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[Closed] Salsa demo bikes

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Does anyone know if there is a demo horsethief knocking about around the North West of GB. Thanks in advance.


 
Posted : 27/07/2012 1:05 pm
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NW of GB? Not many bike shops to choose from. Try asking Dave at Bothy Bikes in Aviemore


 
Posted : 27/07/2012 1:08 pm
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Dave at Bothy managed to get a large in for me to demo at the end of me. Very impressive bike for the money. I took it up and down the Lairig Ghru and was struck by how quick and fast steering it felt to the extent that I found myself going into corners a lot quicker than I was expecting. Well, that's how it felt anyway.

Ask your local Salsa dealer to get in touch with ISON as they should be able to set you up for a demo. They strike me as a very good company to deal with having had a minor issue with my Fargo which they coudn't have been more helpful to resolve.

The Horsethief is still top of my list for long travel 29er but I still have a Transition Bandit 29 and the Commencal to try. Looking for something that can stand up to big days out in the mountains with long, technical, rocky downhills.

The Horsethief is a very good bike indeed.

Cheers

Sanny


 
Posted : 27/07/2012 2:56 pm
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Thanks for the mini review, it will be interesting to hear how the bandit is as its a toss up between the two for me.


 
Posted : 27/07/2012 5:24 pm
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Lipseal

It's not ultra plush for 120mm of travel but it fair cracks along on technical woodsy singletrack. Traction is good on both rocky and rooty climbs. I wasn't a fan of the bars it came with but those are easy to change. I'd be interested to see how it runs with a 140mm fork as the 120 felt pretty good.

The top tube allows you to run a shorter stem which I suspect adds to the snappy steering feeling. It doesn't suffer from that big wheel barge feeling that I've found on Fisher 29ers.

I caught my heel a few times on the seatstay which was a little annoying but not a deal breaker.

I'd like to try one on properly steep, tech trails to see how it copes with my preferred kind of riding.

I reckon it's very good bike indeed.


 
Posted : 27/07/2012 6:54 pm