Field test: Salsa Blackthorn – Purple Singletrack Eater

Unlike the vast majority of brands, Salsa also offers an aluminum frame / shock absorber for $ 2,099. With exactly the same geometry as the carbon models and a little more weight, that would make a lot of sense for riders who have a few parts of their own to hang on to. If you’d like a carbon frame / shock absorber instead, it costs $ 3,199.

This is a brand new platform for salsa, and the front and rear triangles are actually shared by two motorcycles, this 140mm Blackthorn and the 165mm travel Cassidy, with the latter’s extra travel via a longer stroke shock absorber and different links and clevises made components.

Salsa met all the criteria with the new design, including a clever place to strap on a tube. You definitely won’t be the first to do this, but the rubber scuff protection is a nice touch that makes it one of a kind. There are also a number of places where things can be bolted, which is no surprise given the long history of salsa where you can bolt anything anywhere to its frames. There are threaded holes at the top of the top tube for an EXP bag or a K-Edge computer mount. The three-pack mounts on the down tube allow you to carry a bottle, pump, and possibly the sink.

There’s one more threaded hole that I know you’ll love: the Blackthorn’s bottom bracket. There you will also find a set of ISCG 05 tabs for attaching a guide or a taco. The milling is also internal and, in the case of the carbon models, is guided by cast-in guides in the frame to make the work easier.

There are a few things to discuss on the back of the bike, including the time-controversial Super Boost hub spacing. Salsa says the 12x157mm hub allows them to get a short chainstay length of 432mm while still being able to either 29 ” x 2.6 ” or 27.5 ” x 3.0 ” Mount tires. You know, just in case you want to ruin the bike with 3 inch wide tires … please don’t. These short chainstays are also made of aluminum instead of carbon, and Salsa has put a slew of smart frame protections in where you need them, including a flap that prevents stones from getting between the front triangle and the Secure the chainstay yoke.

Salsa has used Dave Weagle’s split-pivot suspension layout, which you can also find on the back of the Blackthorn, for many years. It’s a concentric stub axle as it sounds – the pivot pin literally rotates around the rear axle. The rocker arm drives a clevis that wraps around the seat tube and compresses a Fox Float DPX2 to 140mm.

Salsa Says Split Pivot ”isolates pedaling and braking forces, “And they say that does it”uniquely suitable” to be able to swap out the clevis, the connection and the shock absorber so that the riders can transform the black thorn into a 165 mm Cassidy with longer travel. Of course you will also need a longer fork. Making two bikes from one frame also saves them a ton of money.

On the geometry front, the Blackthorn has a head and seat angle of 64.6 and 76.5 degrees in the loose of the two settings. If you love tinkering and know that slacker doesn’t always mean better, there is also a flip-chip that makes the head and seat angles 0.3 degrees steeper and raises the bottom bracket by just 4mm. I think this little adjustment range is only there for a bike shop to say it’s adjustable, but to be fair, Salsa is nowhere near the only brand that does. Of course, you can use this geo-adjustment to customize the bike to better fit your 27.5 “x 3” tires …

Climb

The blackthorn looks like much of Trailbike, both on paper and in person, not to mention obviously that Salsa wanted a bike that you remember going down and not up. Not a bad strategy, especially since the purple machine is still relatively decent on the latter.

With the big bike with a reach of 490mm and a head angle of 64.6 degrees (in the loose setting), this will never be the one who loves tight, technical climbs. In those moments when equilibrium and a 579 degree bend that is also angled right on the mountainside come together, it feels like it has a huge presence on the trail. And sometimes it may not fit through at all. However, this is almost always the case, especially after realizing that the best approach is to swing the long front end around the rear axle and only then give it a squirt of watts to get up what is in front of you. Unlike the Giant Trance or Specialized Stumpjumper, the bike that allows you to easily control most things when you get to them, the Blackthorn requires a little more space and foresight.

As with many bikes like this, it has plenty of traction for you, with the rear end appearing to offer a more even bite than the more solid feel machines. That’ll help your cause through the tricky things, but it’s also a relatively active bike that those off the saddle don’t like, especially when compared to the spritelier trail bikes we tested. If you have no idea what good shape looks like, see the suspension drop in and out of travel easily under you. So if you’re climbing gently, be sure to flip the Fox shock’s pedal assist switch and long.

In addition to the Stumpjumper or Ibis Mojo, the Blackthorn is a little more relaxed and wants you to relax on the climbs too. Sounds like a terrible way to get to the top, does it?

Descending

While the lighter trail bikes feel like trail bikes when aimed at most of the descents, Barney lets you instantly know that they are ready for more than that. The active rear suspension and the Fox 36 with its GRIP2 damper, plus the geometry that rewards your patience with uphill descents, let the Blackthorn roll through sections where some other bikes stutter a bit, especially when it got very rough.

The answer is always momentum, no matter what bike you’re on, but especially with something like the Blackthorn. Much like the P-Train, it’s not a bike that loves slow speeds and sprints out of every turn like a race, which means it’s probably not the best for those flat, narrow trails out there. Yes it will, but it won’t do it as well as the Stumpy or the Ibis.

But the blackthorn doesn’t really compete with the Stumpy or the Ibis, does it? Instead, let’s talk about how it compares to the coil spring Actofive P-Train, another so-called trail bike that favors the descents. While the intentions are similar, the two bikes on the trail are very different. The salsa feels much rounder and reacts to pedal input. This gives it more life and energy when the terrain is not as steeply sloping as the mostly steel Actofive would prefer. In those moments when the ride may be a bit sketchy but mostly fun, it’s the blackthorn I’d be reaching for. However, if you frequently slide through rough terrain or drive more frequently at higher speeds during your rides, the descending P-train offers more control and safety.

The bike’s 140mm split-pivot suspension is as impressive as I would have expected, especially at the beginning of its ride when the air-sprung shock absorber feels pretty slippery. Mind you, not slip-proof, but definitely more supple than the other air-sprung motorcycles. The middle of the travel feels more active too, much more than an additional 5 or 10 mm, and there is no rattle when you reach the end of the travel. Bottom-out doesn’t come any earlier than expected either, as the 140 mm manages to balance compliance with small bumps with the end of the ride quite well. What I mean by that is that the first third of its journey is so active and smooth that you might expect it to reach the other end a little too quickly, but it doesn’t.

So where is the blackthorn for us? Well, it offers more confidence in scary descents than the Giant, Ibis, and Stumpy, but that’s not really a surprise given its number and specification. On the other hand, it can’t quite keep up with the P train when the descents get really clunky or tricky.

The Blackthorn is more of a purple trail eater than a friendly purple dinosaur. With its 160mm fork and active, forgiving rear end, you can play enduro racer if you want. It’s not bothered by high speeds and uneven surfaces, but that costs a little less excitement than traditional trail bikes if you’re not doing anything dangerous. I think the question is, how much danger do you see on your rides?