alathIN

I am a "bit of everything" cyclist, so right now I have two bikes: an older hybrid that I use for commuting and family rides, and a road bike I use for training rides, occasional group rides, and triathlon. My retirement plan involves as much touring as I can possibly fit in.

The next bike I'd been considering was to take over the tourer/commuter role, and had been looking at a Salsa Vaya II and keep my Synapse (alu/tiagra) for road and tri use. But I am starting to wonder if the Viaje, perhaps with a second wheel set, might work as an "everything" bike for me.

My questions would be at the extremes of use.

For tris or group rides, how much speed would I be sacrificing? I am not a podium dweller in any event, and I am about 15-20 lbs over my ideal weight so plus or minus a few grams on a bike is of very little consideration for me. In my last (PR) Olympic distance tri, I averaged 19.8 mph. I do like to PR but I am more of a "participant" triathlete than "competitor."

For touring or camping, what would be the upper weight limits on this bike? Would it be happy pulling a Burley D'Lite trailer for half or more of its miles? (I do most of my commuting with a trailer rather than panniers, and would likely just add rear panniers for camping/touring). On family rides, I wind up carrying all of the groceries, picnic gear, or whatever else cargo we need in the trailer.

One thing I was considering was an adjustable stem, so I could move to a more aggressive position for shorter tris, or a more comfort-oriented upright position for touring, commuting, or iron distance tris.

Priorities for me are VERY high on ride quality and a QUIET ride. I do some road riding on rough rural Indiana roads, and some light trails and gravel mixed in. I wonder how that that springy-looking rear triangle handles washboard surfaces?

Additional info that may be helpful:
I am 220 lbs right now; I get down to 215 when I'm close to a race I really care about; I should be under 200 but never quite make it
I am 6'1"
Currently ride 58cm Cannondale Synapse aluminum/Tiagra. I have some quality complaints about this bike but the fit is pretty good. I did have to get a shorter and slightly up-angled stem rather than the stock stem.
Whatever bike I get, I always destroy the rear rim and wind up upgrading the rear or the whole wheelset. Right now my road bike has Shimano R510s.
My commute is about 10 miles on a lovely greenway, then 2 miles on nasty potholed roads with curbs to jump.

Would appreciate hearing ideas about my intended uses and whether you think the Viaje would be a good fit for me.

MileHighMark

I'm curious to know more about your rear wheels' failure modes.

The Viaje is a very versatile bike. It's not slow by any stretch of the imagination. In my experience, it handles dirt/gravel just fine.

alathIN

On my commuter/hybrid, the rear wheel started popping spokes and eventually couldn't be trued.
Re-laced the hub to a Salsa Delgado rim which lasted 6 years and eventually started cracking around the spoke holes.
Replaced that with the Velocity Dyad, which is less than a year old and still going good.

My road bike came with Maddux wheels. The back wheel got out of true, I took it to my LBS and the mechanic there said "I'm going to call Cannondale and talk to them about these rims." Next thing I knew he said Cannondale was replacing my rims with Shimano R510s. I've been riding those 2 years without problems.