The Salsa Warbird was one of the first “gravel specific” race bikes, designed largely to tackle the types of riding their midwest employees and designers frequented. It’s always been capable off road, but like any good product, they continue to refine it to take advantage of the latest tech and features. It’s also evolved along with the way riders are using it for today’s long distance gravel races.
Coming this fall, the 2019 Salsa Warbird V.4 gets an all-new carbon frame that sheds 100g from its predecessor, yet it adds more features – three water bottle bosses inside the front triangle (sizes 56 and larger), rack mounts, fender mounts, top tub bag mounts, and even stealth dropper seatpost routing (when running a 1x drivetrain).
The chainstay’s dropped driveside design make plenty of room for larger 2x cranksets, and there’s internal routing for both mechanical and electronic shifting. They say that lower half redesign also boost power transfer, while a refined size-specific layup improves vibration reduction. Speaking of sizes, there’s now a smaller 49cm option, running all the way up to 61cm. Top tube lengths have been stretched a bit to improve stability.
Tire clearance is claimed at 700×45, but it’s also 650Bx2.1″ compatible now, too. The new Waxwing fork gets accessory holster, pannier rack and fender mounts, plus Dynamo wire routing to keep powered installs just as clean as the rest of the bike. Flat mount brakes tidy up the other side. Want something softer? The geo is suspension corrected so you can sub in current gravel suspension forks without changing the handling.
Pricing for the frame and fork (which will be sold separately, too) are TBD.
