Lockdown project – Salsa Timberjack Ti

Decided to get a new frame to replace my trusty old El Mariachi. Did a fair bit of research and eventually landed on a Salsa Timberjack Ti for the following reasons:

• Ti bling
• Decent ‘trail’ geometry for bikepacking, should work well for my local terrain (Jura mountains in Switzerland)
• A lot of components fit moving across from the El Mar, particularly the fork
• The El Mar frame bag fits the Timberjack Ti
• Some element of future proofing with the Alternator dropouts

The aim was to transfer as much kit as possible over from the El Mar to offset the admittedly quite pricy frame: Salsa Firestarter carbon forks, Hope headset, Hope E4 brakes, Race Face stem, Easton carbon bars, Thompson seatpost (with a shim) Light bicycle carbon rims built on Hope Pro2 Evos. I also had spare X01 Eagle shifter and derailleur so used these too.

For the few new items I needed I decided to go for a Brooks C13 saddle, Hope Evo cranks with 30T chainring and Hope 30mm BB, X01 cassette and chain. I also need to convert the rear hub from 142 mm / Shimano freehub to 148 / XD.

The frame arrived last week and looks just a nice in real life as on the Salsa website:

IMG_7316 by Adrian Blackburn[/url], on Flickr

IMG_7320 by Adrian Blackburn[/url], on Flickr

Build photos to follow 😊

That is lovely, very jealous. I’ve been trying to track down a large alu frame, but none available in uk.

You using suspension? I wonder what a 67.5 degree HA would be like with rigid forks.

Nice spec, nice frame too – a little spendy though! £2200 for the frame.

I’m very envious of your location too, stayed with a friend in Fribourg a couple of years ago for a motorbike trip and did a day or or 2 in the Jura mountains.

seatpost shims and Ti frames. Tried that. Did not work out well. You in for a wedge , get the correct seatpost diameter is my experience.

You using suspension? I wonder what a 67.5 degree HA would be like with rigid forks.

I’ve been using my signal ti with carbon rigid forks recently. It has a 66degree head angle with 130mm forks but mine are supposedly equivalent length to 120mm so ha is probably a bit steeper. It rides great!

Are you riding it on road much? I’ve a feeling that steeper angles are a pre-requisite for positive riding on road.

Fair bit of road before I hit the bridleways and some bits inbetween but mostly riding it off-road. Bit tougher on the wrists and arms but not as rough as I expected.

That sure is lovely piece of kit

Wonders who makes the frames for Salsa?

Thanks for the nice comments folks

You using suspension? I wonder what a 67.5 degree HA would be like with rigid forks

68.8 with the rigid fork (shorter A-C), a good 2 degrees slacker than the El Mar. I’ll see how it goes, open to sticking on a 120/130 mm suspension fork if I don’t get on with it

Nice spec, nice frame too – a little spendy though! £2200 for the frame

Yes, trying not to think about that too much, a bit cheaper here in Switzerland though (7.7 vs 20% VAT) 🙂

I’m very envious of your location too, stayed with a friend in Fribourg a couple of years ago for a motorbike trip and did a day or or 2 in the Jura mountains.

Yeah can’t complain, been over here just over 4 years now. Not getting itchy feet yet for some reason. Morzine is only a hours drive away as well, though I have a more suitable bike for that terrain!

seatpost shims and Ti frames. Tried that. Did not work out well. You in for a wedge , get the correct seatpost diameter is my experience.

Advice noted, cold welding I guess? I will slather the thing with Ti Prep but maybe I should just get a proper 31.6, not sure I want the layback on the Thompson anyway

I’ve been using my signal ti with carbon rigid forks recently. It has a 66degree head angle with 130mm forks but mine are supposedly equivalent length to 120mm so ha is probably a bit steeper. It rides great!

Lovely bike. Was on my shortlist too but they were out of stock. Also wasn’t sure if the Firestarter fork would pair well with it

A couple of boring jobs to start off. Was dreading cutting and shortening the braided brake hose for the internal routing. Was fine though, with a good pair of cable cutters and a brand new razor blade for trimming the plastic sleeve

IMG_7339 by Adrian Blackburn[/url], on Flickr

Next converting the Pro2 hub for Sram XD and 148 mm axle with the kits from Hope. Way easy, doesn’t even need any tools. Thanks Hope!

IMG_7341 by Adrian Blackburn[/url], on Flickr

IMG_7344 by Adrian Blackburn[/url], on Flickr

Looking forward to seeing it built up! Did you weigh the frame before building? The signal xl was advertised at 2.1kg but when I weighed it was closer to 2.3kg.

Looking forward to seeing it built up! Did you weigh the frame before building? The signal xl was advertised at 2.1kg but when I weighed it was closer to 2.3kg.

Ah sorry, forgot to! I reckon similar to your Signal though (mine is also an XL), the Alternator dropouts add a bit of heft.

Anyway got some jobs done starting off with head set cup pressing (slightly nervously!):

IMG_7362 by Adrian Blackburn[/url], on Flickr

Front end is installed and the rear brake reconnects and bled:

IMG_7378 by Adrian Blackburn[/url], on Flickr

BB is in:

IMG_7370 by Adrian Blackburn[/url], on Flickr

And the chainset on:

IMG_7402 by Adrian Blackburn[/url], on Flickr

All gone smoothly so far, the benefit of investing in proper tools instead of trying to just bodge everything like I’ve done for years 😉

Finished! No issues with the rest of the build, pretty much plug and play. The only significant change I’ll be making is changing out the 27.2 seatpost and shim for a proper 31.6 Thompson, as suggested above. Maybe a 120/130 mm fork perhaps sometime down the line. Some pics of the end result (pending some cable / mech /saddle tweeks):

IMG_7393 by Adrian Blackburn[/url], on Flickr

IMG_7395 by Adrian Blackburn[/url], on Flickr

IMG_7397 by Adrian Blackburn[/url], on Flickr

IMG_7399 by Adrian Blackburn[/url], on Flickr

IMG_7384 by Adrian Blackburn[/url], on Flickr

Very nice 👍🏼

That looks great! Very light too. Mine is 12kg with the carbon fork as above.

Nice, never seen those maxxis tyres before, that thing will fly on smooth dry trails!!

Are those light bicycle carbon rims?

Thanks for the kind comments, yeah very happy how it’s turned out and with the weight

Are those light bicycle carbon rims?

Sure are, 7 years old now and still going strong

That is lovely. Enjoy!

Who makes these frames ?

That is a stunning bike

(Ti Salsas are made by Ora in Taiwan I think now)

Thanks for the all the nice feedback folks

(Ti Salsas are made by Ora in Taiwan I think now)

Yes I believe so:

Link