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Whilst I was waiting for the last bits for my SB-66 to arrive, I accidentally stumbled across the awesome deals Billys were/are doing on Salsas.
I needed a bike for XC duties round the New Forest, and never having owned a 29er before, I thought I would give one a bash.
The spec reads as follows-
2013 Salsa Mamasita 29er frame (size large)
Salsa seat collar
Gusset mix'n'match inset headset
Exotic carbon 29er rigid forks
Maxm 27.2mm carbon inline seatpost
Bontrager Evoke full-carbon saddle (148g!!!!)
Syntace Megaforce 2 80mm stem (seriously stiff)
USE Atom carbon straight bars
Uberbike lock-on grips
M780 cranks
Praxis Works PF30 conversion BB
Blackspire Mono Veloce Narrow Wide 32t chainring
Crank Bros Eggbeater pedals
M780 shadow plus rear mech
M780 11-36 cassette
Shimano chain with Sram Powerlink
SLX ispec B rear shifter
Formula RX disc brakes
Hope matchmaker mount (this works with a Formula lever!)
Ashima lightweight 180/160 rotors
Hope Pro 2 Evo hubs
BOR XMD333 rims
Pillar triple-butted spokes
Lightweight rear QR
9mm Through QR for front
Schwalbe Rocket Ron 2.25 Pacestar Snakeskin front tyre (tubeless)
Schwalbe Racing Ralph 2.25 Pacestar Snakeskin rear tyre (tubeless)
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I took it for the maiden voyage this morning on a fast 2hr XC loops and **** me, this bike is fast. The bike is pretty light, but could go lighter with a few choice mods (I reckon I could take a further 1kg out of it with lighter tyres, cranks and a few other bits). It is massively rigid though and climbs like a goat.
The new Blackspire narrow wide is absolutely fantastic. I would suggest that it performs even better than the RF narrow wides I have been running before and am running on the SB66
I have a Hope T-Rex 40t on back order which should open it up to more hilly adventures.
It's definitely a keeper.
Love it!
Any chain drop?
Just ask as I have a NW chainring in the shed and a XT780 rear mech without clutch and was assuming I'd need a clutch mech for optimum XC jayboy mincing.
I've only ever run narrow wides with clutch rear mechs. The Yeti has a zee FR rear mech, but this is a medium cage Xt as I need the range for the incoming T-Rex sprocket.
Absolutely no hints at chain drops or clatter. Does what it says on the tin,. I can't praise it enough. Blackspire make some awesome kit (in Canada rather than Taiwan) and their only crime is that they are not first to the market. For the same price as the RF ring, it's a no brainer for me.
A few more pics before the bike got very very muddy
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I was just posting on your Yeti build thread and thought I'd check this out.
Lovely bike.
Just my tuppence, they handle much better with 110/120mm stems.