Back in June we got a sneak peek at the fourth generation of Salsa’s carbon gravel racer – the Warbird v4. Now we get the full details on the new bike, plus updates to the all-road Journeyman, classic road Vaya, the Marrakesh tourer, and Cutthroat carbon 29er bikepacking racer…
2019 Salsa Vaya classic steel all road bike
Salsa’s original steel all-road gravel adventure road bike the Vaya gets more packed for touring with the move to a new Salsa Waxwing carbon fork that gets a set of straight 3-Pack anything cage mounts on each fork leg. The new carbon fork also becomes low-rider rack compatible and gets internal dynamo wire routing like the updated Fargo.
Of course a new season also brings some nice new colors to the steel-is-real road explorer, and either a $1800 complete 105 build or the $1000 frameset.
2019 Salsa Journeyman aluminum all road bike
March saw the introduction of the truly affordable alloy Journeyman 650b or 700C aluminum all-road bike. That perfectly capable whatever-road-adventure-you-want bike doesn’t change at all. But by popular demand, Salsa now has a new higher-spec single ring dropbar build with a SRAM Apex 1 groupset that will still only set you back $1400.
2019 Salsa Marrakesh steel global touring all road bike
OK, so the 4130 world touring Marrakesh doesn’t really get updated for 2019, outside of a new look. But the disc brake loaded touring bikes is still pretty cool and will fit 700x40mm tires with full fenders, or up to 2.0″ tires without. Load it down with whatever you can imagine, and head out on tour – now in turquoise blue or bone white for the $1500 Deore 3×9 bar end shifted build.
2019 Salsa Cutthroat carbon 29er ultra endurance gravel race bike
The Cutthroat also doesn’t get any changes to its carbon frameset, but it does get a bit of a character overall with the addition of a proper XC mountain bike suspension fork. After Salsa engineer Sean Mailen rode his suspended Cutthroat in the Trans North Georgia mountain bike race, Salsa decided to offer a similar build to consumers. This isn’t a short travel gravel fork on a carbon gravel bike though. Salsa has spec’ed a regular 100mm travel RockShox Reba SL mountain bike fork to the drop bar racer.
The now $2900 carbon bike with a flared Salsa Cowchipper dropbar & Reba fork, gets a SRAM Apex 1 drivetrain and 23mm internal WTB rims with 2.2″ Maxxis Ikon tires. Strap some bikepacking bags onto it and search for the longest & toughest endurance race you can find – maybe the Tour Divide?
2019 Salsa Warbird v4 carbon gravel race bike
After a preview of the fourth generation carbon Warbird early this summer, now we have the full details on Salsa’s ultimate gravel race bike. Completely redesigned for 2019, the Warbird v4 is built around two wheel size compatibility 650B or 700C, redeveloped to better suit how riders had actually been racing the previous generation bikes.
But at its core, Salsa is careful to say that they didn’t really touch the rear end compliance that is what made the bike popular with most riders. That Class 5 Vibration Reduction System debuted in the v3 bike with its tall thin seatstays that actually flex outwards to add comfort, and outperformed the titanium v2 bike in both of the newer carbon and aluminum frames. That C 5 VRS stays with the new bike, so the ride will be as comfy as before, even with more drivetrain efficiency.
2019 Salsa Warbird v4 Tech Details
Beyond that Salsa says the new carbon fame is 100g lighter. It now gets flat mount discs (140 or 160mm rear, 160mm only on the fork), 12mm thru-axles, a 27.2mm seatpost, a pressfit BB86 bottom bracket, and the tapered 1.55″ full carbon fork.
The Warbird actually gets the same new full carbon 405mm long, 50mm offset Waxwing fork that showed up on the new Vaya, including the low-rider front rack & dynamo compatibility (suspension corrected for a 40mm travel gravel fork.)
The new bike packs in more water bottle storage, with three cage mounts inside the main triangle of frames 56cm and larger, plus a fourth mount under the downtube, a direct toptube bag mount behind the stem, and 3-pack anything mounts on each fork blade.
Designed ideally around a 700x32mm tire for the sake of geometry, the Warbird v4 can now run up to 700x45mm tires or 650Bs up to 2.1″ wide. That all works with compact road doubles (down to 46/30, up to a 52/36; 1x max 44t) thanks to the dropped chainstay and the removable front derailleur mount.
Rack mounts are there, plus fender mounts, and you can run an internally routed dropper if you opt for one of the 1x builds.
2019 Salsa Warbird v4 Geometry
Sizing gets expanded in the new model, while geometry remains mostly the same, except for slightly longer toptubes for added stability and some more standover clearance. The carbon Warbird now comes in seven stock sizes, from a 49cm up to 61cm.
2019 Salsa Warbird v4 Complete Bikes & Pricing
The Warbird is now available in five complete bike build options that each share the same carbon frameset. While we were told the frameset was going to be also available separately, that looks to be on hold, at least for the immediate future.
The top of the line Warbird v4 is the new 18.6lb/8.4kg Warbird Carbon Ultegra Di2 700 in this cool zebra paint scheme. At $5400, it’s ready to toe the line at your premier gravel races with a Di2 electronic road compact double and a set of alloy DT Swiss CR1600 wheels with 40mm Maxxis Rambler tires.
For $4400 you could also get the single ring Warbird Carbon Force 1 650 that is the only build to opt for the smaller diameter wheels, with WTB KOM Light i23 rims with 2.1″ Maxxis Pace 27.5 tires, and still just 19.1lb/8.7kg.
The $3400 Warbird Carbon 105 700 gets a road compact R7000 series 105 hydraulic groupset.
The $2700 Warbird Carbon Apex 1 700 goes with a SRAM Apex single ring build and 11-42 cassette.
And the $2400 Warbird Carbon Tiagra 700 becomes the most affordable with a road compact 2×10 Tiagra group and TRP Spyre-C mechanical brakes.
If you want to know more about Salsa’s new hardtail mountain bikes, we dove into the new 2019 Fargo, Timberjack & Timberjack Kids bikes separately a couple of days ago.
