Back in the day, Salsa founder Ross Shafer came to work with a bag of chips and a jar of picante salsa. While pounding those salty carbs, he began experimenting with lugless frame construction. He first fillet-brazed his frame joints, and then began TIG welding them. Ross was one of the men who pioneered the move away from design-restricting roadie lugs, which ultimately resulted in the radical dual-suspension frames of today.

Salsa likes to build with Scandium, because adding the scarce element into the mix of highly exotic and previously unweldable 7000-series base alloys makes them weldable. Scandium alloy nets a high strength aluminum that can be used to construct frames with smaller tubes, less material and in wilder shapes. It also has an improved fatigue life, which makes Scandium alloy the perfect aluminum material to use for pivotless construction.

FIVE-INCH FLEX STAYS?
The El Kaboing uses a single-pivot suspension. Only one main pivot is used at the bottom bracket; there are no pivots at the dropout. Instead, Salsa shaped the scandium seat stays to flex just above the dropout. This might seem like reverse evolution, yet Salsa claims their design increases lateral stability and elevates suspension damping.

The El Kaboing frame uses seven forgings made out of the Scandium material. Especially nice are the windowed bottom bracket housing, svelte main pivot yoke and post-mount rear disc caliper bracket. Although equally light and trim-looking, the rocker link is forged from aluminum. Both the left dropout and right dropout/derailleur hanger assembly are replaceable using standard chainring bolt hardware. Salsa sells the frame and shock by themselves for $1535.

SCANDIUM IS ELEMENT #21
The scandium frame weighs 6.7 pounds, which is respectable for a five-inch-travel trailbike. Take into account its heavy-duty wheelset with brass nipples and seven-inch front disc rotor, and it’s the frugal weight of the frame that keeps the bike’s final reading down to 30.6 pounds. Add the smooth-rolling Kenda Nevegal DTC tires and you have an all-mountain bike that snaps to attention.

FLEXING ITS STRENGTH
When the rider is hammering along in or out of the saddle, the El Kaboing’s suspension feels as responsive as many multi-pivot designs. Take it up to speed and the El Kaboing responds with the feel of a five-inch-travel trailbike when hitting square-edged bumps and landing jumps.

The flex-stay rear suspension shows its unique personality at slower speeds and during less-than-aggressive riding. The suspension just doesn’t sag. Running the shock’s air pressure on the lower end of the recommended range or turning off the shock’s ProPedal platform has little effect on making the suspension sag more from the rider’s weight. There is an ultra-strong pedaling platform built into the El Kaboing’s seat stays, and it is set in stone.

Use the gears to keep up a good spin and you will motor ascents aboard the El Kaboing. The tuned-to-bend scandium seat stays add to the Fox RP2 shock’s strong pedaling platform (that is actually overkill in this application). The El Kaboing’s rear suspension is firm enough to keep the chassis level, the steering responsive and the handling spot-on when climbing or railing corners. The big surprise was how well this firm-pedaling, pivotless rear suspension absorbed terrain chatter. We were expecting a harsher ride and wheel spin. Didn’t happen. The El Kaboing’s suspension is tuned to address small changes in the trail surface.

Aboard the Salsa El Kaboing, you need to take on tough singletrack with a sense of urgency. We again have to point to the Kenda Nevegal DTC tires. These hot-rod-traction tires are powered through a responsive five-inch chassis that slingshots turns like a much lighter and tighter trailbike. The Salsa rider wants to stay on the gas and hammer hard between sections.

TALL IN THE SADDLE
So what is the drawback to the El Kaboing’s rear suspension? If the trails you ride require frequent dismounts, you will find them to be more challenging aboard the Salsa than other five-inch-travel bikes. That’s because, as explained above, this bike sits high in its travel. Many of the wrecking crew opted for a slightly-lower-than-optimum saddle height when riding the El Kaboing on technical trails.

FLEX IS HERE TO STAY
It is easy to understand why this bike has such a loyal following. Salsa backs it with a five-year limited warranty, relieving concern about the durability of those flexing seatstays. Its single-pivot design keeps things simple. It delivers sporty performance and doesn’t punish its rider, but at the same time, encourages him to push the pace. Finally, it is an alternative to big-name-brand mountain bikes.
The Salsa El Kaboing is a bike that pays tribute to its deep roots while delivering modern-day performance. And once you are done with your ride, that bag of chips and a jar of picante salsa are going to taste great.

SALSA EL KABOING
Price   $3900
Country of origin   Taiwan
Weight   30.6 pounds
Hotline   (952) 941-9391
Size tested   18"
Bottom bracket height   14.1"
Chainstay length   16.9"
Top tube length   23.5"
Head angle   69
Seat angle   73
Standover height   30"
Wheelbase   43.7"
Suspension travel (front)   5.5"
Suspension travel (rear)   4.9"
Frame material   Scandium
Fork   Fox Float RL
Shock   Fox RP2
Rims   Salsa Semi Disc
Tires   Kenda Nevegal DTC 2.35
Hub   Shimano XT
Brakes   Shimano XT
Brake levers   Shimano XT
Crankset   Race Face Deus
Shifters   Shimano XT
Front derailleur   Shimano XT
Rear derailleur   Shimano XT
Chainrings   Shimano XT (44/32/22)
Cassette   Shimano XT (11-34)
Pedals   None (weighed with Shimano M520)