This looks beautiful imo.

Apparently it’s a gravel-specific race bike, which doesn’t really apply to the UK, but it also looks like it would be a great road/cross bike.

http://salsacycles.com/culture/new_for_2013_introducing_warbird

The ti version looks great too 🙂

paul78 – Member

The ti version looks great too
I like bright colours though 🙂

the cable routing seems a bit odd – surely even in gravel racing you might have to shoulder the bike once in a while…

Have you got one for this year Paul?

racing on gravel sounds like a recipe for pain

I have my name on a Warbird for sure … Vaya has been awesome but this is even more aggressive..

Gravel racing is a full on death march .. I love it 🙂 .. (no shouldering of bikes needed just ability to suffer for many hours)

Gravel Racing????

Gravel Racing????

Dirty Kanza 200

Oh… I just Googled it.

Looks like it’s the new niche in Kansas and Iowa…. great. 😕

Gravel racing is pretty big in the US ..

http://www.gravelgrindernews.com/

…we just don’t have enough gravel although these things are great for mixed off/on road riding 🙂

We certainly drove on enough of it in New Zealand for it to be a goer there.

Looks like the full build will be approx £2000, which is out of my price range although it does come with some nice bits (ENVE forks for one).

Yeah Warbird would be perfect I would imagine in NZ …

http://kiwibrevet.blogspot.co.uk/

niiiiche

niiiiche

bike or racing on gravel ?? neither really in the US

On/off road bike with disk brakes and clearance for 38mm tyres? That’s hardly niche.

It’s a crosser with crap cable routing. Poor show.

those braking surfaces will come in handy 😉

It’s a crosser with crap cable routing. Poor show.

No it’s not a crosser… Otherwise it would have been the Warbird cyclocross bike 🙂

As a Vaya owner I am looking forward to trying a more aggressive set up geometry wise …. And will be racing cross on it 🙂

No it’s not a crosser, it’s an almost cross bike with silly cable routing which essentially renders it less fit for purpose.

No it’s not a crosser, it’s an almost cross bike with silly cable routing which essentially renders it less fit for purpose.

But it’s made for gravel racing and its perfect for that .. So surely that makes it entirely fit for purpose

But routing the cables along the top tube instead of underneath wouldn’t affect it’s ‘gravel racing’ ability, and it could be argued that routing them underneath exposes them to more spray from the wheels.

It’s an attempt to produce a niche bike that’s actually worse than it would have been had they done it with a bit of thought rather than an attempt to be different.

I’m with crikey.

Fashion-based style statement POS

But routing the cables along the top tube instead of underneath wouldn’t affect it’s ‘gravel racing’ ability, and it could be argued that routing them underneath exposes them to more spray from the wheels.

It’s an attempt to produce a niche bike that’s actually worse than it would have been had they done it with a bit of thought rather than an attempt to be different.

Unsure of the reasoning behind cable routing but to be fair most gravel races seem to be very dry affairs … They gave extra tyre clearance to allow a bigger volume tyre for comfort while racing.

It’s an attempt to produce a gravel racing bike … And it’s awesome… If it was an attempt to produce a cyclocross bike or a commuter it would have a lot of flaws but Salsa have set out to build the best bike for racing gravel.

I really hate that everything different is labelled niche … Niche in my view is engineering something for no other reason than to be different … This is clearly designed to be utilised for any of what must be near 100 gravel races in the US … Clearly not niche

How many CX-style bikes are ever actually raced/shouldered though?

The only effective means of protecting cables for cross is to drill out your cable stops and run full length outer … Some manufacturers are already offering this on their bikes.

In 2 seasons I have ridden 1 course that had a run up long enough to warrant shouldering a bike and for 3 peaks the carry sections are so long padding the top tube is a good idea anyway

Padding? Padding???
Do you put eyeliner in your pockets too? 🙂

Padding? Padding???
Do you put eyeliner in your pockets too?

Yeah I am just not a real man as I would use padding to aid my carry sections but we are now some way off the original post

Sorry, only kidding. I used padding when I did it the first time and still had one shoulder like the incredible hulk. I don’t run as fast now, so can carry the bike without padding, ad long as the cables are in the right place… Back on topic!

So we have established its not a cross bike… Padding for the 3 peaks is acceptable and not a reflection on your masculinity … Most cross races don’t long enough carry sections to warrant shouldering a bike… Oh and we have bugger all gravel racing in the UK.

What it is is an awesome gravel racer …. May be a good off roader on the disc brakes … Although it was never meant to be would be a great fast tourer on slicks with rack less bag system … I miss anything ???

Oh yeah it’s not NICHE !!!!!!! 🙂

Yeah, but it looks ‘just right’. That’s the important thing.

I’m in the market for a cross bike, but the only time I’ll be shouldering it is for climbing styles.

That said, it does look like an odd decision not to put the cables on top.

I’m in the market for a cross bike

SShhhhh …. don’t call it a ‘cross’ bike people will be back on here in no time telling you about the poor cable routing again 🙂

Yes it’s a fab bike – I have one on order but no idea when it will show up. I think the cable routing has something to do with the location of the securing straps for frame fit bags which these bikes often use for gravel racing. The early samples seemed had top tube routing but it was switched. It’s a brilliant gravel racer – if you want a cross bike, buy a cross bike.

Perhaps we could make an e-Petition to get the Government to import some gravel roads from Iowa and Kansas so we could all buy Salsa Warbirds and have somewhere appropriate to ride them?

Haha yeah – I’m just going to ride it as a cross bike on road, off road, trails… I don’t do cross races so don’t need to be able to carry my bike. I prefer riding to carrying.

It must be a Dorset / new forest thing, but we have miles and miles of gravel…

The new forest has more gravel than Tarmac, or singletrack. Or trees (?)

After yesterday’s gravel short cuts on 25mm slicks… I quite fancy one of these.

I like it.