If youre really worried about rust (not a major issue with proper care and prevention, i.e. Over the years, weaker versions of titanium have entered the market, and they are not always up to the standards of space exploration as the original titanium once was. . Therefore, most folks should look for a bikepacking bike versatile enough to handle different travel conditions. And, after a couple of seemingly interminable days in the saddle, it became pretty clear that this bike was dialed in for lengthy rides. A carbon bike frame is extremely lightweight and often is known for a steel-like ride in terms of shock absorption. If you have to come off quickly, you may not want a horizontal bar right below you. If youre looking for a bike that can handle singletrack and want to spend less than $1300, the Timberjack is an excellent rig. Find the full GRX 810 build over at SalsaCycles.com. The Apex 1 model comes in your choice of three colorways for $2899. Climbing out of the saddle felt natural with my hands on the hoods and the bikes responsiveness couldnt have been better. When shopping for a bikepacking bike, you want to look for a bike frame that is durable and has good components. Based on our research, the Cutthroat seemed like as good of a match as any for a route we really didnt know much about, other than the fact that wed cross three mountain ranges, coastal jungles, and everything in between. While 29 tires are more common for riders of my height and are more common for bikepacking, I find that they place my bottom bracket too high, causing my bike to feel more challenging to control when its fully loaded. If possible, test ride the bikes you are considering. Flowy trails and smooth winding dirt roads are a rarity in Cuba. The 2021 Salsa Cutthroat AXS Eagle comes in black with an iridescent blue-green trim for $7199. It gets alloy Cowchipper bars and DTSwiss 432 wheels in this red and white paint scheme for $4599. Surly will not say what ECR stands for. A well sized bike will feel more comfortable. All of this road drivetrain and Boost spacing has opened up the chainstays and fork for 29-inch tires up to a 2.4-inch width. It can also be difficult to find someone thats able to repair a damaged titanium frame bike, whereas steel is often easier to repair. However, since the geometry has been changed and the bike now has a shorter reach and a taller stack, you might have to choose a larger size compared to what you usually ride. Additionally, the Force hydros are a nice choice to help reduce hand fatigue on long rides. Beginning our route from the east side of the island, the plan was to make 300+ hard miles in just a few days to meet a fourth riding compadre who flew into Camaguey. To this end, I've been looking at the $2,700 Apex build which isn't my drivetrain preference but will be fine to ride as-is for a year or so and upgrade the groupset to something else later to keep initial costs below my maximum budget of 3k for a complete bike. The Salsa Timberjack is the best singletrack mountain be found within the budget. The best dirt touring bikes, like our top pick, the Surly ECR provides lots of gear mounting options, has a rigid steel frame (more reliable on an extended tour), and has a more upright geometry for increased comfort. The Cutthroat, on the other hand, was able to dissect rocky tracks as well or better than many 29ers Ive ridden. Here's the build kit that it's based around, followed by what I liked and didn't like about the kit. They are not as ideal for bikepacking, though. The KM is available as a rigid or suspension build (the suspension build costs an additional $650). Ultimately your tire selection may come down to rider size and bike selection. Salsa have long been a household name for everyone who is even remotely interested in bikepacking - click here for our detailed Bikepacking 101.After we were able to ride the first version of the Cutthroat for you a while ago in our gravel bike group test, the US brand sent us the Salsa Cutthroat V2 GRX 600 for our bikepacking group test. Phone (405) 341-1683 | Fax (405) 359-1936. the following transactions occurred during july REFILLS. I hung on to the silver and blue Cutty for months after our trip, secretly hoping that Salsa would forget about it. Find details on the three most recent issues below, join the Bikepacking Collective to get it in the mail (anywhere in the world), or click here to find a collection of selected stories in digital format. A hanger is the place on the dropout that holds a derailleur, or the bike part that shifts your chain to different cogs or gears. Photo by Andrew Gage. Suspension is used on bikes to soften the riders contact with rough terrain. But we really didnt know what to expect. The Salsa Fargo Apex 1 is the best bikepacking bike for gravel riding. While I was a bit shocked at the choice of 28-spoke wheels on a bike built for bikepacking with a lot of extra weight, the SRAM RAIL 40 wheels didnt let us down. Plus, straight gauge spokes are easier to service even though we completely forgot to bring spares on this trip! Our Surly ECR in camp. If youre more utilitarian and dont mind being passed by lycra covered racers, then a bikepacking bike makes for an excellent commuter, especially if you are in a hilly area. All have the same carbon frame. I have a few grouches, such as the placement of bottle bosses and gearing, but nothing that diminishes my admiration of this bike. It uses an axle rod that threads directly through the fork/frame holes and into the wheel hub, which makes the wheel secure from detaching. The special edition 10th issue of The Bikepacking Journal is one you wont want to miss! It comes with decent stock components, including hydraulic disc brakes. The 29er version of the Fargo didn't either - it weighs in at 28 lbs. I immediately felt at home on the Cutthroat. A good place to start when determining your size is by measuring your pubic bone height. You could think of tire clearance like a Venn diagram in which tire size, bike speed, and comfort overlap. We discovered steep, rocky singletracks and punishing agricultural horse paths. Gravel riding is becoming a very popular trend in the cycling world as we all attempt to ride routes that have fewer motorized vehicles. So at this point you might be wondering who the Salsa Cutthroat is for aside from Tour Dividers or Trans America Trail racers. It may just raise the bars to the height you're looking for while keeping them closer to your saddle than you may think. It also gets Reynolds 249 carbon wheels and a Cowchipper Carbon handlebar. Aluminum is not always lighter than steel, either. The Apex 1 model comes in your choice of three colorways for $2899. For our anticipated route, the gearing was a little high, which we rectified before setting out by replacing the SRAM 38T X-SYNC ring with a Wolftooth CAMO and 34t ring. Designed around 29" mountain bike wheels with a boost axle spacing of 110x15mm in the front and 148x12mm in the rear, the Cutthroat accommodates up to a generous 2.4" tyre size. The ECR comes with a Moloko handlebar that allows for more hand placement and handlebar packing options than a standard straight handlebar. Some of the links in this article may be affiliate links, which means we may receive a small percentage of any purchase you make at no additional cost to you. How about the Salsa Cutthroat? The 600 model gets WTB MT400 wheels and a snazzy paint job for $3499. As for comfort, aside from the previously discussed benefits of carbon, the Cutthroat features a rear-end carbon stay design that Salsa calls the Vibration Reduction System. A dirt touring frame will likely place you somewhere in between the two. The 2x Cutthroat ships with a 46/30-tooth chainrings. Wide array of mounts. But if you want more cushion in the tire area, the bike can accommodate up to 3 wide tires in both 27.5 and 29 wheel sizes (the x-small frame size does have some limitations on the 29 plus tire sizes so be sure to check with Salsa when figuring out what tire you can run). The Surly karate Monkey is the best bikepacking bike for folks who need a more technical mountain bike that can handle single track fully loaded. The Salsa Cutthroat can largely be considered the default drop-bar bikepacking bike for several years running. theoretically, the asymmetrical rim design coupled with straight gauge spokes should make for a stiff and strong wheel. Wool lightweight socks Find details on the 2021 Salsa Cutthroat Frameset over at SalsaCycles.com. However the primary use is for internally routing dyno wiring. Sea to Summit UL Mat Any recommendations for an alternate frame bag? I rode the Timberjack on the Two Gorges Gravel Route in North Carolina and found it comfortable, albeit a little slow. Due to the location, fitting a large wide-mouth bottle is impossible without tire rub; I opted to use the narrow-top 22oz Klean Kanteen which squeezed in with just a few millimeters to spare. Antibiotic, Liter bottle x 2 The new model comes in four builds, six color ways, and a frameset. Available as a rigid or suspension bike, the Karate Monkey can tackle a variety of rough terrain. Our top all-terrain pick, the Surly Karate Monkey, can run either. Ti Spork The Bikepacking Journal is our biannual printed publication. I rode a 2017 version of this bike on many trips around the southeast and was sad to let it go when I decided to switch to gravel bikepacking (and a gravel bikepacking-specific bike). If you are looking into a gravel bike for fast rides or long-distance bikepacking trips, the Salsa Fargo Apex 1 is a jack of most trades and is an excellent option. 1 light button-down shirt So initial build isn't the biggest thing, my main focus is the frame. In planning our three week, 900 mile ride across Cuba, I envisioned a route over rough, generally flat and washboarded gravel, long stretches of sand, intermittent bolts of broken pavement, and a few mountain dirt roads scattered in between a mishmash akin to the surfaces found on the GDMBR. Two Salsa Cutthroats were loaned to Logan (size large) and his wife Virginia (medium) for this review. Wheels and fat tires probably overkill for a gravel race. Photo by Graham Hodge. Tire lever The Surly ECR is ideal for those destroyed gravel roads and long days of more straight forward rough road riding. I chose to run the custom Porcelain Rocket bag I had made for the Woodsmoke on our Kyrgyzstan trip. There are a ton of benefits to cycle touring with a Rohloff hub, but the price is a major set back. Class 5 Vibration Reduction System (VRS) absorbs microimpacts on rough roads. The chainrings and pedals attach to the cranks. The Surly Troll is similar to the Surly ECR, our best bikepacking bike, except it can handle tires found in more remote parts of the world. Are you primarily interested in gravel riding or singletrack? Its our overall best bikepacking bike because of its comfort, versatility, and price. Front/rear rack mounts, fork cargo cage mounts, two bottles in the frame on small sizes, and one bottle beneath the downtube are a must. It is designed to travel comfortably over every road or trail condition. Ok, so this one isn't really a trend (2-3 bikes), but it's cool anyway! Its an excellent alternative to the Salsa Fargo and an incredible deal for what you get for the money. While titanium is certainly rad (its pretty much space metal after all), the frame alone costs an extra $1,800. Were not saying to get the bike with the widest tire clearance, either. Rohloff Hubs, on average, run about $1,600. The Surly Bridge Club is a highly versatile all-road rig. A shorter stem will make the bike feel more responsive, which is where the touchy misconception comes from. And it has a nice elastic drawstring on the top for strapping wet clothes. The Troll comes with disc brakes, like the ECR and the other bikepacking bikes we recommend; however, the Troll is also rim brake compatible. Picking it up in a couple of weeks. You could, of course, ride singletrack trails on a gravel bike and ride a mountain bike all day on gravel roads, but the appropriate bike would be more comfortable and fun. Look for bikes with quality components, like our Surly and Salsa picks. More here. Modern mountain bikes often feature a 1x11, 1x12, 2x9 or 2x10 drivetrain (i.e., one gear at the pedals and 11 sprockets in the form of a cassette attached to your rear wheel). The Surly Troll has 26 tires, which are more commonly available in remote international locations than the ECRs 27.5 or 29 tires. A dirt tour will likely involve piecing together rides on country dirt roads, gravel fire lanes, and gnarly trails. They are meant to be ridden over rough chunder for 18 hours a day, thrashed, and hammered. The most comfortable bike frame is the one that fits. The Salsa Journeyman Claris 650 is our budget gravel bikepacking pick. Salsa Bikes - Iconic Gravel-, Mountain- and Adventure-Bikes since 1982. In addition, the stock components are not as good as the Fargo Apexs stock set. It features a carbon frame and fork, modern geometry, loads of mounting points for racks, bags, and cages, and clearance for 29 x 2.4 tires in the rear and 29 x 3.0 in the front. For this tour of more than 4,000 km from Alaska to the U.S.-Mexican border, Salsa developed the Cutthroat and as a sign of this, printed the complete route of the Tour Divide on the down tube. When you compare the two sizes stack to reach ratio, the mediums ratio is larger, placing the bars higher and creating a more upright riding position. Find the full Apex 1 build over at SalsaCycles.com. Historically bike shops fit people based on the top tube length of a bike, which is how long the tube is that runs from a seat post to the head tub. 1 spare set brake pads Close up on the Surly Drop out. As far as we could tell, no one had completed a full off-road traverse of Cuba, and there wasnt much detail on many of her tracks, both mapped or otherwise. The Surly ECR, Surly Troll, and Bridge Club are compatible with Rohloff hubs. 700c wheels will often work on bike frames designed around 29 wheels. It can fit a 2.4" in the back, it uses boost spacing, mtb cranks, and easily works with a multitude of 1x options. ReVolt Headlamp, Can stove (make there) MSR Trailshot filter Of course there is steel, which historically speaking is the frame material of choice for many touring cyclists and bikepackers seeking adventures abroad, a decision often based on the travails that go along with this sort of rambling, such as the possibility of cracking the frame, or the occasional need to toss your bike on busses and roof racks for transit. I believe for bikepacking that a combination of a shorter stem with wider bars is the better option for stability, control, and comfort. The stock build features Salsa Woodchipper drop bars, a 1x11 drivetrain, and 29 x 2.2" tires. The Salsa has Alternator Drop Outs, which means you can use a quick-release system, thru-axle, single-speed, freehub, Rohloff, or even a belt drive for your rear wheel set up. Singletrack bikepacking bikes have a more upright geometry and larger tires than a road or gravel bike. If you are interested in a singletrack mountain bike and the Surly Karate Monkey is a little spendy for you, the Salsa Timberjack 27.5 Deore is an excellent, budget-friendly option. The Surly ECR is the quintessential bikepacking rig if you plan on tackling hundreds or thousands of miles on a single trip. Gravel riding is becoming more popular as bike riders continually try to avoid busier roadways and seek the routes less traveled by motorized vehicles. However, as with Cuba itself, the Salsa Cutthroat held its fair share of surprises. These sorts of routes can have a dash of singletrack trails but mainly consist of double-track trails, fire lanes, and forest service gravel roads. 4 spare batteries/charger As requested, here is my full gear list from the trip as well: Porcelain Rocket Framebag All that being said, there are a few companies making more durable carbon frames specifically for bikepacking. This means that a steel frame can sometimes be lighter than a titanium one. Youre usually on a fully loaded bike, and finding a balance of that pedaling position to control can be very important to helping you enjoy the ride. There are four models of the 2020 Salsa Cutthroat: the Apex 1 ($2,699), GRX 600 ($3,299), GRX 810 1x ($4,199), and GRX 810 Di2 ($5,799). I was expecting a bike that would leave me walking when the terrain got dicey; as Ive found that to be the case for many drop-bar adventure bikes, be them too fragile feeling or just not confidence inspiring. But when moving quickly across variable bumpy terrain, the full carbon frame along with the VRS and relatively beefy 2.1 tires (set up tubeless) adds up to the most vibration absorbent drop-bar bike Ive ridden to date. Ortlieb Handlebar Pack and Accessory If you dont mind spending a significant amount more on your bike, titanium frames are both lightweight and durable. Build versatility. Privacy Policy. You want a bike that is less likely to fail and leave you with a 60-mile walk back to your car. You may not be too worried about the widest tires your bike can fit, but having enough room if you choose to go wider can help. There is no single best bikepacking bike for everyone. Happy to be proven wrong there. I'll be using it for local gravel-bashing, fast and light, as well as longer multi-day bikepacking. Photo by Mike Unger. Its much more than a drop-bar gravel bike, or a fast mountain bike. Ive worked as a photojournalist for publications such as Rock and Ice and Roots Rated. 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