Salsa e-Bikes - Bikepacking Options

[Stefan Mikes]

I say any gravel bike has a flared drop bar but none has it at such an high angle.

 

[Aushiker]

Thoughts on the Cowchippers ... now, given Salsa's extensive experience in bikepacking bikes and that they are still selling them I am inclined to go with their expertise and experience and the thoughts of users and experienced bikepackers. YMMV.

Salsa Cycles Cowchipper Bar Quick Review

Review: Salsa Woodchipper, Salsa Cowchipper and Soma Gator [at MTBR]

Guitar Ted Productions is a good blog on all things bikepacking

Salsa Chowchippers: 30-mile review

Salsa Cutthroat Review V2 [it has Cowchipper bars] at Bikepacking.com. Personally, I rate Bikepacking.com as my good to source, bikepacking.

Qualification: I am a Salsa Mukluk rider, albeit with Jones H-Bars.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

How odd.

\\\
Salsa Tributary GRX 600, a gravel e-bike of the 46 lb weight, Salsa Cowchipper bars. Absolutely a sweet and proper ride. Perhaps not the 31 lb as for the Specialized Creo 2 Comp but a 625 Wh battery and 85 Nm...

And now the Tributary SUS, a laugh

Putting drop handlebars on a long travel suspension fork is a blunder.

All other brands making gravel e-bikes/bikes (Specialized, Cannondale) stop at 20 mm travel suspension (Oliver Lefty, Future Shock) as to not adversely affect the drop bar bike geometry..

 

[Aushiker]

How odd.

Putting drop handlebars on a long travel suspension fork is a blunder.

Ah, well, I am sure that Salsa Cycles would appreciate your expert advice. You can contact them at https://www.salsacycles.com/salsa/contact.

It may have been my choice if the Tributary had been available when I ordered the Supercharger. Each to their own, of course.

BTW, they are Cowchipper bars are not drop bars (different beast). If Cowhippers are not your thing, there are a lot of options.

Also more reading on the topic at https://granfondo-cycling.com/the-suspension-guide/.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Ah, well, I am sure that Salsa Cycles would appreciate your expert advice.

Fortunataly, Salsa Cycles does not offer e-bikes to Europe Or, not to Australia, either. It is U.S. and Canada, as reflected in the e-bike model names. I wonder why?

BTW, they are Cowchipper bars are not drop bars (different beast).

Technically, these are "flared drop bars". Flared drop bars are offered on any gravel bike (but not on road bikes).

 

[dblhelix]

I rode it many times from Chain Bridge into DC back when I lived in Reston. Since moving to Leesburg I've parked at Point of Rocks and ridden both directions with the wife several times. I mean, its not, like, national mall packed but it was always fairly well used. I guess I'm spoiled from riding Loudoun Gravel where you can go miles without seeing anyone. Its also very narrow in places so passing people at anything above jogging paces feels reckless.

Some gravel friends like to drop into Brunswick from Loudoun (across the 287 bridge), drop down to the C&O, ride to Point of Rocks, recross at the 15 bridge and then immediately climb up Furnace Mountain Road back into Loudoun. I don't like either of those bridges on a bike though.



Its unfortunate. I went through the lawsuit documents back when it first shut down and you really got the sense that the ferry owners felt like they could do whatever they want on the VA side of the river (which they didn't own and had a very limited easement to). When Kuhn bought the operation I assumed he would give the Rockland people their 50c a car or whatever and get things reopened but hes basically done everything except that. I feel like there has to be some agreement between him and the old owners that prohibits him from doing so, given its the one thing Rockland has consistently asked for and also the only thing hes refused to consider.

Back in my roadie days I would sometimes do road rides across the river (usually to Sugarloaf) and return via the ferry.



I mean, you're getting to the start point somehow. You probably get further from the vehicle while bikepacking, but I've done some long emtb rides on my Decoy and sometimes can be 15-20 miles from the car. If the bike broke down I'd have to call a support pickup, definitely not walking that back.

If you're in a really remote place you want to be able to rely on your bike. Where peoples comfort with their ebike lies is up to them. At least if the ebike part fails, you can still pedal it like a normal bike (not that I'm in any sort of hurry to do that).

Kuhn made a $1.1 mill offer, but the other side wants to be paid $0.50/ticket in perpetuity. I don't have the numbers for the operating costs, taxes etc, but it stands to reason that Kuhn feels it's too big of a bite.

The C&O is a completely different experience outside of DC-Potomac and HP. No problem going for miles w/o bumping into someone.

Not a fan of those bridges, either!

 

[Rás Cnoic]

Fortunataly, Salsa Cycles does not offer e-bikes to Europe Or, not to Australia, either. It is U.S. and Canada, as reflected in the e-bike model names. I wonder why?

Why?

Here are some more monstercross bikes. Get your rulers out for the handlebars!

And here's the link to Bikepacking.com with loads more, so you can contact the bike companies directly to ask them to correct their handlebar position because your friend says they're all wrong:

Complete List of 29” Drop-Bar Mountain Bikes

Drop-bar mountain bikes and gravel bikes that fit big tires are perfect for bikepacking. Here’s our complete list of dirt-drop 29ers with tires over 2.1"...

bikepacking.com

Shand - Scotland

Bombtrack - Germany

Surly - Minnesota

Genesis - England

Mason - England

Cotic - England

Salsa Fargo, probably the original monstercross - Minnesota

Finna - Spanish

Decathlon - French/international

Rondo Bogan - Poland

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Why?

Dunno, tell me. Can you buy a Salsa e-bike in the UK? I checked the brand's distributors in Germany and Australia, no Salsa e-bikes there. The Salsa Tributary models have their names with either USA or Canada. I think Salsa only buys the 32 kph or 28 mph motors from Bosch, so they cannot sell in the UK, the EU or Australia.

Here are some more monstercross bikes. Get your rulers out for the handlebars!

Almost all gravel bikes you showed have the drop bar hoods level or almost horizontal (and that could be adjusted). None of them has a suspension fork. Only the Tributary SUS is weird with the hoods at a steep angle. Don't tell me the suspension sag would correct that...

 

[Rás Cnoic]

Dunno, tell me. Can you buy a Salsa e-bike in the UK? I checked the brand's distributors in Germany and Australia, no Salsa e-bikes there. The Salsa Tributary models have their names with either USA or Canada. I think Salsa only buys the 32 kph or 28 mph motors from Bosch, so they cannot sell in the UK, the EU or Australia.


Almost all gravel bikes you showed have the drop bar hoods level or almost horizontal (and that could be adjusted). None of them has a suspension fork. Only the Tributary SUS is weird with the hoods at a steep angle. Don't tell me the suspension sag would correct that...

None of these are gravel bikes. Neither is the Salsa Tributary e bike. You can also buy the Tributary with a carbon fork. Horses for courses.

And yes several of the bikes I showed have their handlebars at different positions and are of different shapes, like the Tributary. Anything goes for these bikes. Flat bar, drops of all kinds, swept, Jones bars, it's up to the rider and you can ride in the race anyway you want, gears, internal gears, single speed, front suspension, rigid, full sus.

Salsa bikes are the biggest adventure bike company in the world with around 36% of all the bikes in the grand daddy of ultra endurance adventure races the Tour Divide - as pointed out here by Alee @ Cycling About:

Worth you watching - it might explain why these are not your average bog standard gravel bikes.

And yes you can buy Salsa in the UK, Not many shops sell them, it's a specialised area, but like their sister company Surly you can find them. I own one. No idea if they are selling the e bikes yet, doubt it, as I've pointed out they are new and Salsa are just dipping their toe in this market.

As has been previously explained to you all Salsa have done here is make an e bike version of their long distance off road bikes like the Fargo or Cutthroat.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

And yes you can buy Salsa in the UK

Salsa e-bikes? A link, please.
I'm not interested with traditional bikes.

 

[Rás Cnoic]

Salsa e-bikes? A link, please.
I'm not interested with traditional bikes.

That would explain a lot. Including why you never talk about Rondo bikes which are excellent, I was always confused why you wouldn't support what looks like an innovative Polish bike company. I was surprised you didn't try out their urban flat bar bike that time you tried the (non electric) Diverge:

BOOZ

The Booz: a pure blooded steel urban racer. With its sporty geometry and fat (but fast!) tires you can charge across the city, hopping over curbs, not

rondo.cc

And re Salsa e bikes as I just said to you:

No idea if they are selling the e bikes yet, doubt it, as I've pointed out they are new and Salsa are just dipping their toe in this market.

Anyway here's a very good break down of the Tributary. Will answer all your questions. He explains it far better than I can and as an existing Salsa Cutthroat owner totally gets it, as he says it's an e bike version of the Cutthroat.

 

[jabberwocky]

Putting drop handlebars on a long travel suspension fork is a blunder.

All other brands making gravel e-bikes/bikes (Specialized, Cannondale) stop at 20 mm travel suspension (Oliver Lefty, Future Shock) as to not adversely affect the drop bar bike geometry..

...what? I mean, its not for everyone, but on a bike designed for endurance riding in the the backcountry suspension makes a lot of sense. Much more effective at reducing the beating your arms/wrists/shoulders take than in rough terrain than things like suspension stems or short travel forks. Modern suspension forks have pretty good low speed damping circuits so you don't get as much pedal bob. To each their own, Salsa offers it both ways.

And they don't adversely affect drop bar geometry, you just set your bar angles with the fork at riding position. Generally a suspension fork sags 25-30% when weighted (by design) which would drop the front end on a hardtail bike like the Tributary.

Dunno, tell me. Can you buy a Salsa e-bike in the UK? I checked the brand's distributors in Germany and Australia, no Salsa e-bikes there. The Salsa Tributary models have their names with either USA or Canada. I think Salsa only buys the 32 kph or 28 mph motors from Bosch, so they cannot sell in the UK, the EU or Australia.

Canada doesn't have a class 3 equivalent and motor power is slightly more limited (500w vs 750w in the US) which is probably why they list them as separate models. Presumably Bosch is capable of selling Salsa motors tuned to whatever country they wish to sell in. Salsa is not a big company though so whether they will offer ebikes in other countries is definitely an open question. They do list a bunch of international distributors on their website. If you really want one, contact the one closest and let them know you're interested. Or reach out to Salsa directly, I guess. These bikes have only been out a few weeks now so they may not have launched everywhere Salsa intends on selling them.

Almost all gravel bikes you showed have the drop bar hoods level or almost horizontal (and that could be adjusted). None of them has a suspension fork. Only the Tributary SUS is weird with the hoods at a steep angle. Don't tell me the suspension sag would correct that...

The point you keep missing is that both ways are ok. One of the points of the various shallow drop flared bars is you get a lot more sweeps and curves and it gives you more ways to comfortably set the hoods. Some people do prefer some back tilt. Some want them set up like traditional road bars (totally horizontal flat into the hood). Both work. Salsa shows the rigid fork Tributary with the cowchippers set more traditionally, and the suspension version with some back tilt. At this point this comes across like you grasping at threads to find things to criticize about this bike. We all get it, its not a Creo and you hate it.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Including why you never talk about Rondo bikes which are excellent, I was always confused why you wouldn't support what looks like an innovative Polish bike company.

Have you ever owned a Rondo? I've just finished a talk with Jan Sz., a performance racer in gravel cycling (22,568 km ridden in 2023). Here are his own words:

'Rondo? Nah. These are not very good bicycles. Yes, the brand has many proprietary solutions, and its bikes look attractive when you view them on the website. Combined with a good marketing, Rondo bikes feel like a thing you dream to own. That's why many people ride them.

However, Rondo bikes have been plagued with many flaws. Their wheels were legendarily bad; the wheels used to fall apart shortly after you started riding a Rondo; almost 100% of Rondo wheels had to be replaced on the warranty. While the "wheel story" seems to be already resolved, the proprietary Rondo forks simply break".

It is when you say "excellent" about something you only could see on paper or read reviews written after a very short use. Besides, how much of the England's area is actually good for gravel cycling? Even Wales is rather an MTB country than a gravel domain!

I was surprised you didn't try out their urban flat bar bike that time you tried the (non electric) Diverge:

1. Because it is not a flat-bar gravel bike
2. Because there are more Specialized dealers in Warsaw than Rondo ones
3. Because I doubt a Rondo dealer would let me rent a demo bike for a day but Specialized were more than happy to do that.

an innovative

See above.

I also asked Jan about Salsa bikes. His answer was curt: 'Salsa has never been able to make a breaktrough in Europe".
My comment: But Marin did to a great success. Ever wondered of what brand flat-bar gravel bike my brother would buy?

The name is Marin.

 

[Mr. Coffee]

I just started using the cowchippers and really like them.

 

[jabberwocky]

I also asked Jan about Salsa bikes. His answer was curt: 'Salsa has never been able to make a breaktrough in Europe".
My comment: But Marin did to a great success. Ever wondered of what brand flat-bar gravel bike my brother would buy?

Its worth noting that Salsa (like Surly) is a division of QBP, aka Quality Bicycle Products. QBP is a huge bike/part distributor in the USA (pretty much every shop in the USA has a QBP dealer account and orders stuff from them). I genuinely don't know how much international distribution/advertising they do.

 

[Aushiker]

Dunno, tell me. Can you buy a Salsa e-bike in the UK? I checked the brand's distributors in Germany and Australia, no Salsa e-bikes there. The Salsa Tributary models have their names with either USA or Canada. I think Salsa only buys the 32 kph or 28 mph motors from Bosch, so they cannot sell in the UK, the EU or Australia.

I am not Salsa Cycles so I suggest you contact them directly. I provided their contact details in an earlier post.

 

[Aushiker]

Its worth noting that Salsa (like Surly) is a division of QBP, aka Quality Bicycle Products. QBP is a huge bike/part distributor in the USA (pretty much every shop in the USA has a QBP dealer account and orders stuff from them). I genuinely don't know how much international distribution/advertising they do.

Interestingly when I brought my Salsa Mukluk frame (I built up the bike), I brought it from Bike24.com in Germany. If they where selling them, then I suspect there was at least then a market for Salsa in Europe. That said, as you say QBP is a large USA operation, so I am not at all surprised by the comment made by the other bloke (not that it really means much anyway, it is just an opinion).

That Salsa bikes are not big in Europe does not in my view say anything negative about the brand. There are numerous European brands that are not available for example here, but that does not make them bad either.

Disclosure: I own and have ridden for 1,000s of kilometres a Surly Long Haul Trucker. Another QBP brand.

 

[mschwett]

…

That Salsa bikes are not big in Europe does not in my view say anything negative about the brand. There are numerous European brands that are not available for example here, but that does not make them bad either.

…

all it says is that gravel as a niche in europe is 5-7 years behind where it is in the United States - and on top of that Europe has many long established brands. growing rapidly in popularity no doubt, but long from the level ubiquity as the United States, especially in the west where there are literally a half million km of fire roads.

in the same way that all the legends of road cycling are of Italy and France (the tour itself, Paris roubaix, campagnolo, Rene herse, Alex singer, pinarello, cinelli, bianchi…) all the legends of gravel cycling are american. Moots, specialized (whose diverge is by far the best selling gravel bike of all), the salsa warbird, unbound, dirty kanza, dan Hughes.

to suggest that salsa doesn’t know gravel bikes, when their warbird practically defined the genre 11 years ago, is ridiculous. whether they can do e-bikes well, I guess we’ll see!!

 

[Stefan Mikes]

salsa doesn’t know gravel bikes

Salsa does not know gravel electric bikes.
Pinarello has come with several nice mid-drive motor (TQ-HPR50) road, gravel, and city e-bikes just recently. Pinarello Nytro E9 road e-bike weighs 11.4 kg with a mid-drive motor and the battery.

Pinarello's gravel e-bike.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Interestingly when I brought my Salsa Mukluk frame (I built up the bike), I brought it from Bike24.com in Germany.

Then just try buying a Salsa e-bike.