Mamasita

Bob asked about my new mountain bike. It is pretty simple. I moved most of the components from my SIR9 over to the new frame. The build is something like this:

• 2008 Salsa Mamasita (Scandium frame with carbon seat stays)


• White Bros Rigid carbon fork


• King headset


• Thomson X4 stem


• Jones H-bars


• Avid Juicy 7s


• King sS hubs laced to Salsa Delgado Disc rims


• Thomson laidback post


• Phil Bottom bracket


• Kooka forged cranks


• Sugino chainring


• Surly cog


• WTB Nanoraptor tires


• Specialized Prodigy sadle.


• Connex Whitestar SS chain.
• Look Quartz pedals

The gearing is a magic gear for the Mamasita. I'm running 34x19 for the 29er. It is roughly the same as a 2:1 on a 26er. The gear is good for most of the riding I'm doing now. If I go hammer the shed or something, I might want a little bigger cog.

My guess is that this bike will evolve into a 1x5 or 1x6 so that I can take it out west and start on the Colorado Trail next spring. That's a whole other story.

All in all the build is pretty boring. Nothing blingy or fancy in comparison to most of the rides that others are tossing out on the trails these days. It is relatively light, has a great feel to it and handles all 212 pounds of me.

That last phrase is an important one. Last winter I topped out at 237 pounds. This morning I tipped the scales at 212. Once I get down in the 200lb range I'll start thinking about building a blingle speed.

Ultimately I need a bike that I can take to France with me. There's too much good riding there to ignore it. I love the roadie stuff, but spending many weeks there per year will just beg for something to ride. I need something with S&S couplers. Looking at Tony's black sheep is freaking inspirational. Maybe next year. Gotta lose a little more ponchetta first.