Salsa updates Colossal with bolt-thru axles, new carbon fork and 30mm tyre clearance

US brand Salsa have revealed some details of their 2015 line-up ahead of a full launch later this year. The most notable changes are to the Colossal Ti, which now gets bolt-thru axles at both ends, increased tyre clearance and mudguard mounts, while the steel Colossal marries a bolt-thru fork with quick release rear axle.

First launched in 2012, the Colossal is the company’s do-everything road bike with geometry that is a balance between the agility of a race bike and the relaxed stance of a touring bike. It’s the sort of bike you could ride everything on all-year round, and for 2015 it looks like they’ve made some smart upgrades.

The frame now takes 30mm tyres without mudguards and 28mm tyres with mudguards. The addition of mudguard mounts will please many people that thought their omission on the previous bike was a bit of an oversight. IT's the sort of bike that a bit like the Genesis Equilibrium would be ideal for daily commuter, touring or Audax.

For the Colossal Ti model, Salsa have used bolt-thru axles front and rear, 15x100 and 12x142 respectively, with DT Swiss skewers. They’ve designed their own custom dropouts with a new 687 derailleur hanger, which forms part of the axle system to beef up the stiffness. Optional mudguard eyelets thread into mounts in the top of the dropouts.

There’s some debate about the merits of bolt-thru axles on disc road bikes at the moment, it’s sure to rage on for many years, but the general consensus seems to be that they are a good thing. Many people and manufacturers have their objections though, Giant as we found out at the Defy launch don’t feel there is a suitable standard for road bikes at the moment.

Salsa developed a new Colossal Carbon fork for the 2015 bike, using a 1 1/4in lower bearing and 1 1/8in top bearing. They’ve worked on the carbon layup to “achieve the vertical and lateral deflection/compliance we wanted for the Colossal Carbon Fork.” The fork uses a 5 x 100mm DT Swiss thru-axle.

Concealed mudguard mounts feature underneath the dropouts and there is a post-mount brake mount with external cable guides on the front side.

The more affordable Colossal 2, using a steel frame, switches to conventional quick release dropouts. It retains the new hidden mudguard mounts and uses the same new carbon fork.

No word on pricing or availability at this stage. More at http://salsacycles.com/