For The Love Of Dirt: Four New MTBs
Today we’re stoked to share four new mountain bikes made For the Love of Dirt. Though these bikes range in specialty from XC to enduro, they all share a few key features you’ll appreciate:
- Split Pivot suspension design for maximum control whether pedaling, braking, or descending.
- Split Pivot + design methodology for adaptable travel
- On-bike storage for extending your Adventure by Bike
- Carbon fiber frames from front triangle to chainstay
- 148mm Boost rear axles
- UDH compatibility
Spearfish C
Spearfish C is designed for endurance and XC efficiency with the stability of a trail bike when the terrain requires it. It’s made for the most challenging singletrack days, whether you’re lining up for the Marji Gesick 100 or loading up for long days on the Arizona Trail.
Spearfish’s full-carbon frame is more than 250 grams lighter than the previous generation, but what’s even more exciting is our new Deluxe carbon construction. This is the most premium carbon we’ve ever offered, shaving an extra 255 grams with no compromise in stiffness, durability, or ride quality.
New geometry makes Spearfish a more comfortable climber and more capable descender; agile enough to pick through techy lines while the clock is ticking and stable enough for steep descents when the sleep monster is on your back. The head tube angle comes in a 66.3 degrees and the seat tube angle measures a steep 77.3 degrees, while a flip chip lets you further tune geometry to your liking.
120mm Split Pivot rear suspension travel and a 120mm fork keep you in control, plus our Split Pivot + design means you can run up to a 130mm fork and 100– 120mm rear travel. We’ve also updated Spearfish’s suspension layout to keep that rear travel optimized:
- Control link-driven shock tuned for ideal leverage rate and anti-rise
- Increased leverage rate for compatibility with modern XC shocks
- Increased sensitivity in first one-third of travel to cut trail chatter
- Our standard supportive mid-stoke for solid pedaling performance
- Increased bottom-out support for more confidence on larger features
And as with every Salsa, Spearfish has the cargo capacity for your Adventure by Bike:
- Two bottles on XS–SM frames
- Three bottles on MD–XL frames
- Space for pump, tube, and multitool
- Top tube accessory mounts
Blackthorn C
This year Blackthorn splits into two new platforms, Blackthorn 125 and Blackthorn 145. Both feature the ability to run coil shocks and mixed wheel sizes, and with our Split Pivot + design, you can swap your Blackthorn 125 to 145mm travel and vice versa by changing your shock link, shock stroke, and fork travel. One bike, multiple adventures.
Both Blackthorns also feature on-bike storage for more riding and less resupplying:
- Two bottles on all sizes
- Space for your pump, tube, and multitool
- Top tube accessory mounts
Like Spearfish, Blackthorn gets updated suspension kinematics:
- Control link-driven shock tuned for ideal leverage rate and anti-rise
- More-progressive leverage rate for compatibility with air and coil shocks
- Increased sensitivity in first one-third of travel to cut trail chatter
- Our standard supportive mid-stoke for solid pedaling performance
- Increased bottom-out support for more confidence when hitting larger features
Blackthorn 125 C
Blackthorn 125 C is a trail bike built for playful days and sampling as much singletrack as possible. 125mm Split Pivot rear suspension and a 140mm fork give you plenty of travel to play with. Balanced geometry makes this Blackthorn nimble enough to cut loose on flow trails or navigate tight, technical sections. Here are the highlights:
- 64.7-degree head tube angle
- 78.2-degree seat tube angle
- 432mm rear center
- Flip chip allows for 0.3-degree head tube/seat tube angle change and 5mm of bottom bracket height adjustability for more control over your ride.
Blackthorn 145 C
Blackthorn 145 C is an all-mountain bike, equipped with 145mm rear Split Pivot suspension travel and a 160mm fork for all the ups and downs of the mountain. It’s designed with stability in mind, putting you in position to send those steep, sketchy lines without penalizing your pedaling performance on the way back up:
- 63.9-degree head tube angle
- 77.5-degree seat tube angle
- 432mm rear center
- Flip chip allows for 0.3-degree head tube/seat tube angle change and 5mm of bottom bracket height adjustability for more control over your ride.
Notch C
Notch C is the new carbon counterpart to our aluminum Notch. It’s made for enduro courses and rugged terrain, with 170mm of Split Pivot rear suspension and a 180mm fork, plus geometry designed for confident, comfortable riding down and up the rowdiest trails.
Notch C takes advantage of Bosch’s latest Performance Line CX drive system and features a 625Wh internal battery for sessioning more lines, exploring every trail system to the fullest, or just lapping your favorite trails again and again (and again). On-bike storage for a bottle and your repair let you extend your range.
Find all these new mountain bikes at your local Salsa retailer beginning this spring and start the season off right — For the Love of Dirt.