Description If Sal Paradise were alive today, we think he'd choose a La Raza™ for his adventures on the road. Its classic geometry has been proven to work well for virtually all types of riding. With a sloping to...
Bike Setup: Full Ultegra Triple.
Mavic Ksyrium SL/Michelin Pro2Race (climbing & event rides)
Mavic Aksium Race/Conti Gatorskins (training)
Koobi AU Enduro saddle
Summary: Bought this to replace my cracked Bianchi Talladega following an accident. Slightly larger frame (54cm vs. 53cm) and higher end steel (True Temper OX Platinum vs. Reynolds 631). I'm amazed at how much more comfortable the Salsa is to ride. I'm not a large rider (140 lbs) and find the frame adequately stiff and very smooth on long rides.
Bike Setup: 2006 Veloce 9 gruppo, 2005 Centaur brakes, Fizik Arione ti saddle, a pair of Campy Protons and a pair of Veloce/Open Pro rear and Shimano hub dynamo/Open Pro front wheels. B&M halogen headlight.
Summary: Bought the frame and the parts to go for building up the thing myself as a randonneur / recreational road bike. Turned out a fine road bike for fast (for me, that is) training rides and longer, more relaxed rides. Equipped with a rear rack it handles commuting equally well as long as the road suits the tires. At first I was not sure if the handling will do in long rides, felt pretty snappy at first, but during PBP qualifications got no problem from that department and it did not fail me at PBP, either. It can be ridden just fine with hands off, but it still feels lively enough for sporty riding.
Strengths: Good road manners, eyelets for mudguards, moderate weight for a steel frame, nice colour.
Weaknesses: : Could really do with a bit more clearance for the mudguards, now it is too tight for 25 mm tires, even with 23 mm tires anything larger than a grain of sand tends to stick between the tire and the mudguard. Especially annoying on wet surfaces. Colour is nice, but does chip easily.
Similar Products Used: Olmo Sportsman 1997
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Bike Setup: Dura Ace shifters and rear derailleur, Campagnolo Record headset, crankset, bottom bracket, and front derailleur, Campagnolo Record hubs with Mavic Open SUP rims, Salsa stem, and Ritchey seat post.
Summary: This is a hand made Salsa from 1998. One of the first, if not the first, sloping top tubes. A mix of Columbus and Reynolds 853, this frame out rides even the Colnago I had that was made by Ernesto himself. A wonderful, smooth, responsive bike. Unbelievably smooth welds.
Strengths: Everything about it. It's well designed, well built, looks great, rides even better.
Weaknesses: They are no longer made. Some other company bought out Salsa, and I understand they're made in Taiwan now.
Similar Products Used: Masi, Colnaga, Le Jeune, Rickert, Schwinn Paramount, Trek, Motobecane, Mondia, Peugeot, Gitane, etc., etc.
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Bike Setup: mish mash of components. FSA Gossamer cranks, Chris King headset, Thompson post, Speedplay pedals, 105 grouppo, bontrager wheels, bars, stem.
Summary: I have only ridden this frame for less than a month - but have put about 500 miles on it. Coming from an aluminum Trek - and being oh so skeptical about any difference in feel - I must admit - it is far more comfortable to ride. The Trek was near abusive on my local roads - while the La Raza really just floats over the terrain. For me - a skeptic - steel is in fact real. I think the bike looks great too. I opted for the Vino Rojo color (interesting mix of italian and spanish, no?). it has a nice vintage-y kind of look to it - with the non-fat tubing and cream graphics on the red metalic paint. Welds are....well they aren't the prettiest thing i've seen. Not offensive - but a little "thick" looking (I remember the butterfly welds from my 80's era Mongoose BMX frame and hold those as the gold standard - I've not seen anything of that quality, tho). But the value as compared to other steel road frames was quite good. Weight seems to be comparable to my aluminum Trek, Carbon fork helps i guess
Strengths: feel. price. uniqueness.
Weaknesses: none really. maybe a slight weight disadvantage compared to CF rigs. but i'm not racing - and i'd rather be comfortable than a few seconds faster
Similar Products Used: Trek XO-1.
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Bike Setup: Shimano 105 group
FSA cranks
Mavic MA4 rims
Crank Bros. pedals
Salsa Shaft seatpost (sweet clamp design!)
Summary: Built this frame up in 2003 and just want to say that I love it. This is a well built, no-frills, basic steel frame that gets the job done. Think of it as a Surly Pacer but a little more money and a heck of a lot lighter. It was a great ride for getting all over town in college and will be taking me on a double-century in the summer of 2006. Build it up right and you can make yourself a sub-20lb road bike. Pick one up on eBay if you can; the resale value sucks on less-recognized brands like this, and you'll probably get a screaming deal. You won't be sorry.
Strengths: Solid traditional road frame is everything you need with no stupid marketing gimmicks or fancy paint jobs (because nice paint really means it's a good bike).
Weaknesses: Paint chips when you smack the frame against other metal things. :-P
Similar Products Used: Crap-ass department store mountain bikes.
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