Salsa Timberjack promises 'adventure by bike' for less money

Salsa Timberjack promises 'adventure by bike' for less money

Two wheel sizes available for new budget ripper

Russell Eich / Immediate Media

Published: July 25, 2016 at 2:50 pm

Off-road touring, bikepacking, going out and having fun on the trails – whatever you call it Salsa Cycles has been doing it longer than most.

The Minnesota-base company's motto has been “Adventure by bike” for over seven years now, and the new Timberjack is aimed at getting more riders into the fun.

Wheel size choices

Two colors are available in each wheel size - Russell Eich / Immediate Media

Take your pick of wheel size: Timberjacks are offered with 29in or 27.5+ wheels. No 2.8in rubber can be found on Salsas, the plus size tires are the full 3.0in width. Salsa says they spec 3.0in tires on all their plus bikes "since they’re so used to fat bike wheels and tires."

Salsa's Timberjack NX1 hits the modern hardtail checkboxes with 27 wheels, internal cable routing, a 120mm fork, and low, slack aluminum frame - Russell Eich / Immediate Media

The Timberjack series sports lots of trickle down technology. Salsa’s single or geared Alternator dropouts are out back, internal cable routing keeps the looks tidy, and the geometry is of the now standard low, long and slack variety. Plus the colors and graphics look very much on point.

This stunning red Timberjack has to be seen to be fully appreciated - Russell Eich / Immediate Media

The two build kits available are both SRAM heavy, with the GX1 kit fronted by a 120mm RockShox Recon and rolling on Formula/Whisky wheels, and the NX1 group lead by a 120mm Manitou M30 fork with Formula/WTB 123 wheels underneath.

BikeRadar asked Salsa honcho Justin Julian where the unique Timberjack name came from. "It's really just two words that we like, so we threw them together," he told us.

Here's the best part: Salsa has worked for well over a year to streamline their supply chain, and the result of that hard work is better-priced bikes or a higher build kit for the same price. Either way, it's a huge win for riders drawn to the company that's been doing "Adventure by bike" for nearly a decade.

Salsa Timberjack pricing

  • Timberjack 27.5+ GX1: $1399 (international pricing TBC)
  • Timberjack 29 NX1: $999 (international pricing TBC)