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Salsa Colossal Custom Winter Project

Winter road bike. Custom painted to coordinate with Shimano Ultegra.

Frame:
Salsa Colossal. 55 cm. BB86 bb shell. 44mm head tube. Clearance for 35mm tires w/out fenders and 28mm with fenders.

Fork/Headset:
Salsa Colossal carbon. 15 mm thru axle / Chris King Inset 8

Crankset/Bottom Bracket:
Ultegra 6800 / Chris King

Pedals:
105 5800

Drivetrain/Cog/Chainring/Chain:
Ultegra 6800 11-32 cassette / 52x36 rings / KMC chain

Derailleurs/Shifters:
Ultegra 6800

Handlebars/Stem:
Specialized Hover Alloy 44 cm / Easton EA90 -10 deg

Saddle/Seatpost:
Brooks England Cambium C13 / Zipp Service Course

Brakes:
Shimano road hydraulic disc w/ Shimano RT-99 140mm rotors

Front Wheel/Hub/Tire:
DT Swiss R23 Spline DB / Vittoria Open Pave 27mm

Rear Wheel/Hub/Tire:
DT Swiss R23 Spline DB / Bontrager AW3 Hard Case 25mm

Accessories:
Handsome Mud Butler fenders. Cannondale GT 40 bottle cages. Bontrager Flare R taillight.

More Info:
22 lb as pictured. Very clean welds. Salsa does care about quality, and ensures their factory in Asia produces a very nice product. However, many (not all) of the paint schemes on their bikes are aesthetic crimes against humanity!!! Hence the custom powder coat here on the frame, seatpost and stem, and matching liquid paint on the fork. I raced on a scandium Podio a few years back and loved it, so it was easy to pull the trigger on another Salsa. Salsa road bikes corner and descend like no other. Not surprising considering it's primarily a dirt brand. If you're buying one of these w/out test riding first, consider sizing down if you're in between sizes. I'm 6'0", riding a size 55 and it rides great for me, although I do like a very aggressive position and quicker steering. This is way off Salsa's "recommended rider height" found on the bike's geometry chart. This is a stiff bike, as far as steel goes. Ride quality is not as sublime as Columbus SL or Reynolds 853, but it's nice and lively during accelerations, thanks to fairly short chainstays and oversized bb shell. I have yet to ride it with really supple 32-35 mm tires, which should make the bike ride at a bit lower volume. I love that it'll clear 28mm tires with fenders, and has disc brakes. This makes it a great bike to ride in foul weather, without wearing out rims or getting road spray everywhere, and allows me to descend more quickly and safely.

Added by BikeBumb. Last updated over 7 years ago.

9 Comments

barksicle

barksicle says:

What year Colossal is this?

Posted about 7 years ago

baileyzellers

baileyzellers says:

Girls will go wild with threaded external BBs

Posted over 7 years ago

BikeBumb

BikeBumb says:

Thanksgiving ride 3 hours in pissing rain. Chris King press fit bb hasn't made a single peep. But threaded is still where it's at.

Posted over 7 years ago

baileyzellers

baileyzellers says:

I heard the Marrakesh is the ultimate bike, especially when you install new velocity wheels with 36 spokes. LOL

Posted over 7 years ago

BikeBumb

BikeBumb says:

I've heard carrying spokes on your chainstays makes the ladies go crazy

Posted over 7 years ago

CUMBOT

CUMBOT says:

sweet! those cdale cages, are they any good? they look nice.

Posted over 7 years ago

BikeBumb

BikeBumb says:

They look great, but in/out they feel a bit rough. They have are painted black, so they have a textured surface that makes them feel this way.

Posted over 7 years ago

CUMBOT

CUMBOT says:

i see. they are made from alloy. are you sure the model is called c40? found some named gt-40.

Posted over 7 years ago

BikeBumb

BikeBumb says:

Yep, GT 40 is right. Thanks

Posted over 7 years ago