First Ride Impressions
I was lucky enough to be able to ‘ride before I buy’ on this bike, and by ride I mean 2+ hours on some nice single track trails! As I was just getting the idea of jumping back into mountain biking after many, many years away I wanted to ease into it. A friend had this spare Salsa and gave me the chance to see if I wanted to get back into biking. Well it was almost instant love with this bike. Being older, and less daring(or more cautious) than in my younger years, I took to this bike like the proverbial fish! Within a short time on the trail to get used to the bike, I was instilled with more confidence than I would have expected from a new bike. It was a dream, forgiving yet very predictable handling, smooth gearing, and hill climbing like it was late for dinner! The frame is Cro-Mo and I would say it is not as stiff as aluminum and not as forgiving as Titanium, but close going by the seat-o-meter.
| Frameset |
| Frame |
El Mariachi 3 CroMoly w/Alternator Dropout |
| Color |
Light Blue |
| Fork |
RockShox Recon Gold, Tapered, 9mm Axle |
| Drivetrain |
| Front Der |
Shimano Deore |
| Rear Der |
Shimano XT Shadow |
| Cassette |
Shimano Deore 11-36, 10-Speed |
| Chain |
KMC X10 |
| Crankset |
Shimano Deore Triple, 22/30/40t |
| Components |
| Headset |
Cane Creek 10 |
| Stem |
Salsa Guide Stem |
| Handlebar |
Salsa Salt Flat, 11-degree, 700mm |
| Grips |
Salsa Backcountry |
| Shifter |
Shimano Deore |
| Front Brake |
Shimano M445 |
| Rear Brake |
Shimano M445 |
| Brake Lever |
Shimano 445 Hydraulic |
| Rotors |
Shimano RT54 160 front/rear |
| Seatpost |
Truvativ T20 offset |
| Saddle |
WTB Volt |
| Wheels |
| Front Hub |
Shimano Deore |
| Rear Hub |
Shimano Deore |
| Spokes |
DT Swiss |
| Rims |
Sun Inferno 25 |
| Tires |
Schwalbe Rapid Rob 29 x 2.25″ |
Bike Price
| MSRP (USA) |
| Complete Bike |
$1,699 (Spring Sale! $999 as of 3/25/2016!) |
Component Specs
| Frame |
2015 El Mariachi 3 |
| Wheelsize |
29″ |
| Tire clearance |
Designed for 29 x 2.4″ tire |
| Fork |
Designed for 100mm travel 29’er suspension fork |
| Headset-Upper |
1-1/8″ Zero Stack (ZS44/28.6) |
| Headset-Lower |
For Tapered: 44mm External Cup (EC44/40)
For Straight: Zero Stack (ZS44/30) |
| Seatpost |
27.2mm |
| Seat Collar |
30.0mm. Salsa Lip-Lock included |
| Front Derailleur |
Problem Solvers Direct Mount clamp included, High Direct Mount Front Derailleur |
| Bottom Bracket |
73mm BSA, threaded |
| Crankset |
Compatible with 1x, 2x, and 3x mountain cranksets; Max chainring sizes 1x (32T), 2x (42/28T), 3x (44/32/22T) |
| Rear Brake |
51mm I.S., minimum rotor size 160mm, maximum rotor size 180mm |
| Rear Spacing |
Alternator Dropouts, Mulitple Configurations: 135 x 10mm QR; 142 x 12mm Thru-Axle; 135 x 10mm Rolhoff |
| Bottle Mounts |
1 per frame on XS/S; 2 per frame on M/L/XL |
| Derailleur Hanger |
Replaceable Alternator plates. Driveside QR Geared FS1312. Driveside QR Singlespeed FS1318. Non-driveside QR FS1313. Non-driveside Rohloff FS1331. 12 x 142mm Thru-Axle FS1330 |
| Cable Routing |
Full housing, under toptube |
| Frame Weight |
XS 2415g, SM 2350g, MD 2410g, LG 2490g, XL 2580g |
| Color |
Light Blue |
Bike Sizes
| Size |
X-Small |
Small |
Medium |
Large |
X-Large |
| Recommended Rider Height |
5’2″ – 5’6″ |
5’5″ – 5’9″ |
5’8″ – 6’0″ |
5’11” – 6-3″ |
6’2″ – UP |
| A. Toptube Effective |
22.2″ |
22.8″ |
23.6″ |
24.4″ |
25.0″ |
| B. Seat Tube Length |
14.0″ |
15.0″ |
17.0″ |
19.0″ |
21.0″ |
| C. Headtube Angle |
71° |
71° |
71° |
71° |
71° |
| D. Seat Tube Angle |
74° |
73° |
73° |
73° |
73° |
| E. BB Drop |
2.4″ |
2.4″ |
2.4″ |
2.4″ |
2.4″ |
| F. Chainstay Length |
16.9 – 17.6″ |
16.9 – 17.6″ |
16.9 – 17.6″ |
16.9 – 17.6″ |
16.9 – 17.6″ |
| G. Headtube Length |
3.5″ |
3.7″ |
3.9″ |
4.3″ |
4.7″ |
| H. Fork Length |
19.0″ |
19.0″ |
19.0″ |
19.0″ |
19.0″ |
| J. Fork Offset |
1.8″ |
1.8″ |
1.8″ |
1.8″ |
1.8″ |
| K. Wheelbase |
41.4 – 42.1″ |
41.6 – 42.2″ |
42.4 – 43.0″ |
43.2 – 43.8″ |
43.8 – 44.4″ |
| M. Stack |
23.2″ |
23.4″ |
23.6″ |
23.9″ |
24.3″ |
| N. Reach |
15.6″ |
15.7″ |
16.4″ |
17.1″ |
17.6″ |
| P. Standover |
26.9″ |
27.8″ |
29.3″ |
30.8″ |
32.4″ |
