Carbon Beargrease

The Beargrease carbon will come in two versions

Well, you've heard by now, (unless you live under a rock), about the fantastic new Carbon Beargrease fat bike from Salsa Cycles for 2014. (But if you do live under a rock, here is the story.)

Salsa Cycles will be working with us this week to determine how many of these fantastic bikes we order for our shop. If you are a small, or a XL kinda guy or gal, and were thinking this is a super cool rig, you'd better tell us you are interested. We probably will not order those sizes unless we have a customer.

So- you figure you'll just wait till fall to order. You won't likely get one for next Winter. These will likely sell out in pre-order. Yes- the pressure is on a bit, but you have six months to figure it out, or more, and we can find another buyer if you bail, no problem. But if you want your name on one, you'd better get in line and put your claim in now. These bikes will be in high demand, and they are the best, lightest, and most cutting edge fat bikes in existence now.

Prices should start at $3499.99 for the 2 X 10 version. The high zoot, XX-1 will be significantly more, but will be the lightest, with a Medium going right at 24-24.5 lbs. That is a full 4lbs lighter than an aluminum Beargrease.

Salsa Cycles has yet to introduce the 2014 fat bike line up other than this- publicly- but we will also be bringing in Muk 3's, Muk 2's, and aluminum Beargrease bikes. So, if any of those trips your trigger and you want to plant your claim now, tell us.

This pre-order goes in later this week, so do not delay. If we do not get any names on the Carbon Beargrease bikes, our current thoughts are to bring in two of them in a medium and a large. They will sell to someone, we're sure of that, so do not wait too long to lay a claim on one. Just call the shop or reply to this post if you are interested.

Mondays With Mark

Monday's With Mark is going to happen this coming Monday at 6:30pm and will be held at the shop. The subject for this one will be about tubeless tires.

Tubeless tires; are they right for you? How do they work? All that and more this Monday. Then after this one, there will be one more MWM the following week. It will be about what I saw at Frostbike. There will be more about trends, and in a special for the folks attending, there will be a private showing of the movie short, "300 Miles Of Gravel", which is the documentary of Trans Iowa V7 by Jeff Frings.

MWM is free of charge, so just stop on down to Europa Cycle and Ski before 6:30pm, grab a seat, and listen to me gab about tubeless tires and all manner of cycling stuff.

Hope to see ya there.

Special Project: Finished! Ti Fargo

Well, all the parts finally got sorted and showed up to complete the titanium Fargo for Mike. I must say, it is a stunning bicycle.

Orange/Mango is the theme here, obviously, and several parts came together to give this bike some real "eye candy" besides just being an awesome titanium framed, drop bar mountain bike.

The old steel Fargo had some of the parts in Mango already, such as the titanium Eriksen Sweet Post and orange wrap on the bars of the bike.

Mike also had these outstanding King/Enve wheels with Mango Chris King hubs laced to Enve carbon hoops which were mounted just before it was picked up. The new titanium Fargo frames also have a new 44mm head tube, so we fitted a new Mango Chris King Inset 8 1 1/8th head set to allow the use of the standard steel straight steer tube Fargo fork here.

We also got a new seat collar in an orange anodized hue, a Salsa Lip Loc. The standard seat collar provided is a pewter anodized Lip Loc, by the way. Finally, the orange highlights flow around the frame tubes in the form of a Jagwire cable housing kit. You can see how we routed the cables to keep them out of the way of Mike's planned use of a handle bar harness/bag set up for Tour Divide. Plus it just looks neater with a bar end shifter set up to route the cables in this manner, besides keeping everything off the head tube.

In this view I want to draw your attention to the way I routed the front brake cable. I learned this from former Salsa Cycles GM, Jason Boucher, and I call it the "Boucher Route". It not only routes the cable in a more "out of the way" manner, but the bend coming down out of the handle bar is less severe, and the cable does not touch the head tube. For suspension fork use, it can easily accommodate the length of the axle to crown without replacing the cable.

The handle bar is the unique and somewhat rare Ragley "Luxy" Bar. It has a super shallow drop, short reach, and radically swept drop section that Mike finds super comfy. Unique to this bar is that the top section is a 31.8mm diameter from the stem all the way to where the bar starts to bend to the drops.

The bike turned out fantastic, and it is significantly lighter than with the steel frame. Plus, it should be more comfortable, with an easy to care for finish that looks killer. If you are interested in a titanium frame for yourself, Salsa has Fargos, El Mariachi 29"ers, titanium Warbird gravel grinder bikes, and titanium Colossal long distance roadie rigs too. We're happy to chat with you about any of those or the other fine Salsa Cycles offerings anytime.

See ya soon!

Special Project: Titanium Fargo

Here at Europa we love special project bikes. We often are putting things together on the side of our own, and often times in the winter we get to do this for customers.

2013 Fargo Titanium Frame

This time we have the privilege to assemble what should be a fantastic bike for one of our customers named Mike. This bicycle will be used in a very unique way, as well, so this gives the project an even higher level of excitement, (if that is even possible when building up a titanium frame!), for us as we put the pieces together.

Mike has been a Salsa Cycles rider for some time now. He already has a few really nice examples of Salsa's rigs, including a steel Fargo, which is being broken down for the parts to put onto this project. This new Fargo will be that "notch higher" kind of ride that the frame material gives the owner.

Subtle graphics, tidy welds, and a 44mm head tube.

In fact, this titanium Fargo is all new for 2013. It features a new frame tubing set, which is butted, and which adds a 44mm type head tube to the party. This is a good thing because it allows the owner of a Titanium Fargo to use a traditional 1 1/8th fork, or a tapered steer tube fork, with only the swapping of the bottom headset cup.

Further refinement comes in the cable routing. The steel Fargo had down tube routed cables for the derailleur. The 2013 Fargo Ti moves those to run underneath the top tube, along with the brake cable to the rear, and all housings are now full length, which combats contamination better.

Tight seat cluster welds. Every frame comes with a seat collar.

The Titanium Fargo features all the great braze on options you've come to expect from Fargos in the past. Two water bottle mounts, one on the seat tube, one on the down tube, and one underneath the down tube to raise the total to three. Add in two more mounts, one on each Fargo fork leg, and you can have up to five water bottles. Or, the fork mounts and upper down tube mount can be used as Anything Cage mounts with the extra third braze on at each location noted.

Not only that, but Salsa has Revelate Design frame bags to festoon on this bike, especially designed to fit a Fargo. Frame bags are a "rackless" option to traditional rack and pannier touring, and has become the smarter way to bag a bike. Especially for off road adventures.

Note the rack mounts and fender mount.

However, Salsa realizes that many folks are already heavily invested into traditional touring gear. Never fear! The Fargo has rack mounts as well. Not only that, but any Fargo can be set up with fenders to keep the rain and mud off of you.

The Fargo that Mike is building has a special purpose, as we mentioned earlier. Mike is building this up to tackle Tour Divide. This is a 2745 mile route that folks tackle which starts in Banf, Canada and ends at the U.S./Mexico border at Antelope Wells, New Mexico. All this is off road on the Great Divide Route.

The Fargo is tailor made for such an adventure, and the titanium version even more so. The great ride of titanium, and its toughness should serve Mike well as he attempts this monster of a ride later this coming summer.

Chain stay mounted disc brake caliper mount.

The Fargo is a mountain bike, and as such, you can mount a suspension fork, or use the included steel Fargo Fork. Tires up to 2.3" should clear these chain stays with plenty of mud clearance. Or, you can easily run tires in the 42-50mm range for paved roads, or for gravel riding. This frame design is intended to be set up with drop bras, but certain flat bar options can work well with a Fargo too. Mike will be fitting his with the Ragley Luxy Bar. Wide, short/shallow drops, and a big swept drop extension for torquing the climbs or for comfortable cruising.

Traditional threaded bottom bracket.

Well, this is an honor and a thrill for us to assemble for Mike, and we'll feel a little bit like part of us is on that Tour Divide attempt. The final build will feature a little "pop" of a certain color, and will have some nice touches. So, stay tuned and we will pop up a picture of the final build when we get there.

In the meantime, you could own one of these fine frame sets yourself, or pick up our 2012 Fargo steel bike for a song. Just pop on in anytime and take a look.

We like talking about how far you can go on a Fargo. And we like coffee. Stop on in for a cup sometime.....

Colossal!

Colossal: In The Flesh!

In the last post here I mentioned that we had received a Salsa Cycles Colossal and that I had assembled it for stock. Well, we actually have two in.

This is what it came out looking like, and I dare say it is a sight better than the pre-production images and bikes we saw.

The Enve fork is painted to match, (a nice touch), and the bar tape is white to match the brake hoods. (Not orange, as in previous images shown here and elsewhere.)

We have this 55cm and a 58cm on the floor now. I wanted to comment on the sizing, since I have previously mentioned that the Warbird, (Salsa's gravel road specific race bike), runs a bit big. Well, thankfully I can say that the Colossal is true to size. A 58cm fits like a 58cm, (which happens to be my size), and there is nothing "weird" going on in terms of that. Salsa has done a great job of keeping the top tube fairly level here as well, so a Tangle Bag, Gas Tank bag, or other frame bags will fit really well. (Note: The Colossal is a "rackless" frame bike.)

The clearances are generous with the Clement 28mm tires. I am curious, and I think I may try a 30mm tire in there just to see if it'll go. I think it may.

Oooo! That's a pretty red!

Then we received a trio of Vaya 3's. I have to reiterate- The Vaya 3 has the best looking red color on a bicycle I've seen in a long time. Just gorgeous!

And it isn't just me either. Customers that have seen it love it as much as I do. But beauty is only skin deep, as they say. Good thing that the Vaya delivers on performance and versatility then!

I know Salsa Cycles bills this as their touring/adventure bike, but this is really an "all-road" bike that can do some mild "off-road" too. You can do so many things with this one bike it is crazy. Ride and complete Trans Iowa, (a 300 + mile gravel road race)? Yes- Vaya riders have done this. Ride RAGBRAI and carry whatever you want on a rack? Yes- Vaya riders have done that too. Ride a fully loaded, self supported tour around the Great Lakes? Yes- A Vaya rider we sold a Vaya to has also done that.

Need one, really good, versatile, comfortable bike that happens to have killer good looks? Go no further than the Vaya. We've got four Vaya 3's on the floor in a range of sizes, and one cute little Vaya from 2012 just waiting for the perfect pint-sized rider to pick it up. (At a killer close-out price!)

Stop by and check it out. It's gonna snow anyway, and what else are ya gonna do?

More Bikes Arriving Plus News!

Note: Colossals ship with white bar tape.

New Bikes!

We just took delivery of some awesome new Salsa Cycles bikes today, one of which is the all new Colossal. This is a disc brake, long distance capable, endurance road bike.

If you are into really long road rides, and you ride in all kinds of weather, you will totally understand the Colossal's disc brakes, fine riding steel frame, and bigger tires. (28mm Clements) This bad boy has an Enve carbon fork which weighed a feathery 440 grams with the crown race installed and with an uncut steer tube. ( Update: Finished bikes are coming in at the 21-22lb range, which is respectable for an endurance rated road bike.)

This rig comes with the wide range Apex group from SRAM. This allows for a compact double to run a big range cassette for mountain climbing or fast flats cruising. Many of the bits are white which works off the sky-ish blue color and orange highlights to make for a real classy looking rig. (It passed the fashionista test as given by the women of Europa, at any rate!)

We also received more sizes of Salsa Cycles Vaya 3's as well. These are awesome touring rigs, gravel road bikes, or the Vaya will do your commute in a snap, with mounts for fenders and racks here front and back.

We also received 25 Trek bicyles including new Verves, FX models, and a light-as-a-feather Domane.

We'll be assembling these in the coming days so stop on down to take a look to see what you need for Christmas.

Now for some news! We are in the process of becoming a Velo Orange dealer. Do you like cool, retro looking stuff with modern functionality? Velo Orange is a company that serves this market. Stop by and ask us, or go to their website here.

And if you want a strong pot of coffee- let me know you are coming ahead of time. I'll be on it!

Carbon: Not Just For Roadies Anymore

2013 Raleigh Talus Elite

Carbon fiber road bikes are a dime a dozen, right? But what about mountain bike frames? Well, they have been getting more and more commonplace as well. However; it may still be a bit sketchy to think of the rough and tumble world of off road and carbon fiber in the same sentence.

But don't worry. Take a look at this new 2013 Raleigh Talus Elite as an example.

This is the same frame as the bike I reviewed here. As I say there, this is Raleigh's best effort at a 29"er to date. You get solid components on the Elite model, but the same geometry and the same Direct Connect frame in carbon that the Pro model I tested has. That means it is a bike you can ride in the Mid-West just as well as out West. This bike has tremendous rider comfort, yet is rock solid in the bottom bracket area. It would make a stellar endurance rig.

We have this example in a Medium which should fit a fair amount of riders. Whether you are racing, would like to race, or just would appreciate having a high end carbon frame that just happens to be a great mountain bike, you should come down and check this thing out. It is really a cool bike.

This one features through axles on each end, 100mm of Fox CTD travel up front, and solid Deore components in the drive train. Plus Raleigh spec'ed some funky cool turquoise anodized hubs as well.

Okay, all that's left is for you to come on down and see this rig. We'll have the coffee hot when you do......