The Colossal is Salsa’s road bike for epic days in the saddle in any and all conditions. That meant that as the bikes were carried over for the 2014 model year, the lack of fender mounts was a glaring omission for many considering the bike. To prove that Salsa is listening, the Colossal is back for 2015, but with a new design that includes not only fender mounts but thru axles as well.
Colossal now runs bigger tires than ever, and should check most of the boxes for a fast road bike built for the long haul. More details, actual weights, and the new Fargo Suspension bike after the break…
In a move that’s likely appease a good portion of the market clamoring for disc brakes, the Colossal Ti will run thru axles front and rear. Using a 15×100 front and 12×142 rear axle standard, the Ti model takes full advantage of the stiffer set up for perfect alignment of the discs. Next to both of the thru axles are the new hidden fender mounts which use a threaded extension similar to other removable mounts. Salsa is adamant that these are fender mounts only. They can not be used for racks.
To go along with the new axles, the Colossal has a new fork that was specifically designed with the steel and Ti frames in mind. Salsa really wanted the new fork to look like it belonged with the metal frames, but that meant increasing the tire clearance would be difficult. Managing to pull it off, the new fork offers clearance for 30mm tires or 28mm tires with full coverage fenders.
The Colossal Ti uses a triple butted 3/2.5 titanium frame with the new full carbon 1 1/8-1 1/4″ fork to offer all day comfort. Equipped with a full Ultegra 6800 2×11 drivetrain with compact and 11-32 gearing, SRAM bb7s brakes slow down HED Belgium Plus rims on Salsa Straight Pull hubs and Schwalbe Ultremo ZX V Guard 28mm tires. Retail on the Ti is $4,499 with frame/fork available for $2,499. A 56cm bike weighed in at 20.15 lbs (9.13 kg).
The Colossal 2 sees many of the same improvements as the Ti, with the exception of the rear skewer. Rather than go with a thru axle, the Colossal 2 sticks with a 135mm QR drop out, but the double butted CroMoly frame still receives the new hidden fender mounts.
Equipped with the same fork as the Ti, the 2 has the same 30mm tire clearance, full carbon construction, and 15mm thru axle.
The steel version of the Colossal runs a SRAM Apex 2×10 drivetrain with an 11-30 cassette, SRAM BB7 brakes, and Alex/Salsa wheels with Schwalbe Durano Race Guard 28mm tires. Sold for $1,999 complete or $899 for the frame and fork, this 58cm bike was just under 22 lbs at 21.9 (9.9 kg).
With the growing popularity of races like the Tour Divide, more riders are looking at off road bike packing as their next adventure. Now for those interested in something like the Fargo but with suspension, Salsa is offering an adventure ready bike out of the box. Rather than running the Salsa Firestarter Carbon fork, the Fargo 2 Suspension opts for a RockShox Reba RL fork with a tapered head tube. Built with drop bars, adjustable dropouts, and now a suspension fork the Fargo 2 Sus is definitely not your average mountain bike, but that’s kind of the point.
To help get you there the triple butted seamless Kung Fu frame is speced with a 2×10 SRAM X7/X9 Type 2 drivetrain with SRAM Apex shifters and BB7 brakes. The wheels use Stans Notubes Rapid 25 rims with Salsa 2 15×100 and 135mm QR hubs, wrapped in Schwalbe Racing Ralph 29×2.25″ tires.
Sold complete for $2,499, this 20″ frame weighs 28.2 lbs (12.79kg).
