Salsa history

[eddief]

I have been in 3 frame builder shops: Kirk, Mikkelsen, Rex. Each was unique. Never knew about Ross Shafer of Salsa. Getting my hands on a Casseroll, so wondered about the history of Salsa. Ross seems like an interesting guy. Wonder what QBP paid for his little company way back when.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHUi2cO2kik&feature=youtu.be

http://mombat.org/Salsa.htm

[jmal]

You should look into Soulcraft. Sean was one of the builders at Salsa.

[eddief]

http://www.soulcraftbikes.com/index.php

[pbarry]

Ross is a great guy. Built two Salsa-Merlins while in Somerville. He was very particular about the seat stay/seat tube junction, so the Ti frames would look identical to his steel frames.

On the $$ QBP paid: Guessing 1.5-2.0 mil. Just a guess at fair market back then and future market speculation of a company that was not fully optimized.

[JeffS]

Huh. I never knew Salsa was a brand before QBP.

Rode my mustard casseroll to the store today. Might be my favorite road bike of all time.

Shame. I've seen nothing of interest from them in many years now.

[kingpin75s]

Casseroll is a cool bike. My former wheel builder designed it when he worked there.

+1 on Sean at Soulcraft being a good guy to represent the original Salsa.

[eddief]

hard to create any mystique around good old Salsa when you have to churn out marketing hype and new product for 17 brands:

Salsa, Surly, All-City, 45North, Handspun, Foundry, Civia, Whisky, MSW, Problem Solvers, Dimension, Mechanical Threads, R12, Q-Tubes, Quality Wheels, Cogburn, Buzzy's and iSS

[thirdgenbird]

hard to create any mystique around good old Salsa when you have to churn out marketing hype and new product for 17 brands:

Salsa, Surly, All-City, 45North, Handspun, Foundry, Civia, Whisky, MSW, Problem Solvers, Dimension, Mechanical Threads, R12, Q-Tubes, Quality Wheels, Cogburn, Buzzy's and iSS

Heller
Teravail

[John H.]

Don't mistake QBP era Salsa with having anything in common with Petaluma Salsa other than the chili pepper logo.

[eddief]

this Casseroll had some fine distinguishing characteristics:

https://picasaweb.google.com/bmwt.ebay/CasserollSingle

[John H.]

I guess they do share an affinity for witty puns.

[donevwil]

Just had a beer with Ross at Bruce Gordon's open house. He's simply one of those hands on, make it yourself and make it better, kind of guys. Innovation was obviously a big part of the original Salsa. Back then, he sponsored many (most) local teams (how I met him), mentored many a young, enthusiastic craftsman/builder and developed a unique and respected brand. Ultimately knew when to sell high and move on.

He made his "name" in bikes, but now pours his passion into many pots: musical instruments, furniture, etc. check out six-nine design (http://www.six-ninedesign.com/). He's a legitimately wonderful individual.

[Repack Rider]

This Salsa is one of the featured bikes on display at the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame. It hangs between Jacquie Phelan's Cunningham, a Steve Potts and the 1985 Fisher Comp that Joe Murray rode to a national champinship.

[dancinkozmo]

i think if you took a hit of acid that bike would become invisible ;)

[choricoff]

Just leaving this here because it has a lot in common with Ross Shafer... mexican food, pedal steel, acid. Also there may be a similarity between California's take on country music and California's take on cycling (mtb). Sorry for the stretch; I like the flying burrito brothers and Ross Shafer's pedal steel reminded me of them.

Flying Burrito Brothers - Christine's Tune (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BITiY8M_oDo)

[kingpin75s]

i think if you took a hit of acid that bike would become invisible ;)

What bike? ;)

[John H.]

We were discussing Petaluma Salsa on our ride today.
Back in the day they were hardcore Mtb.
Every bit as much as Ibis, Cunningham, Potts, etc.

[dawgie]

Don't forget that Salsa also used to make some awesome stems. I rode a Casseroll for several years and it was a great bike with one big design flaw -- poorly designed rear dropouts to appease the fixie crowd. My Casseroll's dropouts were destroyed when a stick got jammed in the rear wheel. It would have been the perfect commuter, light tourer with stronger dropouts.

[eddief]

I don't get it.

Don't forget that Salsa also used to make some awesome stems. I rode a Casseroll for several years and it was a great bike with one big design flaw -- poorly designed rear dropouts to appease the fixie crowd. My Casseroll's dropouts were destroyed when a stick got jammed in the rear wheel. It would have been the perfect commuter, light tourer with stronger dropouts.

[bewheels]

Don't forget that Salsa also used to make some awesome stems.

Back in the quill stem days they had a custom stem service as well. Still have a couple kicking around somewhere.

[mgreene888]

Shame. I've seen nothing of interest from them in many years now.

How about the Fargo? It is of course, not a road specific bike, but can be used as a mountain bike or as a commuter by changing the wheels/tires.

No doubt, it did not create the the "adventure bike" category but it certainly helped popularize it.

It has a dedicated thread on MTBR.

Mike

[Mark McM]

hard to create any mystique around good old Salsa when you have to churn out marketing hype and new product for 17 brands:

Salsa, Surly, All-City, 45North, Handspun, Foundry, Civia, Whisky, MSW, Problem Solvers, Dimension, Mechanical Threads, R12, Q-Tubes, Quality Wheels, Cogburn, Buzzy's and iSS

Based on their product line, I don't think need "mystique". Their products fall more under the categories of utility/practical/lifestyle. In other words, their products sell because they fit well into their niche or function (tangible value), not because of their image or mystique (intangible value).

[fiataccompli]

mining around a second from the upthread link, any love for this generation Casseroll....

https://picasaweb.google.com/bmwt.ebay/Casseroll

I have one of these that continues to look at me from the corner of a room asking when it's getting the Campy/double group upgrade. I thought this was a pretty ideal bike for ones of this nature....I mean in terms of versatility, plenty of points to bolt & attach stuff to, and aesthetics that do not render harm to one's eyes.

[bcroslin]

the whole "museum" series from TPC is awesome. All productivity is gone this afternoon.

[fishbolish]

& Ross used to throw a good party as well......attended the Salsa Fiesta in 97

[corsaspeciale]

I was on Mr Salsa's custom build wait list and missed out when he sold. But i still have a VHS tape that he did on how to measure for one of his custom frames. It is cool to watch and dream about what he would have built me.

Jim

[Peter P.]

You can read more about Salsa's history on Sean Walling's Soulcraft web site (http://www.soulcraftbikes.com/history.php).

Sean worked at Salsa during the sale of the company.

As a Soulcraft owner, I can tell Sean carried Ross' work philosophy with him when the company was sold and Sean started Soulcraft. Their just no-nonsense, straight forward frames with a focus on "build it better".

[eddief]

"Our neurosis is your peace of mind."

You can read more about Salsa's history on Sean Walling's Soulcraft web site (http://www.soulcraftbikes.com/history.php).

Sean worked at Salsa during the sale of the company.

As a Soulcraft owner, I can tell Sean carried Ross' work philosophy with him when the company was sold and Sean started Soulcraft. Their just no-nonsense, straight forward frames with a focus on "build it better".

[fourflys]

You can read more about Salsa's history on Sean Walling's Soulcraft web site (http://www.soulcraftbikes.com/history.php).

Sean worked at Salsa during the sale of the company.

As a Soulcraft owner, I can tell Sean carried Ross' work philosophy with him when the company was sold and Sean started Soulcraft. Their just no-nonsense, straight forward frames with a focus on "build it better".


and I believe Sean either builds in the same shop as the original Salsas were built in or his shop is on Ross Schafer's property in Petaluma... I can never remember which...