice single speed 29"er in the line up. The Limited Edition El Mariachi SS comes in a white with tri-color top tube color scheme and a nice parts spec. You'll note the slight bend in the seat tube, which reflects Salsa's shortened stays on the El Mariachis for 2014.

That's pretty much a wrap from Saddledrive since the show ends today, but never fear! Dealer Camp starts tomorrow....

2014 Raleigh Talus Carbon (Image from Raleigh's feed)

News Season: Part 6- Fat Bikes

Okay, here are some of Salsa Cycles fat bike offerings, (besides the carbon Beargrease models), for 2014, as photographed at Saddledrive. (Credits given where known)

Muluk Titanium (Image courtesy of Cycle Haven)

For 2014, Salsa Cycles has decided to change the look of their titanium bikes by painting parts of the frame on the different titanium offerings they have. The Mukluk Titanium gets this awesome looking lime green front end with some green ano accents. This is offered as a complete and as a frame set.

You'll notice that the fork features the Anything Cage mounts on the front facing side of the fork instead of the rear. This was done to help make the things mounted to these bosses not want to rip the cages apart that hold your bottles, or cargo. If the cages are mounted to the front side, inertia created by the objects being carried will want to push back against the fork,instead of pull away from the fork if the cages used are mounted on the back side of a fork. It also has the benefit of cargo not smacking your down tube in the event of a crash or accidental release of the handlebar. (No word yet on the redesigned Anything Cages yet, by the way.)

Of course, the Mukluk Titanium continues with the overseas manufactured, formed, triple butted titanium tubes and Alternator drop outs. These drop outs should allow single speed set ups or use of Surly's biggest rubber on 82mm rims. The bike will feature a 2X10 drive train,and if you do use the really big rubber, you may have to modify the cassette for full use of both rings up front. It'll be close, from what I've read, but doable. Good to know you can do that, since this is the ultimate expedition fat bike from Salsa.

Salsa Cycles' Mukluk 2 (Image courtesy of Cycle Haven)

Salsa comes back with the Mukluk 2 in a Metallic gold this year. The bike retains the basic layout from last year with the exception of the fork. This is the aluminum Beargrease fork with Anything Cage mounts, which should cut a lot of weight out of the front end of the bike for 2014. The Muk 2 is also available as a frame set.

The Mukluk 3 in red

The Mukluk 3 continues on and will come in this brilliant red or with a matte black scheme with white rims. Both come in aluminum and will feature the Alternator drop outs.

There will be no frame sets with the Muk 3 color schemes. Big size range available here though, from XS to an XL, so the bike can fit a wide range of folks.

All Mukluks feature trigger shifters now and will come shod with Surly Nate tires. The Mukluk 2 gets Holy Rolling Darryls while the Mukluk 3 gets the non drilled Darryls.

So, with the new Beargrease carbon bikes, Salsa has moved into the upper end of the fat bike market and have the widest range of fat bikes available in several price points. The low end has "risen" a bit. Expect MSRP on the Muk 3's to be a tick higher than last year's prices, but that still represents a heck of a deal when you get Alternators and a proven package.

Fargo bikes for 2014: Alternators! (Image courtesy of Bike World)

Big news on the Fargo. It finally gets the Alternator drop out! This, in my opinion, was one of the only weak spots on a solid drop bar adventure bike. But that isn't all here. The blue Fargo is a Fargo 2, and it sports Salsa Cycles new carbon Fargo fork. Featuring a suspension corrected for 100mm fork in carbon with Anything Cage mounts in the new forward position for better load stability and durability, this brings the Fargo up to snuff. Salsa also tweaked the rear stay length to be a bit shorter to pep up the handling a bit as well, but you can still get that longer, stabler rear with a move on the Alternator drop rearward. Of course, your IGH and single speed talk is all welcome here as well.

Also, there are more Shimano bits, and no bar end shifters on the Fargo 3, (shown in Mustard here), which should please a few folks. All STI style now!

El Mariachi Titanium (from QBP's feed)

El Mariachi SS Limited (Image courtesy of  North Central Cyclery)

El Mar Ti, foreground- and other El Mar variants- (Image courtesy of Bike World)

The El Mariachi line up reflects Salsa Cycles move to cover more of the high end market with two offerings in titanium. Both will feature the partially painted titanium triple butted and formed frames made overseas. The top of the line El Mariachi will come with Shimano XTR and features top tier racing equipment. Of course, the Alternator drop outs are featured throughout the El Mariachi line up.

Salsa is maybe one of the only remaining companies, ( Specialized, and Raleigh as well), that retain a nice single speed 29"er in the line up. The Limited Edition El Mariachi SS comes in a white with tri-color top tube color scheme and a nice parts spec. You'll note the slight bend in the seat tube, which reflects Salsa's shortened stays on the El Mariachis for 2014.

That's pretty much a wrap from Saddledrive since the show ends today, but never fear! Dealer Camp starts tomorrow....

2014 Raleigh Talus Carbon (Image from Raleigh's feed)

Friday News And Views: News Season Part 2

A while back, I posted about "News Season", meaning that most all summer long, there would be bits and pieces of news coming from the manufacturer's and brand's "press camps", "dealer camps", and from "events" where new products would be shown.

Something gets lost herein the chaos...

Well, "News Season" is going strong all this month. You'll soon hear about and see some rather surprising news from a "press camp", and I know of a "dealer camp" coming up in a week or two that will have another bit of a surprise for a lot of folks. Of course, QBP will be hosting it's dealers at its Western warehouse in Utah for "Saddledrive", where I am sure a few more tasty treats will be unveiled.

So, what are these things? All in due time! The point here is how these individual events have turned the traditional trade show idea on its head. It used to be that dealers would go to a show to "find out stuff" in the only good way that there was to find out stuff: You had to physically go somewhere to see the stuff, (Captain Obvious!), but everybody went to see everybody's stuff. It was crowded. It was stressful. Time was short, and well, you probably missed something. Definitely you forgot stuff too. This was seen as no good from the brand's perspective. They wanted to get the retailers alone. Get their attention glued to their message. Dealers wanted a less stressful, more fun venue. Dealer Camps do that. Press Camps, on the other hand, focus on certain core media to get the same message out. No other distractions for the media means they get a focused, one on one message to deliver to their readers. Again, something that appeals to brands.

My take is that while trade shows have their place, the really exciting, fun, revolutionary stuff is happening at Press Camps and Dealer Camps, not at trade shows. 

It started out like this, then......

 Gravel Mutt Project Update:

 Back in May I dug into the "Gravel Mutt Project" in earnest. Many readers have expressed that they have been intrigued by the story, and that they have been excited to see the next step in the process. Well, that process is coming to a close. The Gravel Mutt is finished!

Wednesday evening was the first ride. I then rode it to work and back again yesterday. There are a couple of bugs to work out. There will be a few fitting tweaks, but basically, this bike is on the road. So, what is next?

A full reveal will appear here tomorrow, but there will be a small series that will be published on Gravel Grinder News that will be about how one can build their own "gravel mutt" and this bike will be the example used. Consider all the basic info I have posted here as your "preview" of that series. Ironically, yesterday I was contacted by someone in the media that wanted my help in writing the exact same story line. So, I guess it is an interesting subject, eh? 

Stay tuned for the reveal tomorrow and look for the series on "Gravel Grinder News" to appear soon.

Committing convenience store abuse!

3GR: Guitar Ted Death Ride Invitational:

The "normal" Saturday running of 3GR will be deferred due to the GTDRI happening Sunday all day. Anyone is welcome, but we will be riding in Jackson County and starting at 5:00am sharp. Just be aware of the details by clicking the link, if you think you might be interested.

Otherwise the "normal" 3GR will pick up again next Saturday, and I'll be piloting the Gravel Mutt, and it should be a regular old good time.

Speaking of the GTDRI, it looks like a record year for attendance. That is- if all the folks show up that say they want to. The record is 12, and it looks that this number will get blown away, which blows me away, quite frankly.

Well, you can expect a fully detailed accounting of any shenanigans that occur along the roads of rural Eastern Iowa starting this Monday. Well......if I survive this. It will be a very tough day of riding, but at least it looks to be about 15°F cooler than last year's sweat-fest, which was only mitigated by a brief respite from a nearby thunderstorm. Otherwise we'd have been cooked out of finishing last year's loop, me-thinks.

At any rate, I hope everyone has a great weekend and keeps the rubber side down wherever you are riding.

Friday News And Views: News Season Part 2

A while back, I posted about "News Season", meaning that most all summer long, there would be bits and pieces of news coming from the manufacturer's and brand's "press camps", "dealer camps", and from "events" where new products would be shown.

Something gets lost herein the chaos...

Well, "News Season" is going strong all this month. You'll soon hear about and see some rather surprising news from a "press camp", and I know of a "dealer camp" coming up in a week or two that will have another bit of a surprise for a lot of folks. Of course, QBP will be hosting it's dealers at its Western warehouse in Utah for "Saddledrive", where I am sure a few more tasty treats will be unveiled.

So, what are these things? All in due time! The point here is how these individual events have turned the traditional trade show idea on its head. It used to be that dealers would go to a show to "find out stuff" in the only good way that there was to find out stuff: You had to physically go somewhere to see the stuff, (Captain Obvious!), but everybody went to see everybody's stuff. It was crowded. It was stressful. Time was short, and well, you probably missed something. Definitely you forgot stuff too. This was seen as no good from the brand's perspective. They wanted to get the retailers alone. Get their attention glued to their message. Dealers wanted a less stressful, more fun venue. Dealer Camps do that. Press Camps, on the other hand, focus on certain core media to get the same message out. No other distractions for the media means they get a focused, one on one message to deliver to their readers. Again, something that appeals to brands.

My take is that while trade shows have their place, the really exciting, fun, revolutionary stuff is happening at Press Camps and Dealer Camps, not at trade shows. 

It started out like this, then......

 Gravel Mutt Project Update:

 Back in May I dug into the "Gravel Mutt Project" in earnest. Many readers have expressed that they have been intrigued by the story, and that they have been excited to see the next step in the process. Well, that process is coming to a close. The Gravel Mutt is finished!

Wednesday evening was the first ride. I then rode it to work and back again yesterday. There are a couple of bugs to work out. There will be a few fitting tweaks, but basically, this bike is on the road. So, what is next?

A full reveal will appear here tomorrow, but there will be a small series that will be published on Gravel Grinder News that will be about how one can build their own "gravel mutt" and this bike will be the example used. Consider all the basic info I have posted here as your "preview" of that series. Ironically, yesterday I was contacted by someone in the media that wanted my help in writing the exact same story line. So, I guess it is an interesting subject, eh? 

Stay tuned for the reveal tomorrow and look for the series on "Gravel Grinder News" to appear soon.

Committing convenience store abuse!

3GR: Guitar Ted Death Ride Invitational:

The "normal" Saturday running of 3GR will be deferred due to the GTDRI happening Sunday all day. Anyone is welcome, but we will be riding in Jackson County and starting at 5:00am sharp. Just be aware of the details by clicking the link, if you think you might be interested.

Otherwise the "normal" 3GR will pick up again next Saturday, and I'll be piloting the Gravel Mutt, and it should be a regular old good time.

Speaking of the GTDRI, it looks like a record year for attendance. That is- if all the folks show up that say they want to. The record is 12, and it looks that this number will get blown away, which blows me away, quite frankly.

Well, you can expect a fully detailed accounting of any shenanigans that occur along the roads of rural Eastern Iowa starting this Monday. Well......if I survive this. It will be a very tough day of riding, but at least it looks to be about 15°F cooler than last year's sweat-fest, which was only mitigated by a brief respite from a nearby thunderstorm. Otherwise we'd have been cooked out of finishing last year's loop, me-thinks.

At any rate, I hope everyone has a great weekend and keeps the rubber side down wherever you are riding.