Thinking about building one up because the stock build doesn't float my boat for the price. Also the Sutra LTD(1st choice) looks like it is unavailable till 2/16 This one is similar geometry with a 1/2 inch less reach and 25.5 vs 25.2 stack. It's so hard to just pop in a store and take a look at one here in Florida because no shops I called stock them.
Anyone have or ride a 2016? They have a 59 cm this year which I didn't see last year and is the size that seems to work for me.
Hey thanks, What I thought would be a slam dunk turned out to be a hassle with the vaya frames. Atl is to far for me I'm in Tampa. My local shop is quite small and has to have a minimum order for Salsa so that will take awhile since he is an independent. The Vaya frames seem ok a little bit shorter front center and longer in the back but otherwise in the ballpark. None in the shops to sit on!
So I decided to just get a 2016 Steel Rove and build it up and save a several hundred with better parts. I'm going with Tiagra 4700 10 speed 11-34 cass cx 70 cranks bb7's WTB frequencys cane creek 40 headset, salsa cowchippers ,easton post and I need to decide on a saddle maybe a brooks b17. plus bits and pieces. I will be taking my time and building it for the fun of it. Thought about the Expat but the video of the guy hitting the pannier with his heel kinda had me scratching my head a little.
RoverAl, you came across the typical Salsa policy logjam. They love their high-volume dealers so much that they will blow off a serious customer who lives near a low-volume Salsa dealer. My nearest Salsa dealer (45 minutes away) is a HUGE QBP account (Salsa's parent company) but they don't stock enough Salsa bikes to receive an allocation of Warbird Carbons or Vayas. When I contacted Salsa direct, they told me I needed to drive the 3 hours to my nearest "qualified" Salsa Warbird Carbon dealer. If I didn't want to do that, I was out of luck.
Salsa is doing some great stuff for gravel biking, but they seem to have forgotten why they are in business. They don't have much time for a customer. My 2016 gravel bike is being built by a company who's taking the time to serve a customer -- who will do what it takes to make a sale. (It's not Salsa.)
Frustrating for the small shops and consumer for sure but that's their business model. I remember reading your post awhile back about this issue. Your getting a custom Lynskey if I recall correctly at a great price too.
It's not just the small shops. My nearest LBS is the biggest chain of shops in Tennessee, but they don't stock as many Salsa bikes as Salsa would like. The revenge for this is that they can't get the Warbird Carbon or Vaya. Salsa is trying to strong-arm them into buying more bikes.
But it's doubly frustrating to me because, just a couple years back, I bought a Salsa Warbird Ti online. Their official policy hasn't changed but, back then, they could wink and bend the rules a bit in order to serve a customer. Perhaps they just aren't hungry anymore.
I thought the same thing when I saw the panniers getting knocked around on the Jamis. Could be poor setup, but you could be right about it as well. My expat should be here in a couple of weeks so we will see how it goes. I have heard good stuff about the new Tiagra so hopefully it will be a good ride. The Rove Steel was what I was initially wanting, but the price was too much for me at full spec.
I got a 2016 ti Vaya a few months ago and I love everything about it if you have a specific questions. I did however buy the complete X0 build with the HED wheels.\n\nCheers\n\nRich\n
