Salsa Vaya 2 question

passout

Hi

Question 1 - anybody own one? If so, impressions please & can you tell me your height & the size you went for? Ta.

Question 2 - for everyone - two versions of this question ....

SHORT VERSION: is the Salsa Vaya any good as a winter trainer on road?

FYI Salsa website: http://salsacycles.com/bikes/vaya
BR review: http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/ ... a-10-39445
Other review: http://road.cc/content/review/19695-salsa-vaya


LONG VERSION:
I'm thinking of getting rid of 26'' wheeled hardtail mountain bike & winter trainer (Genesis Aether 10 road bike with full guards) and replacing with a 'do it all' cross bike.

I do long distance off road adventures in the summer (eg West Highland Way) and the odd day on Lake District bridleways. Hard, tough on bikes but not especially technical. Basically I push my speed as much as I can but don't jump off stuff or do man made courses. Thing is, these days, I probably do a total of 10 days off road per year. My MTB gathers dust for the most part.

My winter trainer is presently used from around October to April on the weekends for 60 - 70 milers.

I started off looking at cross bikes like the Boardman, Planet X, Merida & Kona. All nice but I want something that is comfortable enough to actually ride off road all day (not for an hour race). This led me to the slightly portly but highly rated Genesis Croix de Fer. Its the same weight as the Salsa at more or less 11.7kgs. This is an option still.

The I stumbled across the Salsa Vaya 2 which has the advantage of massive tyre clearance so I could put 42mm tyres on (if I wanted) and have all day comfort. It can also make a great tourer (not that I have plans for that... yet). It suits the terrain I ride off road in summer and found one at a good price. So in terms of summer riding perfect. It would also allow more mixed terrain riding which I think would suit me.

The only problem is that I'm not sure how good it will be on road (as a winter trainer with full guards and 28mm road tyres). Will it just be too slow compared to my (modest) Genesis aether 10 (the old alu equivalent of the steel equilibrium). Will the Salsa replace these two other bikes effectively?

Thanks for bothering to read this.

styxd

To be honest, I hate the look of those Salsas.

Unless space is and issue, it sounds like you're going to get rid of two bikes, spend some money and repalce them with one that does neither job as well.

To me, the geometry looks awful for road riding. Apart from dodgy numbers, they just don't look "right". THe CDF or the planet X kaffenback may not be much lighter, but at least they look like they're upto the job.

Ugo on here has a CDF built into a road bike sort of thing, looks decent enough. Not the stiffest thing ever, but the numbers don't look to bad.

The Salsa just looks all over the spot.

passout

Hmm, unfortunately I think I know what you mean - very high headtube etc. The reviews I've seen take the point of view of a tourer or 'monster cross' pseudo MTB. So, I do have my doubts how it will be on road. Perhaps the Croix de Fer is safer bet. Interesting to here about this guy who runs a croix de fer as a road bike. Shame, I really like the look of the Vaya in terms of off road 'adventuring'.

Anyone else got any input?

styxd

Here you go, its a custom build (which I reckon is the way to go with most of these things, otherwise you end up with a heavy bike like you said)

viewtopic.php?f=40044&t=12897852

Looks good to me. Long stem, lowish front end, decent saddle to bar drop, chainstays arent overly long etc. etc.

If you wanted to toure off road, stick a shorter, upright stem on it.

It probably wouldnt be great fully loaded up with a lot of heavy gear, but I guess for lighter weight, short tours it'd be fine.

I've got an equilibrium winter bike, and the tubes on the CDF look similar, bar the fact they're made from a lower grade steel. The Equilibrium rides really well for a cheap steel frame, cant say I find flex or weight to much of an issue, at least not compared to some other cheap steel frames Ive ridden.

passout

That does look good I must say. Thanks.