Salsa Las Cruces or steel?
 

I'm looking for a cx bike with disc brakes. I'm going to ride this steed on the road, and do some light off-road stuff. It would be nice to have eyelets for a rear rack, but it's not a deal breaker. I was initially looking @ steel frames only for the ride quality, but given the larger volume tires I'm planning on running, would there really be that much difference in ride quality?

So, what do you think? What about the Salsa Las Cruces? Others? ThanX!!!!

Salsa Las Cruces

Anyone? Bueller? :D

I like the paint job. Have you ridden one of these yet?

I've not ridden the Salsa yet, as I'm still split between steel, and other frame materials. Does anyone have an opinion on this???? ThanX!

I have a steelman 525, but they have since discontinued this frame. It is a strong frame and has nice welds. They only do custom frames now. here is a link though.

http://www.steelmancycles.com/

I find Redline's 2005 Ti cx bike intriguing:

www.redlinebicycles.com/rl_adult/index.htm

Indeed! Can I wait? Can I afford it? Hmmmmmm. Anyone else**********?

ThanX!

Independent fabrication does a titanium cross bike in addition to their steel jobbie I believe.

~Steve

Speaking from the perspective of a "steel is real" hardtail MTB rider. I also used a couple of 70s-80s era steel road bikes as pseudo cross bikes. Now I have a Voodoo scandium cyclocrosser. The main thing to remember about the material selection is that that's not neccesarily what contributes the most to the ride quality. The Voodoo Limba from 1999 was very light (2.5 lb frame) That bike would probably feel whippy under a very large rider (I weigh in at 150).
Something I would take in to considerstion is that the Salsa is a Chinese construction as are many of the newer lower cost scandium alloy frames, whereas the first batch of Scandium bikes on the market were constructed in the goodol'you essofaay from Easton tubing by welders certified by Easton.
Remember Keith Bontrager's caveat: Light, strong, cheap. Pick two.

Well, the Salsa frame only is $941.00 - that's not cheap to me. :D Anywho, what would you recommend? ThanX!

btw... easton tubing is drawn from russian scandium aluminum alloy. i'm not convinced that a chinese welder is less expert than an american welder. get an alu frame if you plan to race at all. you will notice the weight of steel on the course, particularly in the last laps.

chinese scandium, from my experience, is as good as easton scandium because it's essentially the same stuff, but without the label. the kona and lapierre race frames are all made of non-easton scandium.

Well, I'm going to ride this steed on the road, and do some off-road stuff which could include some racing. I was initially looking @ steel frames only for the ride quality on the road. However, given the larger volume tires I plan to run, would there really be that much difference in ride quality (between steel and alum/scan on the road?

ThanX!

with fat tires, no... but if you put skinny road tires on it, you'll discover that alu cross bikes are designed with stiffness in mind.

Remember People...Titanium is a better ride no matter what size tire you run. If you want something fast (to race) and light, rigid, and cheap, go with scandium. If you want something that your going to keep for more than 2-3 seasons, or ride longer distances on, go with titanium. Save your money!!

ti is not unbreakable. a friend's merlin cracked at the downtube...right at the shifter bosses. I heard of others cracking there. ti has a softer ride than scandium and it is not as light. scandium is pretty tough stuff, but like anything else, it depends on the welder. just because its welded in the states does not mean its better than built in taiwan (thats where salsas are built, not china)...I would buy a foriegn car over an american car any day (ok, not really a fair comparison but you get the idea). I have a salsa campoen and it is solid. I guess if you're not racing, you might not want something as stiff...I think ti would make a great cross bike, just don't think it is bulletproof. :)

considering the OP started this thread in 2004, i think it's too late to tell him to buy Ti!

Yup, it's certainly too late now!

http://www.bikegreenecounty.com/bac/Salsa.jpg

The local master fabricator Kish just built a ti cross bike for a friend and it is the ultimate. If your not familiar with Kish, he is the guy Litespeed goes to for help. His bikes are kleeeen! I own a Salsa Las Cruces though and it is an awsome bike as well. If I had enough money I would own a Kish and Salsa. Oh yeh, I couldn't help myself on bringing up old news. At one point I owned the Redline team scandium that I have for sale and a friend let me borrow his Litespeed Appalachian. Riding both I could tell how much smoother the titanium rides. As far as durability Merlin and Litespeed aren't the best quality, go with a custom Kish.

bac-
with the zero offset thomson seatpost and the saddle all the way forward, it suggests that you might want a shorter stem. or you just like to be really over the pedals when you ride?

Yup, I like to be a bit forward in my position as it relates to the classic KOPS position. However, since that pic was taken (that pic was taken just days after assembly) I've gone a bit back on the saddle on both my cross, and road bikes. I'm still over the pedals more than classic KOPS, but I feel that I'm finally getting a bit more hamstring into my pedal stroke.

Nice call on the zero setback Thomson! :)

I was looking at the Salsa as well. But, it was a bit to.... "pretty". I was thinking that I wouldn't want to ride it in the winter or beat on it on the trails. I opted with a Curtlo. Yep! Full custom steel. It's cheaper than a Salsa build-up, for me anyway. I should have mine in a few weeks.