Full Suspension Q for a friend

[SSconny]

I'm a dedicated SSer'. A good friend of mine is contemplating a new fully... yah, I know, blasphemy. I'm just tryin' to help a brother out who loves to ride as much as we do. He's just not convinced about the SS yet. I know of no one who rides one of these bikes, a Ventana El SaltaMontes. They look friggin' sweet and I'm seriously contemplating a purchase. I'm looking for any feedback, both positive and negative. My interests are long NorthWest epic all mountain rides. Lightweight is very important and so is 4-5" travel. Customer service? Warranty? Anyone have experience with this small boutique company?

[Brandon]

I don't know anything about that particular bike but...

I find that for epic riding 4" is more than enough I have an FSR that has 90mm F&R and it works nice, anything more just adds weight without much benefit on the bumpy sections.

Nothing wrong with having a fully for the epics.. but to stay true to SS you do have to occasionally do an epic on the SS too.. I pick the bike I feel will be the most fun for any particular ride and if it's an unknown I usually grab the FSR.

[KgB]

for a "friend"huh"They look friggin' sweet and I'm seriously contemplating a purchase".

I just built this up and really dig it.(huge understatement here)
I think Alloy Nipples,who posts here and in passion has a Ventana El SaltaMontes and a SS.

[sveinub]

I'm a dedicated SSer'. A good friend of mine is contemplating a new fully... yah, I know, blasphemy. I'm just tryin' to help a brother out who loves to ride as much as we do. He's just not convinced about the SS yet. I know of no one who rides one of these bikes, a Ventana El SaltaMontes. They look friggin' sweet and I'm seriously contemplating a purchase. I'm looking for any feedback, both positive and negative. My interests are long NorthWest epic all mountain rides. Lightweight is very important and so is 4-5" travel. Customer service? Warranty? Anyone have experience with this small boutique company?

Hi
As part of my job as a staffmember in Norway´s largest mtb site www.terrengsykkel.no, I get to try a lot of bikes, and last summer we tested the ElSalty with the 3,5-5" link.

If it is attention to detail that you are after you won´t find anything better than the Ventana. That thing is frikkin beautiful!!

When it comes to riding there are a few considerations that have to be made.
If pedaling efficency is what you are after, then your friend might want to look elsewhere. With it´s faux bar linkage, the Salty bobs quite a bit on steep climbs and under hevy pedaling. A ProPedal Fox unit or a Romic helps alot though. A horst, VPP or High Pivot Single pivot equiped bike climbs faster.

If it is stability when desending and railing corners that are important to your friend - he or she can´t go wrong with the Salty, and this is also the main reason Sherwood employs this faux bar design. Generally, desending the ElSalty is a joy. You actualy notice the differens compared to for example a Horst equiped Enduro

The workmanship and attention to detail on these frames are second to non. If your friend want´s a frame that will outlast every component put on it, the Salty is certanly one to consider.

We found the salty to work best in the 4" setting for allround use, but the four Inches feels like more than the 4" on a Superlight or Dawg.

Sveinung
terrengsykkel.no

[sloth]

Its Ok, not everyone is cool enough to ride Single Speed.......