First Ride Report: 2008 Salsa El Mariachi

This week I've been fighting a chest cold I gave myself (again) after going waaaay too hard in the super cold weather at the PCL race this past weekend, but yesterday I decided it was too nice outside and I had to ride, so MW and I got a nice easy spin out the Jamaica North last night. It gave me a great opportunity to do a shakedown run on my new Salsa El Mariachi, and boy, did I ever return home with a smile on my face!!

Like the 2007 model, the new El Mariachi features a True Temper OX Platinum mainframe, with butted chromoly chainstays and seatstays. A Bushnell eccentric bottom bracket, along with a standard derailleur hanger and vertical dropouts make the frame easy to run single or geared. Currently, my '07 frame is my singlespeed, and my '08 frame is my geared mountain bike. Perfecto!

Awesome paint & graphics are part of the deal with the El Mariachi too. Similar pattern to my '08 La Cruz 'cross bike, only in scarlet and cream... Cornhuskers everywhere give it two thumbs up! Yeah, I like red bikes...

So how's it ride? Fast, tight and smooth. It's definitely an El Mariachi though. It feels similar, familial, but somehow a bit quicker to drop into a corner. Perhaps it's just a bit lighter on its feet? I'm not sure -- I haven't ridden them back to back yet, so I'm pulling my impressions from memory, and I'm also comparing a singlespeed to a geared bike, so keep that in mind.

It could also be that I've been running an Exiwolf on the rear of my '07 El Mariachi for a while now, and those of you who've run an Exi on the rear know that while good, it's a bit of a bear when it comes to ultimate speed. A Jones XR Front on the rear however, is a fast rear tire, especially paired with a WeirWolf LT 2.55 on the front. The MG Getto Tubeless System, of course. Big and fast, fast and big. Like a racing beach cruiser that's goin' off the rails.

Wait a Minute... That's a lot of fork! On the front of my new El Mariachi, I decided to go a bit bigger than I have to-date on a 29er, and called up a 100mm travel Manitou Minute 29 -- the quick release version. And while I'm still playing with air pressure and damping settings to get the full performance potential out of the fork, I can tell it's got a lot of potential. I just need to figure out the sweet spot in the settings. The damper has an amazing range of adjustment, and it definitely has an effective "platform" damping function that quickly blows off when a bump is encountered and gets active to absorb it. You can tell there's a lot to like, but it's going to take a little more time and diligence in set-up before I can truly say "I love this fork." That's OK though. I haven't been riding suspension since the 24 Hours of Landahl last year, so it doesn't surprise me that it's taking me a little while to get back into the swing of squish again.

For the front wheel, I laced up an old (circa 2001) Chris King Universal disc hub to a Salsa Delgado Race 29 Disc rim with DT spokes and brass nips. The good stuff. Strong, light, not cheap. Pretty much as good as it gets.

Here's where you see the biggest difference between the '07 and '08 El Mariachi frames. There's no secondary triangulation brace, because the seattube doesn't extend far enough above the top tube to need/warrant it. It's a cleaner, lighter design, and it may account for my perception that the bike is lighter, quicker handling overall, since in theory, there should be less weight carried up high on the frame. Clean, tight welds and excellent craftsmanship can be found throughout the El Mariachi frameset. It's all good stuff, and did I mention how much I love that new red color?!! It's a stunner in the sun. My camera doesn't do it justice... or perhaps it's the photographer who doesn't do it justice -- not sure which, exactly.

It's funny, because I was a big fan of the '07 frame design (with the extra little triangulated brace and extended seattube), but now that they went and changed the '08 frame, I do like the clean, compact look of the '08 better. You guys made a change I wanted, and I didn't even know I wanted it! Nice work Salsa! You've moved beyond merely listening to your customers -- straight to pulling Jedi mind tricks on 'em! But as long as the bikes keep getting better, just keep it up, thank you very much.

Stars 'n Bars: I went for Salsa's new Pro Moto Carbon low-rise handlebar with a 0-degree rise, 100mm Cro Moto stem. The Pro Moto Carbon low-rise bar has 25mm of rise, 10 degrees of bend, and 6 degrees of upsweep. It's a very comfortable bar, and Jason at Salsa tells me it's amazingly strong, especially for its weight. I like the fact that they're offering it in a 'standard' 25.4mm diameter as well, instead of doing the new-school 31.8-only thing.

The Cro Moto stem is a well-known quantity -- strong, light (just 180 grams) and an awesome value for a piece that'll likely last the lifetime of the bike. Everybody should have at least one Salsa stem in their stable, if simply to have a 'standard' by which to judge all their other stems against. Salsa stems are that good.

Thanks EP -- The Zen Master Mechanic at Monkey Wrench Cycles, EP, has an awesome sticker collection. Here's a nice little gem he passed along to me for my new ride. Arriba!!

This one's for you Guitar Ted -- Here's the rim strip you were asking about.

My initial impression of the '08 El Mariachi? Overall, the folks in Minneapolis made some good revisions to what was already a stellar steel steed. I can't wait to get some real singletrack time in on this new bike and see what it's really made of, but if my initial impressions are any indicator, I'm stoked to be back on steel this season.

Ten years ago, who would've thought that I'd be toeing the line on a steel hardtail in 2008? But here we are, and the more things change, the more the 'real things' keep looking, and riding, better and better. Thanks again Salsa Cycles. Clearly we're on the same page.