1996 Salsa Town Bike Prototype:

This bike was made for the 1996 Interbike show by Ross and the gang at Salsa.  The idea was to make a commuter ready bike with lights, racks, kickstand and fenders which could be sold for well under $1,000.   This one-off was built at the Salsa shop but the production bikes, if made, would have been made in Taiwan.  The bike "had lots or interest and positive vibe backslaps, but not one dealer willing to commit" according to Ross.   This was a similar response that Salsa got with the 24" wheeled bikes in 1994 which never sold, so Ross was hesitant to take out a loan to make it happen.  In 2003, Joe Breeze came out with a line of bikes with very similar attributes and continues to sell them today.  Maybe Salsa was a little too far ahead of the curve?

Eccentric BB w/ Campy BB and Ritchey Crank (ground down 52 tooth ring for a chain guard).	Old School MAFAC front brake wouldn't have made it into production but sure looked pretty.	The rear of the bike is just clear coated which isn't the most durable finish. You can see a few rust worms starting to pop up