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Salsa Bucksaw Full Suspension Fat Bike Squishes Into Reality

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salsa-bucksaw-full-suspension-fat-bike-debut

Is it just us, or are we getting fat today? After seeing new (front) suspension ready bikes from Borealis and Rocky Mountain, both using the new Rockshox Bluto, Salsa cannonballs the party with the new full suspension Bucksaw.

And it’s not just a simple full susser. It takes the Split Pivot suspension design of their 29er mountain bikes, spreads the frame to handle up to 3.8″ tires and adds a custom tuned Rockshox Monarch shock to give it 100mm of supple, bump eating performance. Couple that with a 100mm Bruto up front, and you have the world’s first real production full suspension fat bike.

Look past the oversized balloons it’s riding on and you’d be hard pressed to tell the spec from any other mid- to high end bike…

salsa-bucksaw1-full-suspension-fat-bike
Salsa Bucksaw 1 is equipped with X01 and a stealth dropper post.

The frames are 6066-T6 double and tripled butted heat treated alloy. Tubes are shaped, with a tapered head tube and oversized down tube for stiffness. In the back, it’s lightened up with carbon fiber seatstays. It’s laid out for full length cable housing, and there’s even routing for a stealth dropper seatpost and ISCG05 tabs.

Rear hub spacing is 177mm with frame spacing maxed out by a 3.8″ tire and 82mm wide rims. BB is Pressfit 41 (121mm, same as their Beargrease hardtail fat bike) and the front triangle has room for a water bottle.

salsa-bucksaw2-full-suspension-fat-bike
Salsa Bucksaw 2 gets a 2×10 drivetrain.

Two models will be offered at launch, both with the new SRAM Guide brakes and Rockshox Bluto fork. Complete specs are:

Salsa-Bucksaw-full-susp-fat-bike-specs

 

Frames come in Small, Medium, Large and XL sizes, all with good stand over clearance.

salsa-bucksaw-prototype-full-suspension-fat-bike

The prototypes, shown above on the right, used parts modified from their Horsethief and Spearfish 29ers and Maverick DUC32 and Lefty Max forks to prove the concept. They ended up having a lot of fun on them, and after two+ years of testing and development (not to mention the very fortuitous timing of Rockshox’s Bluto launch, they’ve got something new to play on. Read the full development story on their blog.

SalsaCycles.com

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17 Comments
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Henry
Henry
9 years ago

I think these look awesome!!!!!

Jyrki Käteinen
9 years ago

awesomeness!

AZBikeFreak
AZBikeFreak
9 years ago

3.8″ tires and full squishy. Yes please. I’ll take one to go. I had so much fun on my rigid Fatboy that I can’t wait to pick up one of these new Bucks.

JJ
JJ
9 years ago

anyone have a line on the weights?

groghunter
groghunter
9 years ago

I’m pretty impressed with what you get for the extra $1000 for the 1: X01, Dropper, Thompson stem, carbon bars, and a brake upgrade.

Sardinian rider
Sardinian rider
9 years ago

(INSERT I WANT ONE COMMENT HERE)

I want one.

haromania
haromania
9 years ago

For that kind of money they should come with Shimano brakes 🙂

rgeniec
rgeniec
9 years ago

Really? I thought I have seen everything until this…

Scott
9 years ago

JJ- our shop is representing Salsa at Sea Otter – if any of you are down there it is booth #443.

These bikes have been on display at our booth (when they aren’t being wheeled away for other media-specific scheduled sessions…) and our guy Mike told me that the Bucksaw 1, which was “above spec” with carbon Whisky Parts rims, was right about 30 lbs. Figure to add a maybe pound for the “stock” version, XX1 build. The carbon stays help a bit and the bike is really just a Horsethief or Spearfish design with wider spacing. So if the rims are reasonably light, and the frame doesn’t weigh much more than a Horsethief, then the overall weight will really just be the tires. I can’t wait to get on one of these! Gotta be a chunk-master.

Fanboy
Fanboy
9 years ago

Avid still make brakes?

wow, I wonder what kind of ball twisting was required to make Salsa spec Avid brakes.

Dave
Dave
9 years ago

I am starting to wonder if the FAT BIKE fad is going to implode sooner than later. With so many brands offering FAT BIKES (including a Mongoose in WalMart) and this being a second or third or forth bike ( not a primary bike for anyone – I would guess) for everyone.

Soon the cool factor is going to ware thin. Part of what made FAT BIKES cool is the scarcity.

Just my 2 cents worth…..

Niko
Niko
9 years ago

but can it do ENDURO?!! 😉

ABW
ABW
9 years ago

Dave – I may be misreading you, but the feel of your comment is that you’re disgusted and can’t believe these bikes exist. So what if it is a fad? What does “fad” even mean in the bike industry? Like all markets, the fat bike market will plateau someday. By the time it does, something else will have come along to distract both brands and riders. In the meantime, fatbike makers have made some money and advanced the sport, and riders for whom fatbikes were desirable have had a ton of fun. And if you were a rider not interested in fatbikes, you’ve got no skin in the game, so who cares? I don’t understand condemning something simply because its popularity is on a strong upward trajectory.

Michael
Michael
9 years ago

A Fad? Wider tires are a fad? This is a mountain bike through and through, but with wider tires and all the pros and cons that come with them.
I think most of the polarity in opinions about fatbikes comes from the name “fatbike” and has nothing to do with their actual capabilities as a bike. They can take you to new places and allow you to ride in seasons and conditions that had previously not been considered suitable for riding.
I am crazy excited about the variety of stuff available nowadays and hope this kind of development continues.

People with a broader vision of the term “Mountain Biking” will continue to enjoy the hell out of these machines while all the bronies will sit and bang their heads on the wall and cry about it because they cannot understand.

Bruce
Bruce
9 years ago

I have an On One Fatty as my ONLY bike and I take it anywhere my full sus friends go, admittedly they used to have to wait on me at the bottom of some of the roughest tracks but then I got a fat suspension fork which helped me speed up a great deal. Next upgrade will be a Thomson dropper post. It’s now just my lack of experience/skill that makes me slower (but not much).
When I go out on my local tracks I mostly get positive comments but you do get the odd person who obviously disapproves because you don’t have the newest full sus bike and why have you got a “snow bike” when there is no snow?

It’s about having fun, everyone that has ridden my bike always get off with a huge smile
If you can’t be positive, keep your “2 cents”

Phil
Phil
9 years ago

Fat bikes jump the shark

B. Burns
B. Burns
9 years ago

Yawn…nothing new or revolutionary about these fat bikes. They could have used the Pinion P1.18 sealed gear box with the gates belt system, thereby gaining massive clearance under the bottom frame. Getting rid of the antiquated cassette gears and derailleur system that has been around since about 1950 would be and should be done to bring the fat bike into the 21st century.

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