#RADBIKEOFTHEDAY: Rick's Salsa Cycles Ponyrustler w/ D.FENDER

This bike is so good.  Ever since I swung a leg over it for the first time at the product launch I knew it was something special.  Its not just the true plus size wheels, the suspension is some of the best on the market.  Dave Weagle developed the split pivot not too long ago.  Plus bikes aren't just about jamming 3" tires on narrow rims and calling it a day.  The Pony builds around a true fat rim, that has great cornering support, I really was blown away especially compared to some small rim/fat tire combos I've ridden on other "plus" bikes.  As a package I don't know that there is another suspension bike I would want right now.  Its like Salsa made this bike for Western Pennsylvania.

After hearing about my trip to Utah to check these out Rick and I were talking about his next bike, something that could climb with grip of his fatbike, but have the poise to bomb descents with cornering abilities unlike anything else out there.  Voila the Ponyrustler, now just how to spec it.  We went with a less expensive drivetrain to build with Industry 9 hubs for longevity and that little added nuance of the shared color palette between all of the parts. Next up a burly, lightweight, and stiff crankset that can take a beating, RaceFace has truly knocked it out of the park with their Cinch cranks (next SL, Turbine, Six C, etc) and thus we try to use them on most builds.  Bonus fact the Next SL cranks are made by a real human in Canada :thumbs up: .  Chromag saddles and bars are almost a heritage piece they seem to last for ever, so when I heard they were changing it up and adding orange highlights to the OSX bar and LynxDT saddle the final touches were born.  The Thomson dropper was the last piece and should survive a nuclear holocaust.  This bike is "mist approved"  ;P

Enjoy the pictures.