Salsa Spearfish
Wheel Sizes: 29’’
Suspension Travel:
- Frame: 120 mm
- Fork: 120 mm
Geometry Highlights:
- Sizes offered: XS, S, M, L, XL
- Headtube angle (High): 66.3°
- Reach (size Medium, High): 470 mm
- Chainstay length (size Medium, High): 430 mm
Frame Material: Carbon fiber (standard and DLX layup options available)
Price:
- Complete bikes start at $3,999 USD with standard carbon layup; DLX frame builds start at $6,999 USD (details in Builds section below)
- Spearfish DLX frameset: $3,499 USD (includes Fox Float SL Factory shock)
Intro
The updated Salsa Spearfish arrived earlier in 2025, and it’s a timely reflection of how much the XC category has evolved in the past several years. By matching a lower weight with longer, more aggressive geometry, Salsa has squarely aimed the Spearfish at the increasingly versatile — and fun — crop of modern XC bikes.
While we’re still in the midst of testing the new Spearfish, let’s dig into the details of the design changes they’ve made to bring the Spearfish into the world of contemporary XC.
The Frame
Salsa’s Spearfish hadn’t seen an update since 2019, and while some of the features are similar on paper, the new Spearfish is a major departure in many of the details. The old design was built around a 120 mm travel fork, matched to 100 mm of rear travel, delivered via Dave Weagle’s Split Pivot suspension design. That older model was offered in carbon fiber or aluminum constructions, too.
With the new Spearfish, Salsa has bumped the rear travel to 120 mm via a 190 x 45 mm shock. The Split Pivot suspension design remains, in a similar overall layout, with a shock extender driving the horizontally-oriented shock from the rocker link.
From a frame construction standpoint, Salsa has abandoned the aluminum option, instead offering two different grades of carbon fiber construction. The standard layup is used on the two less expensive builds (more build details below), while their DLX frame construction is used on the two more expensive ones, and the frame-only option. According to Salsa, the DLX frame drops 250 grams of weight over the standard one in a size Medium — that’s a solid chunk, especially for a bike targeted at the more weight-conscious XC crowd.
Salsa says the new Spearfish has lost close to a pound in frame weight when comparing the DLX frame to the prior carbon frame, but Salsa certainly didn’t skimp on bottle and tool carry solutions to get there. There are a whopping three pairs of bottle mounts on the downtube of the size Large frame that we’re testing, along with another pair on the seat tube, and Salsa says that the Medium through XL frames can all carry up to three bottles, while the XS and Small can carry two, all inside the front triangle. There is another pair of mounts on the forward portion of the top tube for a computer mount or small bag.
Cable routing is internal, with all of the cables popping out at the left side of the head tube. A lot of folks will be relieved to see that Salsa has abandoned the Super Boost spacing of the prior version, instead sticking with the far more common Boost 148 standard. That should make sourcing any parts or upgrades a lot easier — especially since really light XC-oriented Super Boost wheels are becoming rare.
Fit & Geometry
The new Spearfish has pushed a lot further into the long-and-low geometry realm with this latest update. Reaches are on the longer side at each nominal size, and the reach on a Medium has grown just under 30 mm over the prior version of the Spearfish. There’s also a flip chip at the lower shock mount that slightly adjusts bottom bracket height and head tube angle, with impacts on other geometry measurements as a result.
Using a Medium as our reference point with the flip chip in the stock (High) position, the reach measures at 470 mm with a 607 mm effective top tube length. The head tube angle is 66.3°, and the seat tube angle is a surprisingly steep (for an XC bike) 77.3°. The chainstay length is compact at 430 mm, and chainstays are the same length across all sizes.
Dropping the flip chip into the Low setting slackens the head tube angle to 66°, shortens reach to 466.5 mm, and slightly lengthens the chainstay measurement to 431 mm.
Full geometry for the new Spearfish is as follows:
The Builds
As mentioned earlier, Salsa has given the Spearfish four different builds, with the two lower-end ones using the standard carbon layup while the two higher-end builds get the lighter DLX construction. All of the builds come with 120 mm travel forks. The least expensive option is the Deore 12 build, which gets a RockShox SID fork and Deluxe Select+ shock, along with a Shimano Deore drivetrain and two-piston MT-M410 brakes with Deore levers. The wheels use Shimano TC500 hubs and WTB KOM Team rims, and a TranzX RAD+ adjustable dropper completes the package.
Stepping up to the Eagle 90 Transmission build, the fork gets upgraded to a RockShox SID Select+ fork, and the rear shock swaps to the lighter SIDLuxe Select+. The SRAM DB8 brakes are a bit burlier than the two-piston ones on the cheaper build, the wheels are slightly nicer WTB ASYM i30 rims on WTB Frequency hubs, and SRAM’s mechanical Eagle 90 Transmission setup handles shifting.
The Spearfish DLX GX Transmission (which we’re testing) is the first model to get the lighter DLX frame, and it also jumps to Fox suspension via a 34 SL Performance Elite fork and Float SL Performance Elite shock. SRAM’s electronic GX Transmission handles shifting, while their Motive Bronze brakes handle stopping duties. The wheels are again supplied by WTB, this time with KOM Light i30 rims on their Frequency hubs.
The fanciest build is the Spearfish DLX XO Transmission, which goes back to RockShox suspension with the SID Ultimate Flight Attendant fork and SIDLuxe Ultimate Flight Attendant shock. The electronics continue with the XO Transmission shifting and the Reverb AXS dropper. The brakes are SRAM’s Motive Ultimate. This is also the only bike in the range to get carbon wheels, in the form of WTB CZR Trail Carbon i30 rims laced to their Frequency hubs.
All builds in the lineup get Teravail’s Camrock 2.4 tires in the Light Trail casing and come with a diminutive chainguide.
The Deore build weighs a claimed 29.81 lbs / 13.52 kg, while the lightest DLX XO Transmission build drops as low as 26.06 lbs / 11.82 kg.
The full build details are as follows:
- Drivetrain: Shimano Deore M6100
- Brakes: Shimano Deore M6120 (180 mm rotors)
- Fork: RockShox SID (120 mm)
- Shock: RockShox Deluxe Select+
- Wheels: WTB KOM Team i30 rims, Shimano TC500 hubs
- Dropper post: TranzX RAD+ (XS: 125 mm, S–M: 150 mm, L–XL: 170 mm)
- Drivetrain: SRAM Eagle 90 Transmission
- Brakes: SRAM DB8 (180 mm rotors)
- Fork: RockShox SID Select+ (120 mm)
- Shock: RockShox SIDLuxe Select+
- Wheels: WTB ASYM i30 rims, WTB Frequency hubs
- Dropper post: TranzX RAD+ (XS: 125 mm, S–M: 150 mm, L–XL: 170 mm)
- Drivetrain: SRAM XO Transmission
- Brakes: SRAM Motive Bronze (180 mm rotors)
- Fork: Fox 34 SL Performance Elite Grip X (120 mm)
- Shock: Fox Float SL Performance Elite
- Wheels: WTB KOM Light i30 rims, WTB Frequency hubs
- Dropper post: TranzX RAD+ (XS: 125 mm, S–M: 150 mm, L–XL: 170 mm)
- Drivetrain: SRAM XO Transmission
- Brakes: SRAM Motive Ultimate (180 mm rotors)
- Fork: RockShox SID Ultimate Flight Attendant (120 mm)
- Shock: RockShox SIDLuxe Ultimate Flight Attendant
- Wheels: WTB CZR Trail Carbon i30 rims, WTB Frequency hubs
- Dropper post: RockShox Reverb AXS (XS: 125 mm, S–M: 150 mm, L–XL: 170 mm)
A frame-only Spearfish DLX costs $3,499 and includes a Fox Float SL Factory rear shock.
Some Questions / Things We’re Curious About
(1) The XC category is increasingly crowded with bikes promising speed and efficiency matched to confident handling. Does the Spearfish deliver against those promises, and where does it fall relative to other bikes in its class?
(2) How does the Spearfish’s longer-than-average geometry feel on trail, and does it come with compromises compared to its peers that have stuck to shorter reaches, slacker seat tube angles, etc.?
Bottom Line (For Now)
Salsa has been putting a lot of effort into overhauling its lineup, and the Spearfish is one of the more exciting additions. Well-executed modern XC bikes can be a mountain of fun for their ability to cover ground quickly and still have fun on the descents, and we’re excited to see what the Spearfish can do. We’ve already started spending time on a Spearfish DLX GX Transmission, so check out our Flash Review below, and be on the lookout for a Full Review this summer.
Flash Review: Our Initial On-Trail Impressions
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Flash Review: Salsa Spearfish
Salsa has jumped right into the modern XC bike mix with the new Spearfish. Check out our Flash Review to see how we’re getting along with it after a few rides.
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