18 November 2008 - 19:33Salsa Big Mama

Salsa’s long awaited new full suspension 29er frame is finally here.

Salsa spent a couple of years working on this design, and it shows. A lot of thought went into the design, and the result is a clean looking frame with elegant lines. The color “Orange Funk” is hard to describe, it is almost like terra cotta, but no matter what you call it, it is really nice. The graphics are subdued, and fit well with the overall presentation. There are no two ways about it, this is one smart looking bike.

Some of the design elements are very cool, like the post style rear brake mount. It finally seems that every brake manufacturer is on board with post mount, all of the forks are now coming this way now, so why not the rear brake? 

Salsa employs 7 forgings, including the ultra neato rocker link, with big welding areas. This makes for some sturdy frame construction, and gives the bike lots of lateral stiffness.

The Big Mama uses a single pivot, with a flexing seatstay to activate the custom valved Fox RP2 shock. Most importantly, the seatstays act not just as a frame member, but as part of the whole suspension design. The specially shaped seatstays provide resistance to pedal-induced bobbing while still remaining sensitive to small bump forces. On larger hits, the flexing seatstays work with the linkage to assist the rear shock in moving through its full travel.

Why? The flexing seatstays eliminate the need for a pivot near the rear hub. This adds stiffness to the rear triangle, and lessens stress on the frame’s remaining pivots and bearings and increases durability. Less moving parts, dig?

I think this will be a hot bike.