Salsa Ala Carte through the ages.......

[richardpaulbaker]

Hi suburbanreuben, you were very lucky getting your mitts on a Soulcraft that way. At least I find solace in telling myself that even if I'd spotted it on ebay I wouldn't have been able to buy it anyway. It's too big for me.
Pleased to hear it's such a great ride.
Also pleased to hear that all your wheels are covered in mud, mine are too usually.

 

[richardpaulbaker]

Don't know if anyone is still following this thread, but I just thought I'd post a few more up to date pics of the A La Carte.
If anyone's still interested.
It's back to being a single speed again now, but with colour matched and recently serviced 1997 RS Judys.
I've also built some new wheels with brand new Mavic XM317 rims as the old rims were almost worn through.
This frame just keeps on going, but the only old stuff left are the frame, Mavic BB and the Grafton Speedstik 1 cranks.
It's ready for the summer.
If we get one this year that is !

 

[brocklanders023]

 

[dirttorpedo]

This is a great thread. Nice to see someone with the same bike they had BITD and all of the variations it went through over the years. I always had to sell my current bike to finance the "next" bike due to finances or storage limitations. If it didn't have that damn U2 brake on the back I'd love to have my old 89 Rocky Fusion still.

 

[player]

As everybody has said before me what a great thread this is ...the best ive seen in ages.

Its a breath of fresh air to see a bike thats been kept since new and built and then re-built time and again......and ridden :roll:

Thanks for sharing.

 

[richardpaulbaker]

Hi Player, thanks for the kind words.
The old Salsa certainly has been value for money !

Good luck with your search for the Bonty forks, they are like rocking horse doo doo.
Great forks though, as you can see from the earlier photos in this thread the Ala Carte came with those on it as a fork/frame set.
I sold them when I got some RS Mag 21s - big mistake....
I know exactly where they are though - in my mates shed, but no amount of hinting has got him to offer to sell them back to me.
He's probably hanging onto them until they literally are 'worth their weight in gold' !!

 

[player]

They are rare but im guessing i speak for everybody else that calls themselves a retro biker,its the fun of tracking stuff down i guess

Ive bought an ala carte frame myself and im waiting for it to arrive so cant wait for when it finally turns up

 

[richardpaulbaker]

Hi,
There's some more pics on the way as the Ala Carte has evolved yet again...........

 

[richardpaulbaker]

Re:Salsa Ala Carte Through the ages ----Update

Well it's been a while since I've posted any pics of the beloved '91 Ala Carte, but here's the latest update.
It's been beautifully sunny and spring like here today on the Isle of Wight with birds tweeting everywhere and a very pleasant temperature, so
I've decided it's time for some silly summer tyres.
White might not be to everyones taste, but after a long dark winter of commuting me to work I thought I'd pimp the Salsa up ready for summer cruising along Ryde seafront !!!
Other changes since the last post are the Exotic Alu Forks.
These are the closest modern forks I could find that reproduced the original ride feel of the Bonty Comps that that came with the frame.
39cm A - C
All the years that I'd been putting rubbish suspension forks on were total folly. It rides much better with the correct length rigid fork. Just like Ross intended BITD.
Oh, and I'm just running 1 x 9 on this one at the moment.
Cheers

 

[bartsince1975]

Re:

Lovely bike and story, thanks for sharing it. It makes me feel sorry I don't have pictures of all my reincarnations of my Brodie.

What happened to the original crankset? I hope it didn't break.