Saddle Drive 2015- Initial Thoughts On Salsa Cycles Deadwood

I saw the new line earlier this month and was sworn to secrecy (embargo).  Since then something about the new Salsa Cycles Deadwood, a boosted, 29+, dirt drop, backpacking machine, intrigued me.  I personally own and love my Surly bike Krampus and have spent enough time on an ECR to understand the subtleties in these similar bikes.

To me this took some of what a liked about my other bikes, and combined into a package with a much lighter front end that just felt super rowdy.  Luckily I was able to swing a leg over one at Quality Bicycle Products Saddle Drive.  I can't lie Salsa has some of the best finishes in the industry and this bike didn't disappoint.  Shod with a throwback script, and little subtle graphics throughout this bike is a treat to the eyes.

I was able to spend a good bit of time on this bike and took it around a loop several times, because at first I couldn't quite understand how it was ripping the way it was.  The engineers at Salsa really hit a home run with this bike, I don't think I left the drops once, and airborne this bike just feels natural.  The Surly Knard/WTB Scraper i45 rim combo was a damn fine setup with loads of grip and pretty good rolling.

I know that wasn't the intention with the bike, but its pretty cool to have a bike you can tour the weekend on and rip single track after work and still be extremely stoked.

How stoked was I?  I ordered one for myself.