Salsa Cycles Powderkeg – first look

Salsa Cycles Powderkeg – first look

Off-road touring 29er tandem

The Powderkeg is Salsa Cycles' first tandem mountain bike

Courtesy

Josh Patterson

Published: February 23, 2015 at 10:00 pm
The Powderkeg is Salsa Cycles' first tandem mountain bike - Courtesy
The Powderkeg was designed with adventure touring in mind - Courtesy
The Powderkeg fork has large diameter 4130 legs and a thru-axle to cope with the forces two riders can generate - Courtesy
In 2012, Salsa-sponsored endurance racer Kurt Refsnider and his stoker, Caroline Soong, successfully completed the 2,700-mile Tour Divide race on a Powderkeg prototype - Kurt Refsnider
The Powdgerkeg will come in three frame sizes - Courtesy

The big news from Frostbike may have been the release of Salsa Cycles’ redesigned Warbird, but there was no hiding the largest bike in the booth. The Powderkeg is a tandem mountain bike built to for bikepacking, gravel racing and general trail riding.

Salsa has tinkered with tandem designs for nearly five years. The company experimented two-person versions of its drop-bar Fargo off-road tourer as well as with the more traditional El Mariachi 29er. It appears that El Mariachi-inspired version won out.

The powderkeg was designed with adventure touring in mind : - Courtesy

The Powderkeg is constructed from large diameter 4130-chromoly tubing. The frame features Salsa’s Alternator Dropouts for singlespeed conversions and uses a pinch-bolt style eccentric bottom bracket shell to tension the timing chain.

In 2012, salsa-sponsored endurance racer kurt refsnider and his stoker, caroline soong, successfully completed the 2,700-mile tour divide race on a powderkeg prototype : - Kurt Refsnider

In 2012, Salsa-sponsored endurance racer Kurt Refsnider and his stoker, Caroline Soong, successfully completed the 2,700-mile Tour Divide race on a Powderkeg prototype in 20 days. Click here to read all about their adventure

The powdgerkeg will come in three frame sizes: - Courtesy

The Powderkeg will come in three sizes: Medium/Small, Large/Small and Large/Medium

This bicycle built for two adventurers will be available this summer. The Powderkeg will retail for US$3,999 with a Shimano SLX drivetrain and Avid BB7 brakes with 200mm rotors. The Powderkeg will also be available as a frameset for US$1,999.

UK and Australian pricing and availability have yet to be announced.

For more information visit http://salsacycles.com.

Josh Patterson

Contributor

Josh Patterson is a BikeRadar contributor and former technical editor. He has spent most of his career working in the cycling industry as an athlete, mechanic and journalist. He holds a master's degree in journalism and has more than 20 years of experience as a cyclist and 12 years of experience riding and writing for BikeRadar, Cyclingnews, Cycling Weekly, Dirt Rag, RoadBikeReview and Outside Magazine. A native of the Flint Hills of Kansas, Josh was a pioneer in the gravel cycling movement, having raced the first Unbound 200 and many other gravel events around the globe. He considers himself a cycling generalist and enjoys road, gravel and mountain biking in equal measure. When not traveling for work, he can be found exploring the singletrack and lonely gravel roads that surround his home in Fort Collins, Colorado. In addition to his love of cycling, Josh is an enthusiastic supporter of brunch, voting rights and the right to repair movement.
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