The first ride was a scouting trip south of Moab where the very first challenge encountered was a series of three foot ledges scattered with loose rock, dropping into a deep sand wash. On the other side was a steep hill with a series of two foot ledges with loose rock and sand liberally splashed across the face. I clicked in, still cold and sleepy, and proceeded to drop slowly down the repeated ledges and into the deep sand wash. So far, so good. In the sand/rock transitions the combination of the Sturdies and stable geometry got me though with absolutely no problem. I knew right away that this bike was going to be a great handler. As I hit the upslope on the other side of the wash, the bike seemed to race up the other side of this deep gully over high ledges and tricky sand and rocks with almost no effort on my part. Maybe it was the fact that I had not been on a bike for almost two weeks, but it was at this point that I felt that the 5" rear end was near perfect for this kind of rough trail riding-- extensive sand and rough rock ascending. Where the 4" was too slow for my tastes in Moab, bringing my pedals in contact with larger rocks more than I liked, and the 6" high, like you were on a horse, the 5" is a perfect balance of travel and weight, especially with a fork axle to crown length that is not too long, allowing the head angle to rest around 71 degrees. As the day progressed I found the bike's weight to be the most favorable aspect of the package. Acceleration was greatly enhanced over the 6" version with the coil spring shock. Speed and nerve was increased over the 4" version. The day ended with a long downhill in deep sand. What a total gas. The 5" flew over the soft stuff.

A couple of days later I put the bike to work on a series of tours for a couple who had brought light weight cross country rigs with them to Moab. I chose the 5" Salt because it was in the same weight range and more attuned to cross country riding, rather than the freeride-style riding I am mostly used to. The results were three days of great riding and absolutely no problems. I confirmed that the acceleration of this rig gave me a huge advantage over rough ground. The bike's sand performance had me waiting for five minutes at a time as I watched the clients walking through the deepest sand toward me. Not once did I ever have to put a foot down in the sand, even in the deepest, dryest powder of Courthouse Pasture. It was an easy bike to loft over the powder with full out speed. Reaching the moment of lift from the sand, that magic moment of acceleration up to the speed where sand begins to feel solid, was easier on this bike than any other I have ever ridden. This is the best sand bike ever, and coming from a sand dog like me, this is a great compliment. The 5" is now the bike that I use to punish the worst clients and over-confident guides. One the way back from the sand and rock fun I found the bike's speed limit as we screamed down from Quasimoto around Courthouse Butte and down the huge rock slab and through the extremely rough and loose mess of a trail (it used to be a tight singletrack, now it is a pile of rubble with ledges underneath). Over the slab rock with a 6" Salt XDT I generally hit speeds of between thirty five to forty five miles an hour in total control. On the 5" the world got very blurry between 35 and 40 as the air springs became overwhelmed by the frequency of hard impacts.

The next test ride documented here was from town up Sand Flats Road and onto the four wheel drive trails during Jeep Week of 2004. I locked out the suspension front and rear to zip up the Mill Creek Bike Path to the bottom of Sand Flats Road. Locking out the suspension is a luxury anyone can afford by opting for a shock upgrade. Do it. You will wish you had if you don't. I find that the non-Pro Pedal Fox air shocks with or without AVA, are so refined from years of smart engineering, it is sad to see them falling for the "stable platform" crap. Who needs Pro-Pedal when you know how to pedal like a prp on a good suspension rig? I like my shock to work without the hiccup of the stable platform circuit. When I want it to accelerate over smooth trail, heck, I just lock it out.

The road ride up Sand Flats on the locked out rear and locked down front was a breeze, a great warm up through the Jeeps and the fumes. Some of these idiots brushed by me just inched from my head. Some went all the way over to the opposite shoulder. Jeep Week is soooo depressing, but I think that if you took acid and sat at the bottom of Potato Salad Hill and watched these fat fucks burning gallons and gallons of gasoline and inches of rubber on the side of a hill, spinning and churning way, you may see Meher Bubba, the God of America, the average Joe Shit from Kansas with a hunk of metal and a head full of nails.

The 5" rocker and the Marathon result in geometry that makes road riding quite enjoyable. Once I hit the dirt I freed the shocks and immediately hit the slickrock and sand, packed due to rains and the numerous four wheelers running amok over the past few evenings. The trail's steepest rock had lots of sand on the surface due to the Jeep tires dragging wet, sticky sand up the hill. There was a lot of powdered tire rubber at the bottom of all radical transitions from all the novice Jeepers with high pressure in their tires trying to ride up the steepest rock. Traction was a problem. On top of that it began to rain. The conditions were springtime beautiful, a bit more "dangerous" than usual due to the Jeep damage to the trail.

The 5 inch Saltamontes was a dream during the entire ride on Sand Flats. The set up or this bike reminded me of my old Fat Chance Titanium in Colorado--barends, flat bars, quick, but not twitchy. This particular Salt has very low-rise riser bars more appropriate to Rocky Mountain singletrack than Moab slickrock, but the bike was incredibly predictable and sound on the really steep bumpy rock. The fork exhibits a bit more flex than I would want on Moab terrain, but what it looses in stiffness it more than makes up in the weight and overall handling department. It is a finesse fork, not a "hit it" fork. I prefer the quick handling of the Marathon combo, but the ride is a bit harsh due to the air springs. The geometry with the Marathon is a bit steep for more challenging sections of trail, but just remember to exaggerate rearward movements to compensate. With the Marathon the suspension works when you need it and hestitates to work over small bumps. Plush it isn't, but bottom line is that the 5 inch Salt SuperEgo with the 120mm fork made the ride from town so enjoyable that I place this version of the bike next to the Moots Smoothie in the "ride from town" category. It gets you to the trail in a hurry and deals with the challenges when you hit the dirt. The Salt is stiffer, more capable than the Smoothie. The Smoothie is lighter, stronger, and has a magic feel to it that comes from the material. Where the Salt cuts through, the Smoothie dances. It is more of a pure bicycle. The Salt 5" is more of an all-around, colorful off-road tool. Perhaps this is the best version of the El Saltamontes yet for 99% of the cycling public. If you want more stiffness and a bit more travel and rake, read on.

With the Marzocchi Freeride SL

Since the geometry of the bike with the Freeride SL put the bars up a bit and shifted rider weight to the rear, I found the bar ends to be more of a hazard than anything. If I leave the bike with the Freeride SL on it (which I intend to to) I will remove the bar ends and only use them when I intend to "ride from town."

Conclusion: I am using the Salt 5" for my personal guide bike at this point in time (May 2004). it is not the bike I choose for the big rock, but when I am riding with folks who have Blurs, Truths or any other light trail bike, it works just fine to keep up with stronger riders or kick butt on those with equal strength. It is more pedal efficient than the Blur on loose and rough climbs, so I can choose to leave the other rider behind at that point. The Truth is a noodle, so the Salt eats bikes like that up in the turns. Frankly, it out-corners all comers, so in the hard turns at speed I am still on the trail, while others are over-correcting or just slowing down to make the turn. The 5" Salt is definitely a lot better than the 4", doing more work for just a quarter pound penalty with the Marathon and more than a pound with the Freeride SL. This bike is lighter than my 6" Salt by around five pounds, yet it performs well enough with either fork to ride the same trails alongside the longer legs of a 6" XDT version. The air springs cannot handle the higher speeds, but as long as I keep it sane, wow. It more than makes up for the lower top speed by climbing a lot faster with less effort. If you wait for your buddies, maybe they will wait for you on the DH.

So, I put the 4" rockers away. If I need to ride a short travel bike, I ride my Moots Smoothie. The Salt 4" is great for smaller riders, but if I need a real trail bike, out comes the Salt in 5" for everything from smooth singletrack to rough fire roads, or the 6" version for the really nasty stuff, or the hopped up 5" version with the Freeride SL. It is a judgment made depending on how much sand and rough climbing I have to do, and who I am riding with and what bikes they are riding on.

I switched out the rear shock of the 5" to a Romic with a titanium coil spring. The bike is now much more suited to what I ride here in Moab. I don't have to worry about failure with the coil. They still work even when they are sick. I have seen air shocks go south far out on the trial and it ain't pretty.

The El Saltamontes frame with its three rocker choices, along with the selection of forks I have settled on, produce many choices. If you want to get one, call me to help you sort it out. The variations create a lot of unique geometry choices. The 5" rockers create a bike with sane geometry and a nearly perfect bottom bracket height (not too low) for tight trail. A Salt with 5" rockers in custom version of the SuperEgo build could be just for you if you are looking for an all around bike. If you are an odd size, small or large, you should know that more than half of our clients are either very large men or smaller women. What I do with Ventana frames when it comes to fit for your body and riding style is something pretty special. Check out the Dreamride Fully.

Done deal,
Lee