Monstermash

So some of you may have seen the Salsa Vaya I built up as a flatbar last year. The bike was beautiful and I loved the way it rode, but..... it was heavy. I know, I know. It's steel and what did I expect? Well, considering the almost obscene amount of money spend on components I thought it may have been at least a little lighter. Like under 20 lbs. Anyway, that wasn't the case so I have been considering another Ti bike. I just can't decide which one.....


So... my local Craig's List to the rescue!

I found an almost new Giant Anyroad 1 for $500 and I really like the look/design of the frame so I thought... what the heck. And I bought it. The only problem being the drop bars. I ******** HATE dropbars. Lol. The good news is that I swapped over all the components from the Salsa over to the Giant frame. The result is what you see here. And.... I also moved all the components from the Anyroad over to the Salsa so now I can sell that.

The build consists of XT brakes, a 1x10 XT drivetrain with FSA team Issue carbon fiber crank sporting a Race Face narrow wide chaingring, and Mavic CrossMax SLR wheels with Schwalbe Kojak tires. The saddle is a Specialized Romin Evo gel, and the bars and stem are Ritchey WCS UD carbon.

Total weight.... 18lbs 3oz! Thats over 4lbs less than the Salsa.

Here are some quick and dirty photos for your viewing pleasure. Feel free to post comments and opinions.

andrei_r

You're insane! In a good kind of way.... How does it ride?

Doctor Morbius

I dig it! Looks awesome. Nice pics too.

ColonelSanders

So does that mean the Anyroad frame & fork are over 4lbs lighter than the Salsa frame & fork?

Monstermash

Thanks guys! The bike rides very nice. I really like having a carbon fork again but it still isn't as plush as the steel Vaya. Fortunately I don't do a lot of riding where the roads are rough so I don't think I'll notice it that much. But..,, we will see.


Good catch Colonel! I guess now that I think about it there were a few other factors that contributed to the difference in weight. The Salsa had a different saddle on it and the Specialized Romin Evo that's on the Anyroad is quite a bit lighter. Also the Salsa had different (larger) grips with bar ends and when I weighed the new bike I hadn't installed the Garmin yet. I think the frame on the new bike is obviously lighter but I think the biggest weight savings was the carbon fork on the Giant. The Salsa has a steel fork that weighed almost 2 1/4 lbs.

ColonelSanders

I'm glad you share your bike projects with us, always such great pics and interesting bikes.

manthe

Just downright lovely! Thanks for sharing. I have a couple of questions if you feel like answering (I'm starting to think about a flatbar 'road' oriented bike to add to the stable)...

1 the wheelset looks nice. It's hard to tell from the pics - are those straight-pull spokes? Also, they look like very low guage as well - do you know the actual guage? Would you consider it to be a 'tough' wheelset?

2. Is that the 'new' (M8000/11sp) XT group (minus the brakes of course)?

3. How is the ride with the 1x setup? Does it change the 'road-ness' of it (e.g. Moving away from your typical standard/compact double up front)?

4. What are your thoughts on Giant's proprietary seat post collar?

It really is just a beautiful setup! It's the only thing I've seen so far that has me thinking about something other than Specialized's Sirrus. Thanks!

prj71

Really nice looking!! I dig it. What's the widest tire you think you can fit on there?

Manthe...I have a Giant FastRoad...Love the D-fuse seat post. I think it should be standard on every bike. The seat is lined up perfectly with the frame every time. No need to "eyeball" the nose of the seat to make sure it's in line with the frame.

bikecrate

You've invented the Fastroad. I can guarantee my Fastroads weighs a bit more though. Nice pics.

Monstermash

They are straight-pull spokes. Sorry, I have no idea what gauge they are. The wheels are Mavic Crossmax SLR and I wouldn't consider them tough. They're bulletproof!

The drivetrain is XT 10 speed. I love the 1x10. The rear cassette is 12-34 so there's plenty of range. I don't ride on the street unless it's around the lake I live on. I stick mostly to bike trails so they're isn't a lot of huge hills. I will say that I live in a city dubbed "7 hills" and I have at times ridden all over the city and I have no difficulty finding the right gear to make it up the hills. It really only lacks when doing a steep downhill when trying to maximize top speed. Then I tent to run out of gears but considering I'm not trying to see how fast I can go it's never an issue for me. For everyday riding it's perfect.

I'm not sure this bike has the"D-Fuse". It doesn't have the standard type collar that going on the outside of the seat tube but I'm pretty sure the seat post is round. I've only adjusted it once and it was pretty straight forward.

Monstermash

Yeah...kinda. I could have just bought a Fastroad but I'm pretty sure the Anyroad has room for larger tires.

Thank you. I'm not quite sure what the largest tire size that will fit but I'm sure it's larger than 40mm. I would think somewhere in the 45mm range.

Monstermash

So I had a chance to go out and get her dirty yesterday.....

Ergo's are fantastic! I love the way the bike feels. The slacker headtube (then what I'm used to) really makes the bike feel stable. I ran the Kojaks at 75 psi and I really liked the way they feel with a little less air in them.

Obviously it's not quite as comfortable as the Salsa Vaya was but I love that it's quite a bit lighter.

One thing I didn't like was the hand grips. I used a set of Specialized Body Geometry locking grips I had in the parts bin and they are not as thick as the one I had on the Vaya. I really didn't like the feel of them so I decided to install the thicker one's I had on the Vaya. I also added a set of barends and I took it for another ride and I think I like them! I may order a set in UD carbon to match the Ritchey stem and handlebar.

What do you guys think of the barends? Don't worry. I'll post better photos tomorrow. Lol!

prj71

I think you meant steeper head tube angle. The Anyroad is 72 degrees. The Salsa is 70 degrees.

Which bar ends are those? My Giant Fastroad came with bar ends, but they are heavy. Been thinking about changing them out to carbon.

I was thinking about eliminating the bar ends on my bike, but a couple of weeks ago I went on a 70 mile ride and found it nice to put my hands on them for a change in position so I now may keep them.

Monstermash

Those are specialized. I just installed them to see if I would like them. After riding a bit with them I think they're ok but I would want smaller carbon ones. Also, when I use the bar ends with my current setup it seems like they are really wide. If I decide to do the smaller carbon ones I may also end up cutting down the bars an inch or so.

sail

Kool bike

Delmarva

Well done. You ended up with a bike that really works for you at a good price.

Monstermash

Well the Anyroad was a good price. The components..... That's a completely different story. Lol!

prj71

After you found that thing on Craiglsist for $500 I went searching. No such luck near where I live.

2702

18lb and 3oz is one heck of a light disc brake hybrid. Looks like fun!

badger1

@Monstermash,

Like.

bikecrate

I kept the grips on my Fastroads. They seemed thick enough, but I replaced the bar ends with Giant Contact AL. They were a good price and I like the shape, almost a pistol grip. Probably not the lightest though.

prj71

I'm looking at these. Much lighter than the Giant Branded ones that came on my bike...

Produkte ? ERGON BIKE

sh00k

gorgeous ride! and i think u should keep the bar ends on - it makes the bike look meaner

Monstermash

I just ordered a set of the Ergons with the carbon fiber barends. They should be here next week and I'll shoot a few photos for you guys.

Monstermash

Ok, so the carbon barends came in. I bought them used on ebay and sent the seller a message inquiring about the condition because the grips that they came with were junk. He responed that they were "near mint"..... when they arrived today, they were completely trashed.

Here's what they looked like when I received them.....














Here's what they look like now after several hours of wet sanding and buffing.










I'll get the bike outside and take some better photos for you guys tomorrow.