Brian Kesselman

I bought this bike at the end of the 2011 cyclocross season. This was my first "real" cyclocross bike, and the purchase was long overdue (I raced the previous 3 seasons on a flat bar disc brake commuter bike). I spent last winter making upgrades to the bike to get it ready for the 2012 cross season.
The result was a fantastic machine (took me to a 2nd place finish in the Blind Date series and 3rd in the Cross Crusade (single speed)). This bike handles amazingly in all conditions. The tapered fork is super stiff: it does not shudder under braking. The current configuration is fast, light, and reliable. My only reason for selling the bike is so that I can go back to disc brakes.

This bike is the last of its kind, as Salsa no longer makes cross bikes. I have thoroughly overhauled this bike after racing it this season. It truly is back to showroom condition. The bike has always been stored inside and thoroughly cleaned after every race. I take very good care of my stuff so this bike is immaculate. FYI: Salsa made this bike in a 55 and 56 for some reason. I normally ride a 56 road bike and tried both the 55 and 56 Chilli, but liked the feel of the 55 better. I would like to sell the bike with the current build but will entertain selling the frameset alone.

BRAKES: I swapped out the stock Avid shorty 4's for TRP CX 8.4 mini v's. They will come with brand new Kool Stop Dura 2 pads. The Brakes have been tuned with additional titanium bolts apart from the cantilever post bolts. These brakes are fantastic, with tremendous power and good modulation. This is the best cantilever post mount brake I have tried. The bike was recabled and converted to run full brake housing to the rear brake (which made a huge difference at the last PIR race). It can still be run normally with cable stops if you want to convert it back.
CRANKSET: I swapped out the stock FSA Gossamer crankset for a Dura Ace 7800. It is still one of the lightest, stiffest, and most reliable aluminum cranksets that takes standard rings. This crankset has been hand stripped and now has a nice brushed finish to it. If it gets scratched as cranks always do in cross, you can just hit it with some steel wool and the scratches are gone.
BOTTOM BRACKET: I installed a Parlee Pressfit 30 to Shimano conversion bottom bracket with Enduro bearings. This is a brand new product and its works fantastic. Bearings still spin smooth after a season of cross.
HANDLEBAR: I kept the Salsa cowbell 2 bar (42cm), which is an awesome cross bar. The drops flare out which creates excellent stability (I rode mostly in the drops all season). The bars are wrapped in Lizard Skin DSP bar tape, which is durable and perfect for wet and muddy cross.
BRAKE LEVERS: I upgraded the brake levers to Sram's S900 carbon levers: super light and the same actuation as Sram's other integrated levers.
STEM: I swapped out the heavy Salsa stem to a lightweight Cannondale C2 unit. The stem has had all the logos removed and comes with all titanium bolts. Stem is a 110mm +/- 6 degree.
SEATPOST: I swapped out the nice but heavy Salsa seatpost with a Thomson Masterpiece setback version. For cross, it doesn't get much better then this post. I also switched out the blue seat post clamp, bearing cap, and stem cap for black versions. The seat post clamp was also upgraded with a titanium bolt. I replaced the stock fork compression plug with a nice Ridley version and added a titanium bolt to the stem cap.
SADDLE: The saddle is the stock WTB Silverado thinline, which is comfortable but not light (I raced with a Specialized Romin which is over 100 grams lighter).
HEADSET: The stock aluminum headset spacers were replaced with Whiskey unidirectional carbon spacers, which are lighter and match the unidirectional carbon of the fork. I also replaced the lower headset bearing, as they got pretty contaminated after the muddy races.
CHAINRINGS: Currently the bike has a 38t Sugino front ring and Surly 16t rear cog with a SRAM 1091 chain. I also have 17 and 18t Surly cogs and 39 and 40t front chainrings that are available.

3 wheel options are available with purchase of the bike:

(Stock Wheelset) Shimano R501-30 (Michelin Mud 2 tires): Super stout clincher wheel-set with deep profile aluminum rims and reliable Shimano hubs with cup and cone bearings. Tires are nearly new.

DURA ACE 7850 SCANDIUM TUBELESS (Hutchinson Bulldog tires): This is a nice lightweight and durable high quality wheel set fantastic hubs that you can run with tubes or tubeless. The tires have very low miles on them. I also spent hours removing the ugly painted on graphics on the rims so these wheels look slick. Tubeless is a great alternative to Tubular. It costs much less and is much easier to change tires. Plus tubeless tires can be patched with normal tube patch kits if the sealant doesn't fix the puncture.
MAVIC KSYRIUM TUBULAR (Tufo Flexus Primus tires): These are really strong and durable wheels that are lightweight and have a really wide surface area to glue the tires to. Ksyriums have been a popular cross wheelset because of their reliability and stiffness. The Tufo tires are awesome! They are super durable and the tread pattern works well in pretty much all conditions. These tires also have low miles. The wheels have had all the stickers removed so they look sweet, all black.

All three wheelsets have low wear on their brake tracks. With any of the wheelset choices, I will include a DT Swiss RWS ratcheting rear wheel skewer. This was the only skewer I found that was reliable enough to hold the rear wheel in place during a race. I will also include a Spot single speed spacer kit on the wheelset you choose. The is the best spacer kit I have found for single speed.

The bike with either the Dura Ace or Ksyrium wheels and no pedals weighs 16.5lbs. Swap out the saddle and it will get lighter. I do have a pair of Time ATAC XS titanium pedals that are available. One of the lighter mountain bike pedals around.

Email me for pictures, but the best is to come by and take it for a spin! If you are looking to try out single speed cross or upgrade to a faster bike, this bike is dialed and ready to race. If you decide you want to run gears later, its an easy switch by swapping out the included vertical drop outs.

Prices for the bike with:

Stock Wheelset: $1000
Dura Ace Tubeles Wheelset: $1500
Ksyrium Tubular Wheelset: $1400

Please reply off list if interested.