Editor’s Note: We got some bad info to start with on this, so the entire article has been pretty much rewritten.
Salsa’s Horsethief 29er is a longer travel version of their original 29er full suspension bike, the Spearfish (orange bike, stage left).
The Spearfish was introduced at Interbike last year with some fanfare thanks to its healthy spec and low price. The Horsethief builds on that with 120mm travel in the rear and 120mm to 140mm in the front plus some solid spec updates. Check it out after the break…
The original Spearfish 29er.
In addition to the increased travel, the Horsethief gets some upgraded spec over the Spearfish, including a Fox shock and Marzocchi fork. The angles are a bit slacker and the top tube is a bit longer than normal and comes with the recommendation that you run a shorter stem and wider bar, setting the bike up to favor gravity riding.
The biggest (only?) frame change is a move from standard QR to 142×12 Maxle thru-axle in the rear. The Horsethief does away with the Spearfish’s PFBB30 in favor of a standard bottom bracket, but it adds ISCG05 tabs. It also gains dropper seat cable guides for clean routing.
Since there’s no pivot at the rear axle, the seatstays are flat to absorb some of the flex…similar to the old Trek Fuel and Fisher Sugar frames. They’re spaced to accommodate up to 29×2.5″ tires.
