Salsa Cycles are Coming to Yawp!

Yes, Salsa bikes are on their way to Yawp!

We're stoked to be carrying these bikes, and though you may be familiar with Salsa bikes already, we've already talked our own ears off about them so we might as well write a blog.

First of all, if you're a huge fan of Surly you may be feeling a little bit strange about this. You may be thinking, "Hey, I bought a Surly from Yawp! because you said they were rad, and now you're bringing in this other brand. Did you really mean what you said?"

Well, Surlys are rad, and we'll keep saying how rad they are. We meant it and mean it. You'll probably see us riding Salsa bikes some of the time, but does that mean we like Surly any less? No way! Are we going to get our Surly face tattoos removed? Never. Are all three of the people who work here in the middle of building up new Surly bikes for themselves? Yes! That's basically a constant.

As you may know, Salsa's motto is "adventure by bike." What does that mean? It can be difficult to describe, because adventure means different things to different people. Some people consider adventure to be spending months on their bikes, traversing a country. For others, adventure is a full day at Buff Creek. Saying "adventure by bike" is a little bit like saying "adventure by pants." You can adventure in almost any kind of pants (save perhaps pants on fire). Obviously, some pants are better than others if adventuring in pants is your thing. And that's where Salsa comes in.

We like adventures. As a shop, we've been fortunate to have some grand adventures both big and small. We're excited to add Salsa to our lineup because they'll nicely compliment what we already carry, and help support the part of the shop that is oriented toward adventure.

Adventure! (There happens to be a Salsa in this picture).

Adventure! (He happens to be riding a Salsa, too).

Adventure!

Adventure!

In many ways, Surly is an industry leader. We have them to thank for production fat bikes, plus-size wheel platforms, and a host of other innovations that are now being used by many other manufacturers. Because they make only steel bikes, many people associate the brand with retro-grouches and maybe even hippies, but in many ways they are at the front of the industry. In contrast, Salsa makes a majority of their bikes out of aluminum and carbon. They design bikes that are more appropriate for racing. They make full-suspension mountain bikes. In these ways, they are more in line with current trends.

There are flashy bikes that don't ride well, and we won't carry those. There are innovative bikes that ride poorly, and we don't want anything to do with those, either. For example, here's another bike designed around adventure:

Maybe these are rad. Certainly a few folks out there will buy them and love them. Great! They won't buy them here because they appear gimmicky to us, and we have concerns about that chainring gnarling a face here and there. While Salsa is flashier and faster to hop on trends than Surly, they ride exceptionally well. And that's what the whole darn thing is about, right? Salsa's Redpoint is a full suspension bike with 150mm of travel, and it climbs like a total champ (this is coming from a rigid bike and hardtail fanatic, mind you). 

Salsa is a brand of considerable renown, so you may be familiar with their bikes already. If you're not, we're going to talk about a few that we're excited about.

The Timberjack

his aluminum hardtail comes with either 29er wheels for $999 or with 27.5+ wheels for $1399. This thing is going to rip. A good friend Bobby from District Cycles in Oklahoma says about this bike, "If you have $700 to spend on a bike, you owe it to yourself to have a garage sale and spend $999."

The Horsethief/Pony Rustler

The Horsethief (named after the popular Fruita trail) has been a favorite for years, and it's one of the most capable, all-around trail bikes. It has 120mm travel in the rear and 130mm up front. The Pony Rustler is the same frame but with 27.5+ wheels. Both models come in aluminum and carbon. If bike rides were mornings, this bike would be fuzzy bunny slippers.

The Redpoint

This is a 150mm travel bike that, as I mentioned, climbs so well that a hardtail fanatic will be all sorts of giggly about it. Judging from the length of its travel, it should be in the "enduro" bike category, but it sure doesn't climb like one. The bike was designed for exploring the backcountry, for getting into and out of places that are unknown. It comes in carbon and aluminum. 

The Woodsmoke

This bike can run many different wheel sizes, which makes it difficult to talk about concisely. It's a rippin' hardtail and a bikepacking phenomenon. There's room for a "yhuge" frame bag. The chainstays are about as long as your finger. If you've ridden 29+ before, this is wholly unlike whatever you rode. 

Hey, does the Woodsmoke make anybody else think of these:

Salsa bikes will start showing up in the store in a few weeks, and more models will appear later this year and early in the spring. Yeah!

That's a pretty brief introduction, but there are about a million places on the internet already with good information about these bikes. For starters, you can look over Salsa's website here. Remember, follow the steps and hang in there. Salsa is easy to learn!