All photos courtesy of Salsa Cycles.
Photography by http://www.scottharaldson.com
Salsa Cycles’ annual product launch event, dubbed “Saddle Drive,” is currently taking place at Northstar near Lake Tahoe, California. In conjunction with the event, they’ve released details to the public on their updated product line.
While many of the bikes only saw minor tweaks and modifications, Salsa did unveil two new plus-size mountain bikes: the Woodsmoke and the Timberjack. We have a writer currently on-site at Saddle Drive, so stay tuned for first-ride reviews of some of the new and improved bikes!
Woodsmoke
The Woodsmoke is Salsa’s new carbon hardtail mountain bike, which is designed to run three different tire sizes: 29+, 27.5+, and 29″. Notably, the Woodsmoke is the first only the second non-fat bike that’s designed to run 29+ wheels that comes with a carbon frame. after the Trek Stache. Interestingly, Salsa also opted for an elevated drive side chainstay, very similar to the Stache. This elevated chainstay keeps the stays short, but also allows the Woodsmoke to still be 2x compatible.
(Do you know of another carbon-framed 29+ rig that’s not a fat bike that I missed? Let me know about it in the comments section below!)
In order to accommodate all three tire and wheel sizes, Salsa kits this bike with their “Alternator Dropouts Version 2.0,” which essentially corrects the geometry of the bike so that it rides properly, depending on what size wheels you have installed. It will also allow you to go singlespeed.
One final interesting point is that this rig can run a variety of different fork travel lengths: from 0-140mm. As you can imagine, the variety of fork travel lengths combined with three different wheel standards make for a wide range of geometries, despite the compensation from the Alternator Dropouts. The Woodsmoke offers trail bike geometry, with 400-417mm chainstays (depending on wheel size), 50mm stems, wide bars, and head tube angles of 67.8 degrees to 68.4 degrees.
Prices for the Woodsmoke are $2,999 for a GX1 build and $3,999 for an X01 build. All models should be available December 2016.
Timberjack
The Tiimberjack, on the other hand, is a much more affordably-priced plus bike, with builds coming in at $1,399 for a 27.5+ GX1 build, $999 for a 29″ NX1 build, or $399 for a frame-only. Availability on this model is a little sooner: October.
The aluminum frame is one of the primary factors keeping the price of the Timberjack more reasonable, especially when coupled with the price-conscious parts package. While the Timberjack doesn’t have all of the bells and whistles of the Woodsmoke, it does still receive Alternator Dropouts (presumably 1.0), and internal cable and dropper post routing.
You can spec a rigid fork, 120mm, or 130mm fork on the Tiimberjack, which all provide different head tube angle readings: 68.8 degrees, 68, and 67.9, respectively. Chainstay lengths range from 420-437mm.
While the Timberjack may not be quite as flashy as the Woodsmoke, the trail geometry will help deliver an aggressive “mountain hardtail” that should tame terrain normally reserved for full suspension mountain bikes!
Last updated by Greg Heil on July 28, 2016 at 4:04pm MDT.
