Salsa Night at NCC

It wasn't long after moving out of town that I came back. Not even a whole damn week. E-Fred from Salsa Cycles hauled a truck full of new 2014 bikes into town for a demo at North Central Cyclery, so I came back to check them out, eat some pizza, drink some drinks, and hang with some of the good folks I had to leave behind. I headed over after work and arrived just as things were winding down. Or maybe not, because the pennyfarthing emerged shortly after my arrival.

Salsa tends to attract a certain type cyclist. These people, to put in the least offensive way possible, are super-nerds that love geekin' out about all the little specs and gadgets and most likely own an REI Visa card. There's nothing wrong with that at all. It's ok to enjoy adventuring by bike just as much as researching bike stuff on the internet. However, if you're that kind of person, this is probably not the blog for you, because you will find no technical babble or product specs here. 

I will say this, though: The 2014 Salsas look like some of their nicest yet, and the graphics on these bikes look better than ever. I like that they decided to add some paint to their titanium frames. I can't deny that a raw titanium bike is indeed beautiful, but after a while they all start to look alike. I think Salsa made a wise choice and avoided the potential boredom. Also, the new carbon Beargrease is light as hell. I took it for a good spin, and when you crank hard in a low gear, the front end effortlessly pops right up. It doesn't even feel like you're riding a fatbike. It handles like a relatively lightweight 29er.

Graphics on the new carbon Beargrease. 

The Double-Wide Boyz

Dang. Wide bars, dude.

Local brews

Joel mounting the pennyfarthing with the aid of the Blue Demon.

Joel's Vaya with Bruce Gordon Rock N' Road tires. One of the coolest rubber things I've ever seen.

Nice blurry one of Darrien shreddin' on the carbon Beargrease.

Joel admiring the new Salsa Colossal.

Custom painted ENVE carbon fork on the new Colossal.

Ti Mariachi

Nice paint on the new Mariachis. 

Titanium Mariachi

Titanium Mariachi's rear end.

Aluminum Salsa Warbird.

Salsa Warbird.

Darrien and "Ross's dad". Aren't they adorable...

Not a Salsa, but pretty rad. Olive drab Surly Pugsley with digital camo frame bags from Revelate Designs.

A new Salsa top cap.

NCC X MOOTS Custom Frame

North Central Cyclery recently teamed up with Moots to do a custom cyclocross frame with the rear end of a 29'er to make for a cross bike with tons of clearance. Neat-o. Some have given it the name "Minotoor". It is yet to be built up, but come in and check it out some time and order one for yourself if ya like it.

Custom decals and all.

Our good friend Mikey admires the frame while resembling a greek god with the most majestic hair ever. Also, don't mind that crappy seatpost. Just temporary in order to hold the frame in a work stand...

Vamoots CR Photoshoot for NCC

I recently had the pleasure of photographing this very exceptional Moots build that we did at North Central Cyclery. Vamoots CR frame, ENVE bars and fork, Moots post and stem, all Chris King bearings and full Ultegra. A very proper and reliable choice of components with a superior ride quality. I'd love to spend a few hours riding this thing on some smooth open roads. I chose to photograph it on the railroad because I thought the steel train tracks somehow complimented the titanium frame and the location allowed for a lot of depth. Check out a few more shots below:

Aaron's Moots PsychloX

Aaron's Moots build has been completed, and I took some photos of it basking in a bed of gravel before we chopped the steerer tube and set it free. Highlights include Sram Rival gruppo, Eriksen "Sweetpost", King headset, Ergon saddle, Enve fork...

The first of many Moots to be built at North Central Cyclery.

Chalk/Titanium

In preparation for our upcoming Brompton event at the shop, we decided to create a little display on our chalkboard to showcase the brand. I traced the shadow of an unfolded Brompton onto the board and colored it in. Chalk/chalkboards aren't media that I'm particularly comfortable with, and drawing on a big rough vertical board is a lot more difficult than I imagined, but I was surprised with the way it turned out. We added some notes to highlight cool things about the Bromptons - informative and decorative. Woo!

...And here's a sneak peek at that Moots build in progress. It's almost finished and looks quite exceptional.

Baller Bikes at the Shop

We've been building up some real fancy bikes lately at NCC. It's been cool. I snapped some photos of a few things we had sitting around and utilized our freshly painted chalkboard. Above is a Project One Trek Domane. I actually really like the look and feel of the Dura-Ace 900 stuff and the clear "red smoke" paint over the carbon looks fantastic in the light.

We've recently became a Moots dealer too, and this PsychloX frame is the first one we're building up. The craftsmanship of this thing is phenomenal. It will be getting an Enve fork and a bunch of other nice things.

We've still got a few Beargrease hangin out, and this one received some "icy cool" touches.

The Portland Design Works Dios Thronous saddles are made from the same material that those Crocs "shoes" are made of. This means they're completely waterproof, scuff resistant, durable, lightweight, and surprisingly comfortable. The perfect fatbike saddle.

E-Thirteen pedals. Durable, grippy, wide, nice bearings.

Titanium Salsa Warbird Complete

We've been getting a ton of cool stuff in at the shop recently. I had the pleasure of building up one of those cool things: a titanium Salsa Warbird, Salsa's "gravel/CX racing" bike. I am really impressed by the quality of the build that is being offered as a complete. It's got all the fancy stuff, like DT Swiss 350 hubs, HED rims, ENVE carbon fork, and my favorite gravel tires, the Clement USH in 700cx35mm. I took it out for a quick spin, and oh man... This thing rides well - Comfortable, yet quick. Come in and see for yourself. In the mean time, photos: