Salsa Beargrease

One of my oldest bikes. I bough the Beargrease before either Ibis and rode it as a mountain bike. In the dirt its like riding on basketballs which is actually really fun. In the snow it’s the perfect companion.

The setup

I’ve been on a Beargrease since 2014. It’s a great bike. The colors have changed over the years but it’s mostly still the same bike. Salsa Beargrease X01 $6,799.00 from Aventuron

On my first winter ride years ago I wore only my winter gloves. When I finished it took and hour for my hands to warm back up and the pain from the frostbite was almost unbearable. I quickly purchased a pair of these 45NRTH Cobrafist Pogies and I’ve never regretted it. I can drop an electric hand warmer in each one and and stay warm and cozy the entire ride.

Years ago I added a Thomson dropper post to the Beargrease. It stopped working, they don’t make the version I need and servicing them costs as much as many new dropper posts. Instead, I switched to a KS Lev dropper. It’s a bit slow which means I probably need to adjust something but I’m hoping it will last me for many years to come. I needed a 27.2″ post and the KS Lev offered the most travel I could find in the Salsa Beargrease X01 $339.00 from Backcountry.com

Most recently I burned up my drive train. I’ve been riding with the Sram AXS XX1 on my Ripmo and it’s left me wanting to try out the Sram AXS GX. So far I can’t tell the difference between the AXS GX and the AXS XX1. I think the XX1 might be lighter but for the money the AXS GX setup is amazing. I’ve been riding it in the crazy cold without any issues. I’m becoming a huge Sram GX fan.

I would like to have gone with the XG-1275 GX Eagle 12-Speed rear Cassette but my rear hub would only take the NX Eagle 12-Speed Cassette. It’s heavier but performs just fine.

My Beargrease originally came with a 2×10 Sram X7 setup. I destroyed the chain rings along with the rear hub. I’m now riding a 1×12 setup. One huge benefit is that my setup is now the same across all my bikes. My dropped is next to my left thumb which makes my life so much easier. Before It was above the bar next to my right hand and at the beginning of the season when I transitioned to the fat bike I would constantly get confused and drop my post instead of shifting and vice versa.

I ended up swapping out to a new 30T front chain ring from Sram. I would have liked to go even smaller for the days when I have to plow through deep snow but this setup gives me approximately the same gearing I used to have.

My new light for when the ride goes longer than I anticipated. The Lezyne Super Drive 1600XXL Headlight. I’ve researched lights for years and never picked one so this time I just dropped into Als and grabbed the one that I thought looked like it would do the job. If you turn it on max it can double as a heater. It puts out some intense light.