Salsa's recommended size chart...?

Oh this is apparently the El Mariachi 3 for 2013...I think I need this bike. We're thinking the 20% Cdale discount that we get as JDRF riders only applies towards road bikes (which makes sense, really), so that evens out the playing field between the 29er bikes I am considering (Salsa El Mar and Cdale Tango SL).
http://forums.mtbr.com/attachments/s...red-el-mar.jpg

I do like that the El Mariachi has a proven record and is such a popular model. And I've never had a steel bike, before, so I'd be interested to try that vs. the alum. Cdale. With the El Mariachi I'd have a steel mtn. bike, alum CX bike, and carbon road bike--all I'd need is a titanium Mukluk, heh! ;)

I hope I'll be able to test both the Cannondale and the El Mariachi. I will have to drop some not-so-subtle hints to our LBS buddy to get 1 of each for me to try. :D

I would have to name the Salsa "Gossamer," right...? :p
http://www.macrodons.com/dailysketch...ModelSheet.jpg

Quote:

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Originally Posted by zoom-zoom

Oh this is apparently the El Mariachi 3 for 2013...I think I need this bike. We're thinking the 20% Cdale discount that we get as JDRF riders only applies towards road bikes (which makes sense, really), so that evens out the playing field between the 29er bikes I am considering (Salsa El Mar and Cdale Tango SL).
http://forums.mtbr.com/attachments/s...red-el-mar.jpg

I do like that the El Mariachi has a proven record and is such a popular model. And I've never had a steel bike, before, so I'd be interested to try that vs. the alum. Cdale. With the El Mariachi I'd have a steel mtn. bike, alum CX bike, and carbon road bike--all I'd need is a titanium Mukluk, heh! ;)

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DH had a steel mountain bike and loved it. I think if I were to ever get a SS, it would be a steel frame.

Oh, this is the best photo I've seen of the 2013 El Mariachi 3, yet:
http://www.northcentralcyclery.com/w...8-768x1024.jpg

The more I look at it, the more I love it...and the less enamored I am with the Cannondale Tango SL 29er. It really looks too much like a cheap Y-framed Wal-Mart kids' bike, unfortunately. Even my DH seems to be encouraging the Salsa over the Cdale, even though it would likely cost us a couple hundred more. And I've been riding a friend's too-small-for-me Salsa Ala Carte and can't get over how smooth the steel feels, even riding on the paved rail trail to get to some singletrack 4ish miles from our house. I always assumed that riding knobby tires on asphalt was buzzy regardless of the bike. Now I feel that the buzzy has a lot to do with the aluminum frames I've ridden.

I've been too lazy to take the knobbies off my Fargo, which is my commuter bike...and they don't bother me a bit. Love love love that bike - it's like the bike equivalent of an Escalade for a commute, but so comfy.