This is how the project began. A new Salsa Ti Mariachi Frame, one of the first production WTB Silverado carbon rail saddles and a set of Crank Brothers 2Ti Candy pedals. For the first iteration of the bike I added to the mix some of my favorite parts off of my Dos Niner – White Brothers Magic 29er fork, Stan’s Arch 29er wheels, XTR and XO shifting bits and I ended up with an absolutely incredible AR bike.
The titanium ride is everything I had hoped it would be. Stiff in all the right places and forgiving where it should be. That coupled with the Stan’s Notubes Arch wheels made for a smoooooooooooth ride! Salsa has had their 29er geometry dialed in for awhile – some of my favorite frames are their Dos Niner and last years Selma. This frame coupled with my White Brothers fork set up at 90mm of travel is quick enough for XC racing and slack (forgiving) enough for a sleep deprived AR competitor on day three of a race.
The Silverado saddle was one of the first production carbon railed versions of this legendary seat. I have four of the Silverado saddles and the carbon railed version is light, durable, classic looking and most importantly it fits.
I have been a big fan of the Crank Brothers Candy and Eggbeater pedals since a cross-country mud fest years ago. At that race it seemed I spent more time trying to kick mud out of my pedals and shoes than I did clipping in. After discovering the awesome mud shedding design of the CB products I haven’t looked back. For this bike and the long races ahead I wanted to get a bit of a platform under my shoe, and a brand new set of Candy 2Tis perfectly fit the bill.
After several weeks, the upgrades began. A set of Stan’s Crest ZTR wheels was the first big purchase, followed by a complete XX driveline. I covered the Crest’s in another write up – suffice to say they are awesome! For the XX setup I went with the 39/26 front chainrings. The rear 11-36 cassette shifts like a dream and the front is awesome. I was concerned about not having low enough gearing. Sure, there have been a few times when I wanted another gear, but generally those were instances when walking was probably just as fast. The 2×10 is everything I hoped it would be. Along with the precision shifts, I really like the lack of chain slap. That may not sound like much, but from an avid singlespeeder this is a huge bonus.
See you outside!
Shane
