INTERBIKE 2009 – Salsa Cycles responded to the economy by altering the spec levels on several of their bikes in order to drop the prices.  The Fargo, above, had full Shimano XT last year, but for 2010 has been scaled back to a mix of SLX and Deore, dropping the price $450 ($1,399 from $1,850).
Similarly, the Casseroll Double went from 105 to Tiagra, dropping from $1,799 to $1,200 and the Big Mama 29er swapped full XT with a Fox fork to SRAM X-9 and a Rockshox Reba, going from $3,600 to $2,700.  Their El Kaboing was changed up to equal effect, too.
On the component side, Salsa had several new stems and handlebars, including a sweet outward angled road bar called the Woodchipper (shown on the Fargo, above, and after the break).  Hit more to see the goods…
The Woodchipper brings a little retro style and comfort to any commuter or hipster mountain bike. Specs are:
- Multi-position, off-road drop bars
- Bars bend along three planes to create extra wide lowers while still maintaining a shallow drop
- Ergonomic design works well with integrated road shift/brake levers
- Bar ends accept bar end shifters
- Front cable groove for clean cable routing
- 80mm drop, 110mm reach, 38° drop angle
- 42cm and 46cm widths
- 25.4mm is AL-6061, 46cm is 353 grams
- 31.8mm is AL-7075, 46cm is 332 grams
- Black bead-blast finish
- Available January, MSRP $68.00
The Whammy Bar is a wide, 780mm AL-7075-T6 all-mountain handlebar designed for rough riding.  It has graduated ends for easy trimming and uses a 31.8mm clamp with an 11º bend.  MSRP is $56.00 and it’ll be out in January as well.
The Salsa Pro Moto Ti stem is a polished black mountain bike stem with titanium hardware:
- 3D-forged and CNC-machined from AL-2014-T6
- Forged and CNC-machined 4-bolt aluminum faceplate
- Titanium hardware for weight savings
- S.U.L. (Stiff Upper Lip)  II system provides S.U.L. benefits in a flip-flop stem
- 48mm-width bar clamp with carbon bar-friendly, rounded edges
- 31.8mm bar clamp
- Gloss Black finish
- MSRP: $90.00
The new Pro Moto Stem gets standard hardware with a bead blasted black finish, but still uses Salsa’s S.U.P. II faceplate mounting system (the faceplate contact areas are concave while the stem’s contact points are convex, creating a strong connection.  Salsa indicates you should tighten the top bolt all the way, then the bottom bolt to specifications.
Other specs on the Pro Moto include:
- • 3D-forged and CNC-machined from AL-2014-T6
- Forged and CNC-machined 4-bolt aluminum faceplate
- S.U.L. II system provides S.U.L. benefits in a flip-flop stem
- 48mm-width bar clamp with carbon bar-friendly, rounded edges
- 31.8mm bar clamp
- MSRP: $50
Both stems are available in 10mm length increments from 80 to 120.
