Previewed: Salsa El Kaboing and Big Mama

Here's the Big Mama twentyniner

The El Kaboing offers 5 inches of travel with a 2.54:1 compression ratio while the Big Mama gets 4 inches of travel via a 2:1 compression ratio. Low compression ratios like these aid damping control and help increase shock life. To keep the travel smooth and reliable, Salsa also installed stainless Enduro bearings at all pivots and uses dual bearings on the drive-side main pivot.

The El Kaboing’s geometry is tailored for all day trail riding with a 69-degree headtube angle, 73-degree seat angle and 16.9-inch chainstays. The 29-inch Big Mama gets a steeper 71-degree head angle and 18.5-inch chainstays to accommodate larger wheels. The wide stays accept tires up to 2.5 inches wide and offer ample mud clearance. The El Kaboing is designed to work with a 125- to 140-millimeter fork while the Big Mama was designed with a 100-millimeter-travel fork in mind.

The El Kaboing is offered in new battleship gray and the Big Mama comes in a funky shade of orange. Both frames feature stylish, yet understated, graphics on the top and downtubes—a nice departure from the fiesta-themed graphics of previous Salsa frames. Both frames weigh about 7 pounds, depending on size, and complete bikes with modest XT/Race Face components weighed around 29 pounds.

Salsa recently unleashed the bikes in the deep woods of northern Wisconsin for a few test rides. Though I only managed to ride about 50 miles, the bikes felt at-home on the woodsy Wisconsin terrain. I’m no 29-inch-disciple, but I especially liked the Big Mama. It flowed over rough terrain with a smoothness and agility that left me hankering for more. I definitely look forward to a long-term test in the future.

Photos from the Wisconsin trip can be found HERE.

For more info on Salsa Cycles go HERE.

Here's the non-drive side of the swing arm

The rocker arm is one piece of forged alloy.

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