Salsa Spearfish Evaluate: Zesty Inexperienced Salsa Blew My Expectations Out of the Water

Again at Sea Otter, Salsa had a number of new bikes on show, together with the most recent model of its cross-country bike, the Spearfish. The Spearfish has been a staple within the model’s lineup for so long as we are able to bear in mind, and it has gone by quite a few iterations over time. The earlier model got here out method again in 2019, so it’s truthful to say it was lengthy overdue for an replace. 

Mountain bike design has been evolving quickly, and that appears significantly true for cross-country bikes. Fashionable XC bikes have grow to be more and more succesful whereas remaining light-weight, environment friendly, and tremendous responsive. With a lot change because the Spearfish’s final replace six years in the past, the brand new model is basically a totally new bike. With a revised and streamlined body design, elevated rear wheel journey, and up-to-date geometry, Salsa has introduced the Spearfish again consistent with its opponents.

I’ve been driving the brand new Spearfish C DLX GX Transmission on and off for the previous couple of months, and it has been an absolute blast. This bike has far exceeded my expectations, and is tremendous quick, environment friendly, and impressively succesful given its cross-country pedigree. It performs greatest when saved inside its XC wheelhouse, after all, however this bike is a rocketship on the suitable terrain and holds its personal when taken out of its consolation zone.

Salsa Spearfish Particulars

I’ve ridden a number of completely different Salsa mountain bikes in my life, however most have been purposefully budget-oriented for the sake of motorbike evaluations. I’ve gotten together with all of them properly sufficient, however they’ve all the time felt a bit bland resulting from heavier aluminum frames or lower-end elements. Due to this, I don’t assume I’ve ever actually given the model a good shake. That’s why I used to be stoked to get my palms on the most recent Spearfish, a thoroughbred cross-country bike with a lightweight carbon body and fancier part spec.

Body Design

The brand new Spearfish will get a totally redesigned body. Whereas the top tube junction and the form of the downtube resemble its predecessor, the remainder of the body appears to be like prefer it was placed on a weight loss program. The highest tube has been straightened and thinned out, and it intersects the seat tube a bit of decrease. Salsa has caught with its Cut up Pivot suspension design, however the seat stays seem like a bit thinner, they usually moved again to common Enhance spacing from the Tremendous Enhance on the earlier model. The brand new body will get 120 mm of rear wheel journey (up from 100 mm), and that’s paired with a 120 mm fork. In keeping with Salsa, you can transfer as much as a 130 mm fork with none points. It comes with 29-inch wheels entrance and rear on all sizes, and tire clearance is acknowledged at 2.4”.

DLX stands for “deluxe” and refers back to the higher-end carbon development of the Spearfish body that I examined. Salsa says that is their most premium carbon fiber ever, leading to a body that’s 250 grams lighter than their customary carbon development. Each the GX Transmission and the XO Transmission builds include the DLX carbon body, whereas the extra reasonably priced Eagle 90 and Deore builds include the usual carbon. Salsa additionally sells the DLX as a body solely with a Fox Float SL manufacturing unit shock for $3,499.

The Spearfish body has all the trendy touches like inside cable routing, together with for a distant shock lockout, and molded rubber downtube and chainstay safety. It additionally has a formidable variety of bottle bosses, making it doable to suit as much as three bottles contained in the triangle of the M, L, and XL frames — XS and S frames can match two plus one other bolt-on accent. There are accent mounts on the highest tube, too. It doesn’t have in-frame storage, however the wealth of mounts kinda makes up for that, I suppose.

Geometry

The Spearfish is available in 5 body sizes, XS to XL, and may work for many riders between 4’11” and 6’5” or so. General, the geometry appears fairly properly updated and aligned with at the moment’s cross-country requirements. Salsa additionally included a flip-chip into the decrease shock mount, which relaxes the top tube and seat tube angles by 0.3 levels and lowers the underside bracket top by 5mm. For the sake of simplicity, I’ll describe the geometry for the excessive setting; simply keep in mind that it may be tweaked barely within the low setting.

In comparison with its dated predecessor, the brand new Spearfish is kind of a bit longer and slacker. That is most evident within the 66.3-degree head tube angle (excessive setting), which helps hold the dealing with sharp however retains the entrance finish extra composed and assured in steeper or rougher terrain. The attain has additionally grown by ~30 mm on all sizes, with 490 mm on my massive body. After all, which means the wheelbase has additionally gotten longer, by ~50 to 60 mm, relying on the body dimension. 

The seat tube angle has steepened by roughly 3 levels and is now at 77.3 levels (extra on this later). Chainstay size is a constant 430 mm throughout all sizes. Backside bracket top is listed at 343 mm (unsagged) with 31 mm of drop. Crank size, handlebar width, and dropper publish journey range by body dimension for extra proportional suits.

Cut up Pivot Suspension

Salsa elevated the rear journey of the Spearfish by 20 mm to 120 mm, however is utilizing its time-tested and confirmed Cut up Pivot suspension design. Whereas the vast majority of XC race bikes have moved to a flex-stay design to save lots of weight, Salsa is sticking to its weapons on this one. Whereas the added pivot {hardware} and materials may add a bit of weight to the body, Salsa claims that Cut up Pivot higher isolates braking and pedaling forces and permits the suspension to function independently from them.

Whereas it’s fairly much like a linkage-drive single pivot, Cut up Pivot provides a pivot concentric to the rear axle. This pivot location primarily decouples the brake from the axle because the suspension strikes by its journey. That is practically an identical to Trek’s Energetic Braking Pivot (ABP) suspension, which claims related efficiency advantages, after all. 

When it comes to kinematics, Salsa says “we prioritize a progressive leverage ratio, constant, decrease anti-rise curves, and supportive anti-squat within the pedaling zone.” In principle, this implies the suspension ought to ramp as much as forestall harsh bottom-outs, work independently of braking forces, and supply a supportive pedaling platform.

Spearfish C DLX GX Transmission Construct

The GX Transmission construct sells for $6,999 and is one step down from the top-of-the-line XO Transmission Flight Attendant construct. It’s lower than a pound heavier than the XO construct and saves you $4,000. With that cash, you should purchase some super-light wheels, a carbon bar, and a lighter dropper, and are available below 26 kilos and doubtless have some money leftover. Or, simply by the DLX body and construct up the bike you wish to start with.

Fork: Fox 34 SL Efficiency Elite, Grip X, 120 mm

Shock: Fox Float SL LV Efficiency Elite, 3-pos.

Drivetrain: SRAM GX Eagle AXS Transmission, 32T, Pod controller

Brakes: SRAM Motive Bronze Stealth 4-piston, 180 mm Centerline rotors entrance and rear 

Wheels: WTB KOM Mild rims with WTB Frequency hubs

Tires: Teravail Camrock 29” x 2.4”, Mild Path Casing

Seatpost: TranzX YS108 RAD+, 170 mm (massive)

Saddle: WTB Silverado, Medium, Chromoly

Handlebar: Race Face Turbine Alloy, 800 mm (massive)

Stem: Salsa 35 Information path: 50 mm

Grips: WTB Wavelength

Claimed weight: 26 lbs. 10 oz. (dimension not specified)

Measured weight: 27.1 lbs. (dimension massive)

Using the Salsa Spearfish

Lately, I’ve taken fairly a shine to the brand new breed of cross-country bikes. With trendy geometry and elements, the latest crop of XC bikes is way extra versatile and enjoyable to journey than they was once. Final 12 months, I spent fairly a little bit of time on the brand new Yeti ASR, and actually loved the low weight, spectacular effectivity, and shocking functionality of that bike. I anticipated related efficiency from the Spearfish, however at 27 kilos, I used to be a bit of involved it’d really feel a bit of sluggish or be misplaced someplace between a path and cross-country bike. These issues shortly went away.

Climbing

So, I can’t solely clarify it, however this is among the quickest mountain bikes I’ve ever ridden on the climbs. At 27 kilos, it’s lighter than my common path bike however not precisely mild for its class. It’s over 3 kilos heavier than the ASR I rode final 12 months, which is fairly darn vital. Nonetheless, this bike rolls tremendous quick, and I’ve been flying uphill. It’s a type of bikes that urges you to go sooner and push the tempo.

The very first journey I took it on, a six-mile climb with 2,000 toes of elevation achieve, I knocked over 3 minutes off my earlier greatest time, and with what felt like much less effort. Since then, each climb is a PR if I need it to be, and that’s a wild feeling. It’s particularly attention-grabbing provided that I’m not getting any youthful and I’ve had a really off summer season resulting from medical points, and my health is nowhere close to its peak. So what’s happening right here?

Whereas it provides barely to the general weight of the bike, Salsa’s Cut up Pivot design appears to work fairly properly. In my expertise, it’s calm and supportive each within the saddle and out, and I’ve but to flip the compression damping change on the shock to agency it up. On the similar time, the rear suspension is lively sufficient over small bumps, and climbing traction has been nice, even with the tremendous low-profile tires.

Talking of these tires, I believe they’re one of many primary components contributing to its quickness. The Teravail Camrock tread is low profile, and these tires really feel like they’ve just about no rolling resistance and carry some severe velocity. The Mild Path casing can be fairly supple, and it conforms properly to the path floor, offering extra climbing traction than anticipated. 

Geometry-wise, the bike is tremendous cozy for me. The attain is spot on for my wants, and the entrance finish isn’t loopy low like some XC bikes. I’ve obtained the stem close to the highest of the spacer stack, and it’s nonetheless decrease than my path bike, and I might go decrease if I needed. With the shock sagged, the underside bracket is pretty low (even within the excessive setting), and I’ve had some mild pedal strikes which have saved me on my toes. The 77.3-degree seat tube angle appears nearly a bit of misplaced on an XC bike. I’ve been getting together with it properly sufficient, however there’s a good quantity of strain on my palms.

Descending

I’d say carrying velocity within the flats and zipping uphill are this bike’s robust fits, however it’s loads of enjoyable to journey downhill, too. The one issues actually holding this bike again are its modest journey numbers and XC tires, however the identical may very well be stated of nearly any related bike. It prefers rolling, lower-angle descents with mild to average doses of rock and technicality, the place its responsive dealing with, playfulness, and effectivity shine. Nonetheless, with trendy geometry in your aspect, you possibly can rip round on this factor like a brief journey path bike — when you be taught to belief these tires (or swap them out for one thing completely different)…

At 120/120 mm of journey, the Spearfish suits proper into the trendy XC journey bracket. After all, that’s one of many limiting components in terrain alternative and aggressiveness for XC bikes, and that’s actually true right here. Nonetheless, I’ve discovered the Cut up Pivot platform to work very properly, and I haven’t actually seen any brake jack or drivetrain interference within the rear journey. There’s not loads to work with again there, however the progressive curve has been stopping any harsh backside outs until I’m doing one thing silly. That is my first expertise driving the brand new Fox 34 SL, and I’ve been largely impressed. It’s mild, works properly, and is suitable for this bike, even when it’s a little flexy within the tough stuff. I’d put its efficiency consistent with the most recent RockShox SID forks.

General, the geometry has been nice for me on the descents. The 490 mm attain is spot on for my lanky physique, so it doesn’t really feel cramped, and the 66.3 head tube angle retains steering sharp however avoids feeling twitchy. The 430 mm chainstays hold the rear finish maneuverable and have been contributing to this bike’s poppy and playful character. This bike can be a hoot to journey until you step into terrain method exterior of its pay grade.

The 4-piston Motive brakes have been working surprisingly properly. The dropper publish and cockpit are completely enough, however I’d undoubtedly improve all of it if I have been holding this bike. I believe I might shave some severe weight with a lighter dropper and a carbon handlebar (and wheels, too). These super-fast-rolling tires took a number of rides to get used to on the descents. You’ve actually obtained to account for the rounded profile and quick tread lugs when braking and cornering, as they don’t have a ton of chunk in both division. I used to be tempted to swap the entrance out for one thing like a Specialised Floor Management or Maxxis Rekon, however I’ve been rolling with it, and it has been fairly enjoyable studying to belief the drift. 

If I have been holding this bike, I’d in all probability additionally bump the fork journey to 130 mm for a bit of extra cushion and a barely slacker head tube angle. The paths are fairly tough round right here, so I’d no less than strive it and see the way it goes.

What Didn’t I Like?

I like nearly every part about this bike. My largest grievance is concerning the GX Transmission drivetrain. I’ve examined fairly a number of Transmission drivetrains, and my expertise with them has been very combined. Half of them have labored completely, and the opposite half have been considerably finicky. This one was the latter, doing this annoying factor the place the cage will get kinda caught after extending, and you must flip it again by hand to shift usually once more. I additionally completely dislike the ergonomics of the AXS Pod controllers. Name me old style, however I’d fairly journey mechanical Eagle 90 Transmission or Shimano XT any day.

Some individuals may disagree with me, however I additionally assume the 77.3-degree seat tube angle is a bit of too steep for an XC bike. That stated, it makes that longer attain determine really feel not fairly as stretched out because it in any other case might.

Salsa Spearfish: My Takeaway

If it seems like I’ve loved testing the Spearfish, that’s as a result of I actually have. This zesty inexperienced Salsa is quick, environment friendly, and energetic, even when it isn’t significantly aggressive within the weight division. It’s most undoubtedly a cross-country bike, however I discovered it to be versatile sufficient to deal with terrain exterior of pure XC territory. Most significantly, it has been plenty of enjoyable to journey whereas pushing the tempo on the climbs and descents. 

It strikes me as an amazing choice for cross-country racers or any fitness-oriented riders who wish to hold the tempo up, cowl plenty of floor, and don’t really feel the have to be “over-biked” more often than not. I might additionally see it being a superb match for long-distance, endurance occasions, or as a bikepacking/journey driving rig. 

Drivetrain points apart, this bike has in any other case exceeded my expectations. I’d love to hold onto it for some time and tinker with a 130 mm fork and swap out elements to see how mild I could make it, however alas, I’ve obtained to ship it again, and I’m unhappy to see it go.

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