Category: acquired things

I never really thought I’d have a fast XC bike again, but, I was wrong. And I’m glad. And impressed at just how capable a “modern” XC race bike is.

For almost three years I’ve had the amazing Pivot Trail 429 (v3) as my main mountain bike. It’s an incredibly capable trail bike that I’ve ridden all over the midwest, from Arkansas to Copper Harbor to Tennessee, and it’s been wonderful. But, being a longer, slacker bike the one place I wasn’t super-keen on it was our standard Lower Peninsula classic XC trails, especially those with fast, tight, twisty sections. It’s fun, but just not ideal for that stuff and felt like I had to dump the front end into the really tight corners.

In late 2022 I unexpectedly found myself buying a used-but-like-new super-well-equipped Pivot LES hardtail from a buddy (price I couldn’t pass up) which once again gave me a taste of a proper XC bike. While I used it for lots of local rides, and both Ore to Shore, and Lumberjack 100 in 2023, it never quite clicked. I had an absolute blast riding it, especially on the smooth sandy trails in the northern LP, but maybe due to the lack of dropper or the 100mm fork or my weird body proportions, it was fun and fast but never quite felt like mine. I liked having it around, and it was fun, but I was routinely eyeing other XC bikes.

When Pivot announced the v3 of the Mach 4 SL in 2023 it looked really appealing, but I couldn’t justify it. I put thoughts of a new bike aside… Until now. After a lot of thinking and basically coinciding with my birthday, a brand new Pivot Mach 4 SL v3, Pro XT/XTR build with carbon wheels, in the eye-catching Seafoam Green, found it’s way home. (And away went the LES, passing on the good deal to a buddy who was looking for a superlight XC race bike.)

Unlike normal for me, the build is almost completely stock. It’s incredibly well equipped as shipped, so outside of contact points (saddle, grips) the only changes I made were for fit, swapping in a shorter crank and a lower-rise bar.

The bike shipped with a really nice Race Face Aeffect crankset and a 34t ring, but had 175mm arms. I’ve been riding 170mm cranks on the Trail 429 for years, rather liking it, and wanted the same on here. Pleasantly surprised to see the frame fitted with a Shimano bottom bracket, I was able to swap in an XT crankset with no extra work. After confirming with Pivot that the bike is spec’d with a 53mm chainline crank I ended up going with the 52mm FC-M8100-1 which Shimano spec’s for both Boost (148mm) and standard (142mm) rear ends. The other option was the Boost-only 55mm FC-M8120-1, but sticking with the narrower chainline improves big-cog performance, so it’s preferable if possible. The narrower FC-M8100-1 fits the Mach 4 SL v3 perfectly, with plenty of clearance around the ring and arms, works wonderfully, and was a great choice.

Chainring-wise I wanted to stay with a 34t, but being (weirdly) cheap I opted for the SLX-level SM-CRM75. It’s only ~10 grams more than the XT-level SM-CRM85 but can be found for around half the price ($33 vs. $59). Both have steel teeth and an aluminum carrier, and upgrading to the XT only gets an anodized spider (vs. painted) and carbon fiber (vs. glass fiber) non-load-bearing plastic bits. Thus, performance is effectively identical. Due to series colors the center spider is a little bit of a blueish grey and doesn’t match the other parts, but in the overall scheme of the bike it looks fine, and even the smallest amount of dust obscures the variance.

Where I didn’t go cheap was on the pedals… My go-to pedals are typically XT-level PD-M8100 (regular) or PD-M8120 (trail), but finding XTR PD-M9100 on sale at the price XTs would normally sell for I figured I’d give them a go. They are only marginally lighter (28g/pair), but have a smaller center that should clear dirt and debris better, and a slightly shorter stack height. But mostly, I liked how they looked, wanted to see how they felt, and wanted new pedals for a new bike. Thus far they seem good, and I don’t regret purchasing them.

Grip-wise I put aside the stock Pivot Phoenix Factory Lock-On Grips and fitted ESI Extra Chunky grips in black with generic BMX-ish screw-in bar plugs. The narrow bar plugs are only slightly larger than the bar diameter, meaning they don’t press on my hand when my hand sits at the outer edge of the bar. While the Pivot grips are excellent I prefer foam ESIs on my mountain bikes. Kristen really likes the Pivot grips, so these’ll end up set aside for her.

The stock saddle is a fairly narrow Pivot-branded WTB which just doesn’t work for me, so the 143mm-wide Specialized Power saddle (conveniently with titanium rails) from the LES is now on the Mach 4 SL.

The bike also originally shipped with a 760mm wide, 20mm rise, 5° upsweep, and 9° backsweep bar. I swapped this out for another Pivot-branded bar I’d bought from a friend earlier in the year. After cutting 5mm off of each end it’s now 750mm wide, 6mm of rise, no upsweep, and 9° of backsweep. This is in line with what I have on my trail bike and so far feels good, although I may go down to 740mm or maybe even 730mm after I ride it more.

Fitted with everything including a bell (but no bike computer), the bike is a smidge over 26 pounds. While I wasn’t focused on weight with this build, I did pay attention as this level of bike implies it’ll be fairly light, and this impresses me. While it’s obstensibly an XC bike, and my previous (the LES) was under 21 pounds, this is far more capable: 120mm / 105mm of travel, dw-link suspension, 51t cassette, dropper, etc. Not long ago this would have been called a trail bike, and I think I’d ride it on anything that I personally am willing to do.

My first ride was at Stony Creek and thus far I’m incredibly happy. The redeveloped trails here have everything from lumpy rocks to smooth trails, small drops and wood features to semi-steep rock rolls, perfect for a bike shakedown and demo. The Mach 4 SL felt amazingly fast and comfortable on everything without really trying; just simply composed. It handles the tight/twisty stuff the way I was looking for, yet still feels really good on technical features and small drops. It’s clearly not as burly and squishy as the Trail 429, but that’s the point.

Pedaling firms up the rear end while still absorbing little bumps and keeping the tire in contact with the ground. Rolling over rough spots or dropping off things just feels right. The factory tire choice of a Rekon in the front and Rekon Race in the rear is a good one, as it both rolls nicely yet still has plenty of traction to handle aggressive steering. I also think a 34t ring coupled with the 10-51 cassette will be right. (On the LES I had a 34t, but with the 46t cassette it was a bit too tall for longer climbs. This should be much better.)

I have a bit more suspension setup to do, as in the factory-recommended settings the fork’s damper is a bit noisy and feeling not-quite-right, but dialing that in will just take a bit of time. I may toss the ShockWiz on there as I typically do to try and dial things in further. But, one thing at a time.

Initial build details are as follows:

Frame: Pivot Mach 4 SL v3 (Large, Seafoam Green)
Fork: Fox 34 Factory Step-Cast GRIP SL (2025, 34, K, FLOAT SC, 29in, F-S SC, 120, Grip SL, 3Pos-Adj, Matte Blk, No Logo, Kabolt 110, BLK, 1.5 T, 44mm Rake, N/M OE – Part: 910-31-870)
Fork Axle: Fox Kabolt
Rear Shock: Fox Float Factory (2025_24, FLOAT, F-S, K, 2pos-Adj, Evol LV, Pivot, Mach 4 SL MD-XL, 190, 45, 0.5 Spacer, CM, RM, CMM, No Logo, OE – Part: 972-05-949)
Headset: Pivot Integrated Race Headset
Crankset: Shimano XT FC-M8100-1
Crank Arm Protectors: PRO Crank Protector (PRAC0144)
Bottom Bracket: Shimano BB-MT800-PA
Chainring: Shimano SLX SM-CRM75 (34t)
Chain: Shimano CN-M8100
Derailleur: Shimano XTR RD-M9100-SGS
Shifter: Shimano XT SL-M8100-IR
Shift Cables / Housing: Jagwire / Shimano OE
Cassette: Shimano XT CS-M8100-12 (10-51)
Brakes Calipers: Shimano XT BR-M8100
Brake Levers: Shimano XT BL-M8100
Brake Pads: Shimano J04C-MF (Metal w/ Fin)
Brake Rotors: Shimano RT-MT800-S (160mm)
Stem: Pivot OE Aluminum (60mm x -6°)
Bar: Pivot OE Carbon (Diameter 35mm, Width 760mm, Rise 6mm, Sweep 9° – Cut to 750mm)
Wheels: Reynolds Blacklabel 309/289 XC
Tires: Front: Maxxis Rekon 29 x 2.4WT 3C/EXO/TR (TB00017500), Rear: Maxxis Rekon Race 29 x 2.40WT EXO/TR (TB00211100)
Seatpost: Fox Transfer (31.6mm x 150mm, Original Version)
Dropper Lever: Fox Transfer Post Lever (I-SPEC EV Mount)
Seatpost Collar: Pivot OE
Saddle: Specialized Power Expert (143mm)
Pedals: Shimano XTR PD-M9100
Grips: ESI Extra Chunky (Black)
Bar End Plugs: Generic Aluminum BMX-Type (Black)
Bottle Cages:Specialized Zee Cage II (Black Gloss, 1x Left)
Computer: Garmin Edge 840
Speed/Cadence Sensors: Garmin Bike Speed and Cadence Sensor
Computer Mount: Best Tek Garmin Stem Mount, Stem Mount for Garmin Computer, Adjustable Black
Bell: ROCKBROS Bike Classic Bicycle Bell (Black)
Derailleur Hanger: SRAM Universal Derailleur Hanger
Frame Protection Tape: McMaster-Carr UHMW PE

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It’s been no secret that for years my favorite drop bar bike was my beloved 2019 Salsa Warbird Carbon 105 700. This bike has been with me on some of my most memorable rides, from remote parts of the UP and Canadian wilderness to silly northern LP bike path routes, from single track where it didn’t quite belong to long summertime wanders on dirt roads.

For years, and especially in 2023 after switching it to 1x, I’ve told numerous folks that there’s nothing I’d change on it and no reason to get anything new; it’s simply excellent. But then in late November while cleaning it up for winter I found a bit of a shock: a small starburst crack in the frame at the top tube/seat tube junction and a couple other hairline cracks on the seat tube. As things wear out and everything eventually fails I can’t say I was devastated, but I really was disappointed. I loved riding that bike and did not want to change anything. I even came to really like the white color.

After finding the crack I rode it a couple more times and things seemed fine. I have a long seatpost which extended well below the crack area, and I didn’t feel or hear anything when riding, but like any crack it’s best to be safe. The warranty for a carbon frame is five years, which was coming up, so I sent photos of the crack to the folks over at the venerable Tree Fort Bikes and Salsa to get things rolling. I wasn’t sure if it was problematic, and — honestly — I really didn’t want to replace the frame if it wasn’t needed, but I wanted to ask. I love how my Warbird looks with the white frame and reflective black vinyl that I added, and I wasn’t exactly keen on a matte black replacement, re-running brake lines, etc. And, it rode great!

After just a handful of questions Craig emailed me with a massive surprise: Salsa is replacing my 2019 Warbird (v4) frame with a complete 2023 Warbird C GRX 1x bike, and instead of being a simple black warranty replacement it’s a nice clay-ish grey color! This was better than I could have possibly hoped for, because not only did it replace the problematic frame, it moved me to Shimano’s GRX drivetrain! And I also wouldn’t have to cut and re-run the brake lines, etc.

Back when my Warbird came out GRX wasn’t available, so it came with the (very good) 105 R7000 road groupset. This is an amazingly good drivetrain, but for rougher roads I switched to the Ultegra RD-RX800 derailleur, which was basically a high-end road derailleur with a clutch, originally intended for cyclocross use. Then in late 2022 I used a few Wolf Tooth Components parts and made it a sorta-hacky yet very functional 1x drivetrain because I wanted to get away from the problems inherent with 2x and riding in poor conditions, notably gunking up a front derailleur.

This setup worked great, but I felt a bit limited by maximum cassette size (40t) and my left brifter had a disconnected shift lever, which would rattle around on chattery roads. Minor, I know, and while I was proud of the semi-hacky drivetrain, improvements such as a full GRX drivetrain would have been nice, but I couldn’t justify it when things worked so well. But suddenly now I had it!

Last week I picked up the bike from Tree Fort, and over some unseasonably rainy, cold, and blah afternoons I shuffled parts around and now it’s ready. My new gravel bike, a 2023 Salsa Warbird C GRX 1x with a few upgrades!

Build

Frame / Fork: 2023 Salsa Warbird Carbon / Salsa Waxwing (Light Grey)
Wheelset: Specialized Roval Terra C
Ratchets: DT Swiss HWTXXX00NSK54S (54T)
Tires: Specialized Pathfinder Pro 2Bliss Ready (700×42, Black Sidewall)
Crank: Shimano FC-RX810-1 (42T, 172.5mm)
Bottom Bracket: Shimano SM-BB72-41B
Cassette: Shimano CS-M8000 (11-42)
Right Shift/Brake Levers: Shimano ST-RX600-R
Left Shift/Brake Levers: Shimano BL-RX600-L
Brake Calipers: Shimano BR-RX400
Brake Rotors: Shimano SM-RT64 (160mm)
Brake Pads: Shimano K05S-RX (Resin)
Chain: Shimano CN-HG601-11
Rear Derailleur: Shimano RD-RX812
Bar Tape: MSW HBT-300 Anti-Slip Gel+ (Black)
Handlebar: Salsa Cowbell Deluxe (44cm)
Headset: Cane Creek Hellbender 70 (IS41/28.6/H9 | IS52/40)
Stem: Thomson Elite X4 (SM-E139 10° X 100mm X 31.8 1-1/8 X4 Black)
Spacers: Generic Aluminum
Stem Cap: MASH Donut 2.0
Seatpost: Thomson Elite (SP-E113SB 27.2 X 410 Setback, Black)
Seatpost Clamp: Salsa Lip Lock
Saddle: Specialized Power Expert (143mm, Black)
Pedals: Shimano PD-M8100
Bottle Cages: Specialized Zee Cage II (2x Left, 2x Right)
Bottle Cage Screws: McMaster-Carr 94500A233 (316 Stainless, M5 x 0.8mm, 20mm)
Front Light: Outbound Lighting Detour
Rear Light: Garmin Varia RTL515
Rear Light Mount: Garmin Varia Seat-post Quarter Turn Mount
Bell: RockBros Bell (Black)
Computer: Garmin Edge 840
Computer Mount: SRAM Quickview Computer Mount
Sensors: Garmin Bike Speed Sensor (Front Wheel), Garmin Cadence Sensor 2 (Crank)
Anti-Rub Tape: McMaster-Carr 76445A764 (Low-Friction UHMW Tape, 0.0115″ Thick, 2″ Wide)
Mounting Hole Plugs: Heyco 2590
Top Tube Bag: Revelate Designs Mag-Tank Bolt-On
Saddle Bag: Lezyne Road Caddy
Frame Pump: Lezyne Sport Drive HP
Derailleur Hanger: 465 / QBP FS2322

Weight

Total weight for the bike, with everything but bottles (including lights, pump, saddle bag+tools, and computer), is 22.54 pounds. Removing the computer/lights/saddle bag/pump brings it down to 20.78 pounds, so I expect that without pedals, cages, or mounts (the usual way of weighing a bike) it’d be in the 19-pound range.

Build Choices:

Crank/Cassette Upgrade: After moving my previous Warbird to 1x a year ago I realized that I like having a 42t front ring. Since the bike came with a 40t ring I wanted to upgrade that, but it turned out that I could get a complete FC-RX810 crankset with a 42t ring for not much more than a stand-alone ring. Swapping from the stock FC-RX610 swap saved 84g while increasing the chainring size, makes mounting a cadence sensor easier, and opens up the possibility of getting a power meter on the bike.

At the same time I ordered an CS-M8000 cassette to replace the stock CS-M5100, which saved another 114g. While I originally was going to get an 11-40 to match my previous Warbird, my friend Ray convinced me that a 42, ending up with an even 1:1 in the lowest gear would be good, and I agreed. Between the two sizes the seven lowest cogs are the same, so typical flat/rolling stuff would feel the same with either, but when I do need a climbing/trail gear it’ll be there.

Chain Drop Protection: I was originally going to fit some chain drop protection, like the Wolf Tooth LoneWolf, but after thinking about how many times I’ve dropped a chain in the past, I opted against it. Mounting this would also require fitting a front derailleur mount which makes bottle cage mounting more fiddly and makes the bike harder to clean. I may still fit this later on, but for now I’m content continuing without.

Rotors: I am generally very fond of Shimano rotors with solid aluminum center carriers as they seem to be harder to bend and have an aluminum core (Ice Technologies) to help with heat dissipation. The bike came with some SM-RT64, and while they are a bit heavier per-rotor (~25g) than others, and just steel, it would have cost a fair bit (~$100) to replace them. I have similar rotors on my fatbike and they’ve been working well, so for now I’m going to stick with these rotors and see how it goes. They can always be upgraded later.

Frame Pump/Saddle Bag: On the previous Warbird I used a somewhat large Specialized saddle bag with a tiny 4″ pump tucked inside next to the tube. This worked well, but I began having problems with the pack Velcro no longer holding, so I also had a releasable cable tie holding it to the saddle.

I’d also never needed — that is tested — the tiny pump in the field, so out of an abundance of caution (and some paranoia) I’d often tuck a second, larger pump in my jersey pocket for long rides. This other pump had been used a few times, so with the bike swap I’ve moved to mounting the beloved (and cheap) Lezyne Sport Drive HP to the frame behind the seat tube bottle cage. I’m wary of road spray causing problems with the pump, but if it does I’ll just start carrying it in my pocket.

By no longer needing room for a pump in the bag I was able to swap to the Lezyne Road Caddy, a small and elegant seat bag that I’ve had on my road bike for a couple years.

Bike Fit: This and my road bike, a custom built Salsa Warroad, are very very similar in geometry, but I’ve had it set up with the bars slightly lower than on the Warbird. Using my favorite stem comparison tool I found that by removing 10mm of spacers below the stem I can get the bar clamp to a nearly identical position on both bikes, so as a bit of an experiment I’m giving this a go, leaving the steerer tube uncut so I can go back if desired.

I’m slightly concerned about the fit when riding more technical trails, and I may have a harder time keeping my forearms near level while on rough surface, but it’s plenty easy to go back if needed.

Bottle Cage Screws: When using Specialized Zee Cages it’s important to have a low profile screw head, else they’ll rub on the bottle and make it hard to insert. The screws which come with the cages are a nice shape, but are a chromed steel that seems to corrode with sweat, sports drink, and road treatment chloride, so I prefer something else. I prefer something like 316 stainless, and I had some 20mm of these laying around from a previous project. For just-bottle-cages this is longer than the needed ~15mm, but the additional mass is across the three standard cages is only 6x 1/4 of the mass of a single screw (1.5x a single screw), or ~5g. It wasn’t worth spending $11+shipping to save that little mass.

Anti-Rub Tape on Head Tube: On my previous Warbird, and on the Warroad, I shortened the front brake hose so it’d take a clean path from the fork to the bar, not touching the head tube. This works, but also gets it the way of the light mount, and makes adjusting spacers difficult because I have to remove the bar from the stem to slide things upward.

The stock hose length on this model rubs the front of the head tube, but I’m not sure I want to shorten it yet. For now I simply put a strip of UHMW PE tape along the front of the head tube, below the Salsa logo, so the hose won’t rub on the frame/paint/carbon. Once I settle on spacers and work a bit more on accessory mounting I may shorten the hose, or I may just leave this alone.

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For years the Pivot Trail 429 series of bikes have been a sort-of Holy Grail bike for me. The ultimate aggressive cross country / trail mountain bike, and something I really wanted to try. In August of 2020 I was able to spend a few hours riding v2 of the bike around some of my favorite Marquette and RAMBA trails and fell in love. Something about the bike and I clicked, and I came away wanting one. After that trip I sold my beloved Specialized Camber and got ready to buy a new bike.

With the COVID-19 related bike industry shortages it took a lot longer than I’d hoped, but almost a year after that demo — in August of 2021 — I made a quick trip up to Bellaire (three hours each way) and picked my new bike from Patrick at Paddles & Pedals: a Pivot Trail 429, v3, Race XT build, with the crank and wheels upgraded to high end carbon bits.

While I hadn’t ridden this new v3 of the Trail 429, and it’s a much longer reach bike than v2, I’d stared at geometry numbers for hours, comparing it to my current bikes, and figured that a size large in this model would also be right for me. After getting the bike and swapping the usual contact points, fitting the larger rotors that I wanted, and some other little bits, it was all ready to ride.

Using the Low bottom bracket setting (the higher of the two), a 35mm stem, an upper stack height of 30mm (headset upper cover + 15mm spacer) and the 11° sweep Salsa Salt Flat Carbon bar the RAD ended up just 5mm shorter of the Timberjack and feels pretty good on its first ride.

I may experiment with the Lower setting, which’d slacken the head tube and seat tube angle by 0.5°, bring the reach in and increase the stack, but this’ll likely require a 50mm stem to get the fit where I want it. At the same time, it’d bring the bottom bracket height closer to that of the Camber’s, which might be really nice. Between suspension setup and such, I’ve got a lot of experimenting to do.

Current build details are as follows:

Frame: Pivot Trail 429 v3, Large, Silver Metallic
Fork: Fox 2021 Performance Series 34 FLOAT 29 130 (Short ID: D4SW / 2021, 34, A, FLOAT, 29in, P-S, 130, Grip, 3Pos, Matte Blk, No Logo, 15QRx110, 1.5 T, 51mm Rake, OE)
Fork TA Parts: QR15 Geared Cam and Hardware
Rear Shock: Fox 2021 Series FLOAT (Short ID: D9N4 / 2022_21, FLOAT DPS, P-S, A, 3pos, Trunnion, Evol LV, Pivot, Trail 429, 165, 45, 0.9 Spacer, LCM, LRM, CML, No Logo)
Headset: Pivot Precision Sealed Cartridge (OE)
Crankset: RaceFace Next SL (170mm)
Bottom Bracket: RaceFace BB92 Cinch 30
Chainring: RaceFace 1x Chainring, Cinch Direct Mount- SHI 12 (32t)
Chain: Shimano CN-M7100
Derailleur: Shimano XT RD-M8100-SGS
Shifter: Shimano XT SL-M8100-IR
Shift Cables / Housing: Jagwire LEX-SL
Cassette: Shimano SLX CS-M7100-12
Brakes: Shimano SLX, Rotor: BL-M7100 / Caliper, BR-M7120
Brake Pads: Shimano N04C
Front Rotor: Shimano RT-MT800 M
Rear Rotor: Shimano RT-MT800 L
Front Brake Adapter: Shimano SM-MA-F203P/P (160mm Post to 203mm Post)
Stem: ENVE Alloy Mountain Stem (31.8mm clamp, 35mm length)
Bar: Salsa Salt Flat Carbon (750mm)
Wheels: Reynolds Black Label 309/289 XC
Tires: Maxxis Rekon (29 x 2.6″, 3C/EXO/TR)
Seatpost: Fox Transfer Performance Elite (175mm, 31.6mm)
Dropper Lever:Wolf Tooth ReMote Light Action (Black, 22.2mm Clamp)
Seatpost Collar: Pivot OE
Saddle:Specialized Power Expert (143mm)
Pedals: Shimano XTR PD-M985
Grips:ESI Extra Chunky (Black)
Bottle Cages:Specialized Zee Cage II (Black Gloss, 1x Left)
Computer:Garmin Edge 530, Garmin Speed and Cadence Sensors (v1), Best Tek Garmin Stem Mount
Bell: RockBros Handlebar Stainless Steel Bell (Black)
Derailleur Hanger: SRAM Universal Derailleur Hanger
Frame Protection Tape: McMaster-Carr UHMW PE

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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 it’d be on a mountain bike. On dirt roads or local neighborhood streets, gravel road races or the Macomb Orchard Trail, I’d be on an MTB. This… worked… but after getting the Vaya things clicked and I found myself routinely doing things like 50+ mile paved rides after work in springtime, gravel road centuries, and fast-paced road rides with buddies. It really showed me how much fun a drop bar, skinnier tire bike—but one still with enough tire to ride off road—can be. By late 2018 I’d racked up over 10,000 miles on the Vaya.

As new gravel-optimized frames came about and components on the Vaya started to wear, I kept looking around for something new. Despite flirting with ideas for everything from a Trek Checkpoint to an ALLIED ALFA ALLROAD, from the Specialized Diverge to the Canyon Grail—all great bikes—nothing really clicked until Salsa announced the Warbird v4. Carbon and a very well designed dampening system, through axles, internal routing for everything, four bottle cage mounts, and overall standard parts it was just what I wanted. While I wasn’t too keen on the color patches on the white frame, the new R7000 105 group is perfect and I figured I could do something creative to change up the coloring.

After a boat load of geometry-checking, email back and forth with the ever-excellent Mike Wirth at Tree Fort Bikes, and some help and information from my friend and Salsa/QBP’s rep Jeff Buerman, a 2019 Warbird Carbon 105 700 was on order just for me. While driving up to Iceman this past weekend, where I raced my beloved Salsa El Mariachi Ti, I got an email notification that the Warbird was in, and I could pick it up! Kristen and I swung by Ypsilanti on the way home, and voilà, I’ve got a new gravel bike!

The stock build on the Warbird 105 is really well chosen, but like any bike there’s always some things to tweak or add. I added  the usuals like bottle cages, speed/cadence sensors, saddle, seatpost, and pedals, but I also had some spare parts sitting around home (eg: Thomson X4 stem, XT brake rotors) that were a bit nicer than stock so I swapped them on during the build.

I also unexpectedly got a too-good-to-pass-up deal on some DT Swiss wheels (CR 1600 SPLINE 23). While the CR 1600 wheelset has the same rims as the well-chosen stock C 1800 SPLINE 23 wheels, the CR 1600s have DT Swiss’ Star Ratchet in the hub. I prefer this freewheel design over all others, and switching to these wheels also let me upgrade to 54 points of engagement; right in line with all my other bikes. (High engagement is a luxury, sure, but this Warbird is a really nice bike already so why not.) It also doesn’t hurt that the silver and black hubs go wonderfully with the grey Salsa graphics on the frame. Finally, I’ve been wanting to try the well-regarded Panaracer GravelKing SK, so I set up a tubeless-ready 43mm pair of the blackwall tires on the new wheels.

As an experiment I covered the purple/blue/red patches on the seat tube and fork with self-adhesive, black reflective Scotchlite tape. This both serves as a reflector and brings almost the entire bike together in shades of grey. While I’m not completely happy with the tape job, it’s smoothly applied and covers the colors, bringing the entire frame to a very sharp black/white/grey color scheme. It looks good.

The four water bottle cages are all usable, with the super-common 24oz Specialized 1st Generation Big Mouth Water Bottles fitting in three of the cages with a 21oz in the upper downtube cage, giving 93oz of on-bike fluid storage. Without a bottle in the upper downtube cage I can fit an even larger bottle in the lower one, giving plenty of options. Mounting a Revelate Designs Mag-Tank Bolt-On top tube bag behind the stem provides ~65 in³ of storage for food, roughly equal to what I can fit in one jersey pocket. Coupled with or in place of jersey pockets this should be good for carrying food and drink for quite-long rides; a nice upgrade over the Vaya. It’s a tight fit to stand over the bike with this bag attached, but as an optional accessory for longer rides it could work out real well.

I’ve yet to figure how I’ll carry for tools, but with the relatively low pressure tires I’ll put together another Mobo Pocket Air Pump-based setup fit into the Specialized seat bag.

Weight was not a primary concern with this build, but I’m quite happy with 21.08 pounds for the completely bike as pictured above. This includes a Garmin Edge 130, sensors, pedals, rear light, empty saddle bag, and bottle cages. Not bad for a bike capable of everything from pavement to single track. Not bad at all.

Here’s the details of the complete build:

Frame / Fork: 2019 Salsa Warbird Carbon / Salsa Waxwing (White)
Wheelset: DT Swiss CR 1600 SPLINE 23
Ratchets: DT Swiss HWTXXX00NSK54S (54T)
Tires: Panaracer GravelKing SK (RF743-GKSK-B, 700x43c, Black Sidewall)
Group: Shimano 105 (R7000)
Crank: Shimano FC-R7000 (50-34T, 172.5mm)
Bottom Bracket: Shimano SM-BB72-41
Cassette: Shimano CS-R7000 (11-32)
Shift/Brake Levers: Shimano ST-R7020 (Left, Right)
Brake Calipers: Shimano BR-R7070 (Front, Rear)
Brake Rotors: Shimano SM-RT81-S (160mm)
Brake Pads: Shimano K02S (Resin)
Chain: Shimano CN-HG601-11
Front Derailleur: Shimano FD-R7000-F
Rear Derailleur: Shimano RD-R7000-GS
Bar Tape: MSW HBT-210 Anti-Slip Gel (Black)
Handlebar: Salsa Cowbell Deluxe (42cm)
Headset: Cane Creek 40 (IS41/28.6/H9 | IS52/40)
Stem: Thomson Elite X4 (SM-E139 10° X 100mm X 31.8 1-1/8 X4 Black)
Spacers: Generic Aluminum
Stem Cap: MASH Donut 2.0
Seatpost: Thomson Elite (SP-E101 27.2 X 330 Black, Straight)
Seatpost Clamp: Salsa Lip Lock
Saddle: Specialized Power Expert (143mm, Black)
Pedals: Crank Brothers Candy 3 (rev. C, Black)
Bottle Cages: Specialized Zee Cage II (2x Left, 2x Right)
Rear Light: Planet Bike Superflash Turbo
Bell: RockBros Bell (Black)
Sensors: Garmin Bike Speed Sensor (Front Wheel), Wahoo RPM Cadence Sensor (Crank)
Reflective Tape: 3m / Scotchlite Black
Mastic Tape: 3M 2228
Mounting Hole Plugs: Heyco 2590
Top Tube Bag: Revelate Designs Mag-Tank Bolt-On
Saddle Bag: Specialized Seat Pack (Medium, Black)
Derailleur Hanger: 465 / QBP FS2322

During assembly I encountered three wrinkles, none of which affected the final build:

Seat Tube Bottle Mount: When using the bottle mount on the seat tube, spacers are needed otherwise the center of the bottle cage will bottom out on the front derailleur mount. Problem Solvers SpaceOut Spacers, left over from the downtube mount on my original Mukluk 2, solved this.

Cadence Sensor Fitment: A typical problem on modern gravel road bikes with large tire clearance and narrow Q factors; there is not much room between the crank arm and the chainstays. The Warbird v4 is no exception, and I was not able to fit the standard Garmin Cadence sensor safely. It fit, but left around 2mm of clearance. This tight clearance may also preclude the use of a Stages-type power meter on the Warbird.

To fit a cadence sensor on the bike I fashioned an aluminum plate which spans two chainring bolts opposite the crank arm, then sticking a self-adhesive Wahoo RPM Cadence Sensor to this plate. It has a look not unlike a power meter, allows for easy battery changes, and is tucked nicely out of the way. (Picture)

Fork Crown Light Mount Screw: I typically replace all unneeded mount screws on my bikes with Heyco 2590 plastic plugs. These small plastic plugs press snugly into M5 bottle/fender/accessory screw mounts, keeping out water and giving a smooth, finished look. At ~$0.10/each (via Mouser) they are much cheaper than bike-specific parts. Compared to aluminum screws this doesn’t save much weight, but I think it’s much more attractive and likely slightly safer than a protruding screw head.

When unscrewing the upper fork light mount screw the head came off, and the screw was stuck in the hole. As I was turning the screw it felt quite stiff, and I suspect it was either cross threaded, or the hole contaminated with paint which locked the soft aluminum screw in place. This was not an issue with any other screw on the bike.

I was unable to drill out the screw, so I carefully ground it flat and painted the remaining end black. I have no intention to use this light mount, but if this ever changes I’ll deal with the problem later. (Unfortunately while attempting to drill it out I slipped with a tool, bumped the fork crown, and put a small, 4mm chip in the paint. This got touched up with some white enamel paint and now blends in nicely, but it was a really frustrating way to get the first chip in the paint. Oops.)

UPDATE: Due to Tree Fort Bikes swapping the fork after a recall affecting a handful of the Waxwing forks, the problems with the crown light mount screw and the chipped paint are gone.

There’s still a few things left to do, and the inevitable tweaking of things like bar position, steerer length, and all those fun things. But after a lot of work to clone the Vaya’s fit I think it’s good, so hopefully not too much work be needed. That which is probably won’t happen until spring when the weather turns nice and is a bit more conducive to long rides… Exactly what this bike is made for.

Pictures from the unboxing, assembly, and of the complete bike can be found here in my photo gallery: Salsa Warbird 105 (2019)

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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 MTB and gravel road emergency use.

Looking for a small emergency pump my primary requirements were functionality and size, followed by the amount of time it’d take to inflate a tire. I have tubeless setups on all my bikes, which tends to be pretty reliable. Flats are pretty rare, so when they do happen I’m okay with taking my time installing and inflating a tube. Being something that’ll be packed away for non-routine use I’d prefer the emergency gear to be small and reasonably light. The Mobo pump seemed like it might be too cheap to work well, but just about $20 (via Amazon) I figured I’d give it a go.

Ideally I’d like to be able to fit a tube, multi-tool (including chain tool), pump, and a car key inside of a small seat bag. With this pump I think I’m on the way, as it had no problems fitting into a slightly-older, small-sized Timbuk2 saddle bag along side a Crankbrothers M17 multi-tool, with plenty of room to spare. Along with a bottle cage mount it ships with a nice brass Presta to Schrader adapter and sports ball inflation needle. The inclusion of an adapter is good, because the pump itself is Schrader-only. Thankfully packing either the stock adapter or an aluminum one into the bag isn’t a big deal.

Inside the expectedly cheesy (but well packed) box is a solid-feeling pump that measures in at 3-7/8″ long, 7/8″ diameter at the body, and 1-1/2″ across the pump head. At 56g it’s lighter than a 16g CO₂ cartridge, and right about the same size as a cartridge + valve head. Somewhat to my surprise it has a very nice, light, smooth pumping action and check valve sound. Basic tests in my basement showed to work reasonably well.

My first test was inflating a 700 x 35-43c Kenda tube from flat to shape, as one would do before fitting it into a tire. This took 42 pumps — none of which required any notable effort — and took well under a minute. The second test was inflating the front wheel from my Specialized Camber, a 30mm internal width rim fitted with a 29 x 2.3 Specialized Purgatory tire, from atmospheric pressure. After pumping for four minutes the tire had 22 PSI, which is my normal front tire pressure for rocky trails. Finally, the third test was re-inflating the Vaya’s front wheel — a WTB KOM i23 rim and 700 x 38c Specialized Trigger tire set up tubeless — from atmospheric pressure to 43 PSI. This took a total of around six minutes, with some pauses sprinkled in as my arm got tired. Nearing the final pressure the pump got fairly hard to press, leading me to believe that the claimed 100 PSI maximum is probably more a technical than functional limit. Getting a wheel to 100 PSI with this pump would be… a challenge.

Sure, four minutes for an MTB wheel and six minutes for my road bike is a while, and the low volume won’t be re-seating any tubeless tires, but as an emergency pump this should be fine to get one rolling again. While some folks prefer CO₂, as a one-shot item I’d want to carry a pump as a backup… Being small enough to tuck in a saddle bag with other parts, and right about the same size and weight as a CO₂ cartridge, but multi-use. It’s what I plan to pack into a seat bag on future rides. While I hope it works when I need it — and seems like it will — needing to use a pump in the middle of a ride is something no one wants.

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