New bike – Salsa Horsethief (almost)

Obviously not quite finished as the chain was too short, but anyway =

First thoughts: It’s looooooooong. I’m 6’2″ and the front tyre is above my eyeline when on it’s back wheel. (admittedly with a 2.4 front tyre)
It’s not light = mainly due to tyres I’d imagine, On-One Chunky Monkey 2.4 and a Smorgasbord 2.25
Tubeless set up is a piece of cake – Arch EX rims, yellow taped. Smorgasbord went up no issues with a track pump, sealed very quickly. Will do the front wheel too when I decide whether to keep the Chunky Monkey on or use a Smorgasbord instead.

Issues:
Need to get a new chain tomorrow as my old one is too short.
Rear mech doesn’t seem to have a stop point on the mech hanger, so ends up swinging under the chainstay, any ideas on what I might be doing wrong? Should I just rely on the tension of the mech bolt?

EDIT: cables will be sorted tomorrow night.

one of your wheels is the wrong size.

Both are the right size 😉

OR the front wheel is just closer to the camera.

That could well be the case. Admittedly it really does look like a 29″ front wheel and 26″ rear.

To be fair it does look a bit odd. Why did you buy that?

Nice looking bike 😀
My bike always looks strange in photos, looks miles better in real life!

I wanted a FS 29er something that’d take a beating should the need arise, and the frames are old stock so going relatively cheaply.
Or do you mean why did I buy it even though it looks weird? Look alright in the flesh, just weird in that photo.

Fair do’es I’d lower the front of that saddle though.

Will do, not sorted positioning yet as I’ve not been able to pedal it.

Finished 😀 Looks great in my (clearly impartial) opinion. Not ridden yet but going for a ride tomorrow. What say you STW?
Apologies for poor quality kitchen photo:

that 1st photo put me right off as i thought the bike looked horrible, the latest pic is just the opposite and it looks great, funny how a picture does that

cupboard door under sink needs adjusting upwards a few mil..

bike looks chuffing great 😀

That looks better.
I must admit, I was very tempted to get one of those.

The opportunity is still available 😉

Looks great.

Have you opened the fork up yet to see if it’s got a spacer restricting it to 130mm?

Not yet, going to try riding it first to see whether I feel 140 would be too much or just more fun.

Was the frame not designed round a 140 fork. 😉

I’ve got a Rev on my Yelli. Dropped that down to 120 as that’s what the frame was designed round. Didn’t take long before i put it back to 140. 8)

Between 120 and 140. Came with a spacer in the box (OEM from CRC) which makes me think there may well be a spacer in there. I’m almost scared about how fast it’ll be, might check my brakes again in the morning 😯

Is that a Large or XL?

At some stage I’ll have to upgrade my Big Mama to a newer version.

Large. I’m 6’2″ and it’s absolutely fine for me, will probably change from a 70 to 50mm stem at some point.

It’s fanbloodytastic. Perfect fit, tyres don’t seem overly draggy, may change when I put the front tubeless but I can live with that for the amount of grip it gives.

Great bike!
Enjoy your riding!
Good luck.

Weight is approx 13.9kg on my luggage scales, without thinking about it, which I’m happy with. Might get a Nobby Nic/ Racing Ralph SS for “summer” though.

Do like that. I swither between liking and disliking the colour, mind, but on balance I think it’s great- and at least it’s interesting.

waiting to see if the price drops again, heard there’s a replacement model so you never know 🙂

Which bike were you riding before?

MrTall – Member
Is that a Large or XL?

At some stage I’ll have to upgrade my Big Mama to a newer version.

POSTED 23 HOURS AGO # REPORT-POST

Not snapped yet then Steve ? 😀

Si,

I’ve only ridden it once since the ‘summer’ so i still don’t know if it’s a crack or not and it’s now out of warranty. Oops.

If the Wyre ever dries out i’ll try riding it again…….

Was on a Specialized FSR XC Comp, which was good, but a bit on the small side.
Can’t see the price dropping any further RD, they’re already £800. Not many left as far as I know.

Looks good mate. 😉

Ah well in twisted logic I’ll have saved myself £800 🙂

Buy one, you know it’s the right decision.

I’ve just ordered one 🙂

I find I’m not loving it enough to take a punt

How’s it going Sambob? Finding myself Horsethief curious….

Anyone got an S or M down South?

Same boat. Sold 3 of my 26ers and looking for an AM 29er FS to go alongside my Scalpel 29er and HT 29er.

I have a demo on a Tallboy LT on Saturday but finding it hard, on paper, to justify the expense in comparsion to a Horsethief frameset.

Loving mine so far, 4 rides inc a xc race with my best result, its a large though, pic on here somewhere, last page http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/i-bought-a-new-frame-today

Loving mine the more I ride it.

Interesting how versatile a frame it is – mine’s built up very much as an AM bike whilst others here seem to have a more XC/Trail build.

Only thing I’d change about mine would be bottle bosses. And they have them on the 2013 ones.

IMO one of the best traits is the length, you can really “feel” your position in the bike and have a lot of latitude to move forward/back and fine tune the weight on each wheel. Makes it really easy to push the limits of the tyres.

No XLs left.