The latest News And Rumors that have crossed our digital connections of late…………..
Salsa Cycles “El Mariachi Tandem”
(Prototype tandem from Salsa Cycles: image from Salsa Cycles site)
Salsa Cycles, in a surprise announcement, just put up on their site a concept for a tandem bicycle with 29 inch wheels. Stressing that this is strictly a prototype, Salsa is soliciting ideas from potential customers on the project. No time line was given on when a final production bike might, if ever, be produced. The bike has some unique features as shown: Same side timing chain/drive chain layout, Altenator drop outs, (presumably for single speed use), and 135mm rear drop out spacing. Whether or not any of these features is included in a final design is not known, but it is an interesting exercise in what could be.
Airborne Bikes Shows A 29″er Prototype:
Airborne Bikes is back and now will have a 29″er again as shown here. (image from Twitter)
Airborne Bikes, the direct to consumer bicycle company known for their titanium rigs in the late 90’s is back again. They were an early supporter of 29 inch wheels in their old incarnation, and now that they have arisen from the ashes, we have heard that they will now have a 29″er hard tail in the line up once again. This is supposedly close to the final version and is said to be spec’ed at a competitive level to a Fisher Collection X-Cal.
Velocity USA Introduces A 15QR Hub- Convertible Hubs To Come
Twenty Nine Inches recently reviewed the P-35 rim from Velocity USA, which was built up on a set of hubs from Velocity. (Review can be seen here) In that review I was quoted by Velocity as saying: “The only thing I would suggest is for Velocity U.S.A. to consider developing a front hub that is convertible from 9mm QR to 15QR, to 20mm through axle.” They responded with: “Noted and for the past few months we have been exploring and considering a hub to do just that, convert. We are still in the process of development on a convertible hub but we are pleased to announce a new hub in the mean time.”
That hub is the new “15mm Thru Axle Disc Hub”. Here are the technical highlights from Velocity USA’s blog:
_ 252 grams
_ Offered in 32 hole drillings
_ 6 Bolt Disc Compatible
_ Japanese 6805RU Sealed Bearings
_ As always, 100% Customer Satisfaction Guaranteed
“As always, this can be handbuilt into any of our rims, to your exact specifications right here in Grand Rapids, MI and available through your local bike shop, contact them for pricing and availability.”
And Finally….
Look for a special announcement regarding a World Exclusive on Twenty Nine Inches concerning a release of new 29″er bicycles and accessories from a well respected marque in the 29″er world soon here on this site. 😉
Oh the tandem is sweet. My wife, however, says that her cycling career is over. If I pout enough, she may change her ways. I’ll let you know…
That airborne sure looks like my monocog! 🙂
Great Just what the world needs, another mail order bike.
Nice looking tandem. We just got done putting on our first local tandemcross race at DCCX here in DC. My wife and I were on our y2k Santana with drop bars and 32mm tires, the original 29r tandem.
There’s video on the interwebs if you use the google. Try this. http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1554028323249
Tandemcross video. Inthecrosshairs.com has helmet cam from the course as well as pending helmet cam vid from the tandemcross race.
We love it. It’s time.
mk
Sitting back and planning a new bike build while unable to ride injured. I am looking for a ridgid fork for a Salsa Vaya Ti. Something that will clear around the same tire as the frame (45c), take disk brakes and maybe some rack mounts? Any choices out there aside from the steel salsa fork?
Skidder, you might be right…in which case the company will fail and we’ll all be out on the streets looking for honest work in a couple years.
But we like to think what distinguishes Airborne is the way the brand is presented, overall customer experience, and value. Maybe we’re right, maybe not. Time will tell. Meanwhile you’re invited to check out our website or Facebook page and see for yourself.
I love that Salsa’s willing to take risks – but 135mm spacing? That wheel is going to hold up at least 300+ lbs of bike and rider. We have 145mm for our road tandem, and I don’t think I’d go much smaller.
@AlexK: Well, as to the wheel spacing, it may or may not remain, after all- It is a prototype. That said, the captain/stoker that recently rode this tandem was well over 400lbs total and they successfully competed in the Chequamegon Fat Tire 40 with it. That says something for the strength of 29″er wheels, at least. It would be fair to wonder how long that would last, but again, it may be a moot point in the end.
Alex from mtbtandems.com has had a 29’er tandem spec’d for some time. You can buy one now instead of waiting for Salsa…
Tandem is dumb, driving with my SO is bad enough. MTB tandems only work for fire roads and double track. And everyone is whining about the Alternator dropouts, which is the only thing I find fascinating about the protobike. A tandem SS for when I really need my SO to hate me. That I like, all else sucks, IMO.
Salsa is losing focus. Too much Ti and dumb stuff like this.
Airborne, meh. The future is not metal for mail order. Carbon stuff this year is going to clean everyone’s clocks. Get to work On-One! Pricing will be down to throw away levels and we will again move components year-to-year and maybe keep a trophy bike or two. And neither trophies will not be Salsa Tis when there are so many good metal builders out there for just a little more.
Crap, I’m in a bad mood.
@D.: I’m no tandem guy, but here’s a neat video of a 2008 SSWC bike and riders. Sorry for the small wheel content, but I thought it was neat what a tandem could negotiate!
http://www.petefagerlin.com/video/2r1c.wmv
@D. Cheer up! All bikes are a good thing!
A SS mtn tandem sounds like pain waiting to happen! I’d like to see a tandem fargo. The Mrs might go for that…
@D.: We have a tandem crew in the region that can clean tight switchbacks and descend the steepest chutes, no problem. (Think about it: 8ft of bike is going to be pretty hard to endo, no? 🙂 )
As for carbon fiber at “cheap throwaway prices”, that has been promised for over 15 years, to no avail. The labor intensive process to do carbon isn’t getting cheaper, actually, it is getting more expensive! Industry forecasters have stated as much as a 15% increase is coming for a carbon fiber products produced in 2011. So….I wouldn’t hold my breath on that prediction of yours! 😉
Finally, while Salsa frames in titanium are not cheap, there are a lot of fans of “metal” frames vs. carbon, and I think they will do just fine with those.
Yup, a 135mm rear hu spacing seems off. For a road tandem, let alone a disc equipped off-road 29″ variety. Beef it up, beef it up a lot. You’ve got long chainstays, it’s a 29″er. The smaller rider sits out back, make use of that and s-bend the chainstays a bit to fit a 165mm hub.
Else, a Salsa tandem will be totally sweet.
Knowing a little bit about the Airborne, you have to consider price before you make a blanket carbon instead of “metal” comment.
Just occured to me that belt drive would be perfect to connect the pilot to the stoker crankset. Then do the standard chain to go back to the rear wheel.
There was a 29er Tandem that showed up at the IMBA World Summit here in Augusta. They rode that bike at FATS, which is full of high speed whoop-de-doos. Would have loved to see how they handled those on a tandem. The whoop-de-doos make you work to stay on the ground…not sure how that would translate to a tandem.
Years ago I entered an XC race as stoker with my buddy and his tandem. OMG!!! That was an odd combo for fun and terrifying all at the same time. I was never so glad to get a flat tire and DNF in my life.
Still, I would love one of these for the wifey and I. We actually get along together!
grannygear
interesting. I am not sure about sliders on this bike however
The other issue with carbon for mountain bikes is ballistics (impact resistance).
Best work to date has been done by Trek (integrated plastic bashguard) and Easton (who developed a whole composite materials/chemistry system for their Haven rims), but we aren’t seeing anything available that beats 6061 for the magic weight/durabililty/price trifecta.
The tandem looks just like my custom 29″ Viscous tandem that I had built about 7 years back, right down to the same side drivetrain (which was a bunch of trial and error, before we ended up with that layout). The same side drive, does a couple of things: 1. more chooses of parts, 2. stiffer and more responsive during acceleration, 3. MUCH better shifting, longer life on the BB bearings… however, you do loose the third ring, but in a race who uses the granny gear anyway, besides sometimes when you want too it won’t work anyway when filled with mud and junk. Since we built our same side drive on our tandem and got on the podium at the Cheq40, I’ve seen a number of other racing couples change over to this layout.
The 135mm wheel will be just fine! wheel failure is a function of many variables, and a properly built wheel with a sufficent spoke count will be fine. Think about it, every tandem out there is running a standard 100mm front wheel (that i know of), and typically the larger rider is up front. Although i would like to see it in a thru-axel design…
I’ll bet this tandem will come in at half what mine costs and it looks like it is race ready as its pictured, should be a winner… but I hate to think about how many divorces it may be responsible for if they do start building it… @kurti_sc might be the first (lol).