I've found the solution to all life's problems... no worries about parking in Peaslake as you've ridden there (and yes some twunt in an Audi had parked on the road opposite the bus shelter), roadies and mtb'ers alike say hello to you, exploring trails becomes fun again, comfy ride, just go on and on... The answer my friends is the Salsa Cycles Vaya! 60 miles on it today round the Surrey Hills, on and off road. Fantastic and really liberating to just dive into the woods and not that slow on the road given its fairly hefty weight compared to my usual road bike. And yes that's a custom Salsa Exposure 🙂
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Gee that looks good. I'm thinking of getting a Vaya as a good all round bike. The tall head tube and odd angled stem on a lot of photos make it look a bit manky but that does look really fine. What size frame is that? How much clearance for fat tyres do you have - enough for 1.75 with a little room for mud?
Cheers, K
Hi
It's a 57. The photos do make it look a bit ungainly with the stem pointing up but mine has it inverted and only 1.5cm of spacers. I have a 58cm Tarmac SL and this is a little shorter in the top tube (1cm) and a little taller at the front, although all of this difference is in the fork - the steerer is exactly the same length. You could fit a 1.75 easily, it wil take up to a 1.9 semi slick apparently, but I'd say if you are looking at a more off road bias then maybe look at a Fargo? The spec on the complete bike is pretty good - the Ape gearing is excellent, as are the brakes but they do take a certain knack to get a sharp feel and no squeal. The only junk parts are the seatpost and saddle. Since that pic was taken it's had new Hope/Stans Crest wheels and Schwalbe Dureme 700x40 tyres which has cut 2lbs off the weight. It's brilliant on fire tracks, smooth trails, roads and the like. The bars are a great shape for off road too - shallow drop and a nice bend.
GB