Carbon warbird

So Salsa says the carbon bird will be available in August. They say it will be worth the wait. Will it be August? Should I put money down on a frame and wait??

I want to ride now!  Just sold my cx bike and don't have an adventure bike.  But I have the Warbird Carbon on order and think it will be worth the wait.  I don't see anything else that comes close.  The Diverge is the closest I've seen but doesn't have the ability to mount the wide tires I want to use.

A new Pivot Vault was introduced today but haven't seen the geometry yet.  And the frameset is close to the cost of a complete Warbird.

I guess I'll put my money down in a few days. I'm getting the frame and building a bike. I live on the San Francisco area but we are moving to Kansas in a year so there's the gravel deal. Gonna do ultegra 11 speed

I'm South from you in Escondido (N of SD).  I looked hard at building up a frame as I'd much prefer a Shimano group especially w/their hydraulic brakes.  I decided to go with the SRAM build as I think it's going to be ok but am looking to perhaps upgrade to Di2 down the road.  If I do I think it will be cheaper than building up a frameset as I think the SRAM hydraulic components will be worth more on the used market.  Then again I'm hoping to be pleasantly surprised by the SRAM.

I'm also looking for lower gears for some of the climbs around here.  Am hoping a WiFLi 11-36 will fit but may need a new RD.

I'll say it sure is hard to find a nice set of wheels for these bikes though - 11-sp rd/disc ready/142 thru axle.


These guys have a good price on the Di2/hydraulic if you decide to go this route:

http://www.bike-discount.de/en/buy/shimano-ultegra-di2-6870-st-r785-hydraulic-electric-kit-internal-internal-401953?currency=5&delivery_country=191

I'm thinking White Industries CLD hubs and HED Belgium rims. I can't get past the high price for electronic shifting but I might get over that before the frame arrives. \nAny suggestions on wheels??

Wheels are a good topic - still researching.  I've set up a summary spreadsheet if you'd like me to send it to you.

I like the idea of building a set too - I've looked mostly at DT 240S hubs but there are others out there like White and Chris King.  As far as rims the Pacenti SL25 looks good as well as some from WTB and Stans

The Carbon Warbird comes w/DT Swiss R24s but they are a little heavy at around 1775.  The also have R23s at 1655 but pricier.  My mountain bike came with a pair of Easton EA70 XCTs and they have been bullet proof after almost 2 yrs of very hard riding.  Great wheels and UST tubeless.  But they are a little heavy too at 1755.  As far as light and reasonably inexpensive wheels, the ones I've looked at are American Classic and Stans.  American Classic has the Mtb Race 29 and the Argent Road Tubeless Disc.  Stans has the Cross - both Pro and Team.  These are all w/alloy rims and, of course, there are many carbon options out there.  Some may require a cassette hub replacement to convert from mtn 10 (or 11) to road 11.

So I just picked up a set of EA70s on eBay for a pretty good price that I plan to use as a second set for the Warbird - the ones with the 40c+ tires.  Then I plan to use the stock wheels w/the stock tires for road and light mixed use until I wear them out.  After that will probably put on some 28s also primarily for road and some light mixed use.  Also found a Spline One XR 1501 front wheel at a great price so I got that too - 710g.  All of those wheels will work on my mtn bike too.

I agree with you re the price of Di2  so not sure if it's going to happen or not.  At the same time, I'm getting a very good price on the Warbird and I think the SRAM levers, derailleurs and brakes could bring about $500 on the used market.  If so I would have a full carbon, thru axle, Di2, and hydraulic brakes for <$4k.  That would be pretty close to current state of the art I would think.  Only upgrades would be some Dura-Ace and carbon wheels.

Hope that helps.  Not much else to do while my patience is being tested

Yeah.  Please send me the wheel spreadsheet.  That would be great.  Also, I'd like to keep talking about the build as we wait for the warbird.
You can send the spreadsheet to my email: artgibney@comcast.net
I have other questions about bottom bracket and crank and handle bars.
Art

Artsome1 wrote:I'm thinking White Industries CLD hubs and HED Belgium rims. I can't get past the high price for electronic shifting but I might get over that before the frame arrives. Any suggestions on wheels??

Can't say enough good things about the WTB TCS system. UST-compliant, easy setup, super-reliable, lots of widths to choose from. Have built up with the Chris Cross i19x622mm and KOM i23x584mm. Depending on intended tires and pressure ranges, I think you'd be looking at the Frequency CX or one of the KOMs.

I agree - WTB would be very high on my list especially if I was going to build a custom set.  I'm planning to use the Nano 40c TCS tire too so that would be even better.

Is there a down side to HED Belgium + rims??

Artsome1 wrote:Is there a down side to HED Belgium + rims??

A little more cost, but probably doesn't amount to much in the context of the whole bike. Haven't built with them but I hear good things :-)

I put my money down on one a month or so ago, I got the white one so I had to get full bike, I'd like Di2 as well, so I can have one SRAM and one Shimano.

I like the new Stan's Rims in Carbon

I've got a black one on order - full build.  But the white sure looks nice too.  Hurry up Salsa!

Salsa said today still Mid Aug ETA.

That's what I heard too when I called earlier in the week.  But what exactly is mid-August?  The 15th?  The 10th?  The 22th?  Also, that is the estimated delivery date to the factory.  Then they have to build up the complete bikes and ship them to the dealers.  So that will probably add at least a couple of weeks depending where you are in the delivery (order) queue.  I assume framesets will be delivered much quicker.  I'm hoping for an early September delivery to me.  It's been a long wait already especially since I sold my cross bike in April thinking the Warbird would be available in May.  But I'm sure it will be worth the wait as I've not seen anything that compares to it as yet at least for my needs.  I'm sure Salsa is disappointed that they pretty much missed the majority of the riding season as well a lot of sales opportunities to those who bought elsewhere.

As for my needs, it's SoCal as exemplified by these posts:
http://ridinggravel.com/gravel-bikes/salsa-cycles-warbird-in-search-of-gravel-in-socal-2/
http://ridinggravel.com/gravel-news/salsa-cycles-warbird-in-search-of-gravel-in-socal-part-2/
http://ridinggravel.com/gravel-news/salsa-cycles-warbird-in-search-of-gravel-in-socal-part-3/

I called Salsa yesterday.  The Warbird Carbon framesets are in - that is, at the factory in MN.  They are in process of building all of the complete bikes on order and then will begin shipping to dealers.  My guess is delivery in a couple of weeks, probably early September.  The framesets are being inspected and should be shipped very soon.  It sounds like most of the first shipment of bikes have been spoken for and not sure when the next shipment will arrive.

Just an update for those of you waiting...and waiting for your carbon warbird.  A couple days ago Salsa said the carbon bikes would begin shipping "mid" September with a week shipping time to the west coast.  Somehow, after all the false starts and delays, I'm dubious, but patient as a saint.

A couple weeks ago, I was told that the Warbirds have made it to Salsa, but . . . only for certain dealers.  My nearest dealer said the system showed -0- in stock and no expected date of availability.  In my conversation with Salsa, they explained that my nearest dealer wouldn't be getting the Warbird Carbon because, although they are a HUGE QBP account, they don't stock enough Salsa bikes.  They encouraged me to make the 3-hour trip to my nearest QUALIFIED Salsa dealer.  Otherwise, I'm out of luck. 

Great customer relations.  I'm going to buy from a company that actually wants my business.  That means Salsa is out of luck. 

New here and like the looks of this forum. I got my white Warbird carbon (58) last week and it is everything they say it is. Did a couple of 12-15 miles rides on gravel and on Sat. did a 50 miler on gravel and slab. I left CO couple a years ago and was riding my GT LTS double shock MTB. Nice bike but heavy for this type riding. The Warbird has the 700x35c Sammy Slicks and at 40-45 psi the ride is nice. At 50 psi, the lowest recommended, it stiffens up a bit but the carbon definitely mutes the roughness of the road.

Handled well in loose gravel and definitely a better climber and more efficient overall. The bike for a 50 mile ride was 10% faster than my MTB in a 40 mile ride at about the same pulse range. Will be able to make more comparisons later. Some say that going with a 40c tubeless may be the best combo but will ride the 35s for now. After some knee surgery 2 years ago now building up my mileage. I will get a more formal fitting this week as the dealer didn't have the skewer for the through hubs on his trainer yet. Will need to get that conversion for my own Blackburn trainer as well. 

Hope to hear more as this bike hits the dealers and the roads.

Shame on Salsa for playing a shell game with the Carbon Warbird. They are being deceptive.