The Salsa Vaya (and hopefully the forthcoming Motorless City bike) has the rear disc brake cable run along the top of the chain stay, which means the Garmin GSC-10 (Speed/Cadence Bike Sensor) cannot cleanly fit on the bike (photo). To work around this I picked up the Wahoo Cycling Speed/Cadence Sensor (a compatible ANT+ device) and…
After unboxing, some very detailed cleaning which let me get to know the bike thoroughly, fitting accessories, and transferring measurements from the Jamis Nova I’ve got the 2012 Salsa Vaya 2 mentioned previously (full bike photo) ready to go. While on its face this bike seems redundant and that the Nova would have met my needs,…
Online wandering a week or so ago looking for an orange 54cm Salsa Vaya frame led me to this blog post from Colonel’s Bicycles in Fort Worth, Texas showing exactly the frame I was interested in, but posted 2.5 years ago. These are generally a bit hard to come by, and I’m not particularly fond…
Originally this post was going to be about my new road bike, but instead I’m writing a warning about the new Soma Smoothie HP and a safety issue, recommending against buying it without fully understanding the possible downsides. While the specs of this frame promise to be an excellent modern steel road bike, it has…
It feels like only yesterday, but five years ago I got my hands on a Salsa Vaya 2 which had an unexpected, but significant, impact on how I ride bikes. Prior to this (and despite brief flirtations with a CX bike that didn’t fit me well) whenever I would set out to do longer rides…
For a couple of years my main XC bike (2014 Salsa El Mariachi Ti) has had issues with my Garmin bike computers (Edge 510, 520, and 130) pausing mid-ride when I wasn’t actually stopped. This shows up as the head unit briefly flipping to a paused symbol (⏸), before returning to recording. Post-ride, when reviewing…
Wanting to reduce the size of the tools carried on the Vaya I went looking for a new pump, and what I found surprised me: the diminutive Mobo Pocket Air Pump (4″). Despite being marketed by a company that seems otherwise known for low-cost and kid-branded recumbents, this seems to be a quality pump for…
After getting the CycleOps Hammer smart trainer I’ve been experimenting with how it, my Stages power meter on the Salsa Vaya, and the TrainerRoad PowerMatch function work together. In short, PowerMatch is designed for those who have a power meter on their bike and want to ensure that the resistance and workouts are consistent indoors…
For winter 2017-2018 I’ve put together a revamped, and much improved, trainer setup in my basement. Since the last setup with a Kurt Kinetic Road Machine things have been changed pretty significantly. I had previously set things up in front of a CRT HDTV which I’d previously used as a gaming / home theater setup…
This morning, when removing the tires from the American Classic Disc 101 wheels (photo gallery retired) that I built for the Vaya (so I could redo the tubeless tape) I found a crack near a spoke hole on the rear wheel. With only 2441 miles and 140 hours on the wheelset, I’m a bit disappointed. The…