Orange Crush - My new 2011 Salsa Vaya

I've been promising pics for a few weeks now. I finally got around to sharing them. Here is my new orange Salsa Vaya along with my build spec. I built this bike piece by piece.

It's a beauty and I gotta say, I think I found my perfect bike for Dirty Kanza 200. I still love my Fargo for it's ability to truly do ANYTHING, but this Vaya is a really, great platform for serious pavement and gravel miles.

OK...Here is my build spec. 

Frame: Vaya - size 58

Fork: Vaya

Seatclamp: Salsa Lip Lock - Orange

Headset: Custom Cane Creek 110 - Orange/Silver

Bar: Salsa Woodchipper 31.8

Stem: Salsa ProMoto Ti 31.8 x 100

Tape: Salsa Cork Black

Rear Derailleur: Sram Rival

Front Derailleur: Sram Rival

Crank: FSA Gossamer Cross 34-46

Cassette: Sram 11-28

Chain: Sram 10 spd

Brakes: Avid BB7 Road

Shifters: Sram Apex

Saddle: Fizik Aliante XM Mtn

Seatpost: Eriksen Ti Setback - Orange caps

Hubs - XTR M960 32 hole - Centerlock Disc

Rotors - Shimano XT Centerlock

Spokes - DT Swiss 2.0/1.8

Nipples - DT Swiss brass

Rims: Stans ZTR 355's

Rim Tape: Stans Yellow

Tires: Currently Schwalbe Marathon Cross 700x38 with tubes

Other

Jagwire Ripcord compressionless housing

Jagwire Stainless brake and shift cables - Tandem length rear brake cable needed

Shimano Dura Ace downtube shifter adapters

Salsa Nickless cages x 3 (2 shown)

Salsa Leather chainstay protector - black

Revelate Designs Tangle bag - Not shown

Arkel seat bag - not shown - One picture above with a Timbuk 2 seat bag

All in all, one sweet rig. For Dirty Kanza I suspect this bike will pretty much be identical except I will double wrap the bars and use a lighter tubeless wheel/tire set up.   

Disclaimer - I work for Salsa Cycles. Frameset is a prototype provided at no charge. All other components were purchased.

Comments

[JimC]

Very nice, Jason! Going down through your spec list, I can't find anything I would have done differently. I've said it before, but I'll say it again... The Salsa Vaya is probably the ultimate DK Weapon of Choice. It will be interesting to see how many show up at DK this year. Thanks for sharing.

[Wally]

Finally! Heh, heh. It's funny how we are all calling our Vaya's "Orange Crush". I hope to see my frame soon, but my build will be much much more traditional in that I'm basically purging my XT rigged V1 Fargo to build the Vaya for touring duty. I hope to add a V2 Fargo complete as well - is the Fargo you speak of above the V1 or V2? I planned to sell my V1 frameset but I'm finding that difficult now. I'm not sure what I will do with it but it's still special.

[Guitar Ted]

Yeah, there is something about orange bikes lately, isn't there? (HA!) Sincerely though, I really like your set up and I love the way the orange Vaya looks. I hate to admit it, but color does make some difference to me. I just could never embrace the brown Vaya. Funny how that works, eh?

Well, I'll be on an orange bike as well at the Dirty Kanza 200. Go Team Orange!

[Errin]

That looks great Gnat! I imagine the Vaya can be pretty quick compared to the Fargo huh? It sure looks fast, but it's probably that KTM Ready to Race Orange!

Both our blogs have new Salsa bikes today. It must've been a good weekend for shakedown rides. Can't wait to pedal mine with you guys again.

[Darren]

Hey Gnat, Thanks for posting. I've been looking forward to your specs. Two quicks question - why the steel Vaya vs the Ti version? Thoughts on the advantages of the Ti version would be appreciate. Also does the Vaya have a racy enough geometry that I can ride something like the DK one weekend and with a change of tires, stick with sat morning road crew the next?

Thanks!
Darren
Philadelphia,PA

[Gnat]

Thanks folks. I really am smitten with this build. I love it...And yes the orange does remind me every now and then of some certain KTM orange. Thanks Errin, while you think about a Mukluk, I'll be thinking about your motorcycle.

@darren - Put simply, I was able to build the steel bike cheaply. Ti is not cheap. That is the only reason, besides the orange color, that I did not go ti. Regarding the geometry, I personally think the Vaya Ti could do just about anything on the road. I would want to be a USCF category road racer, but with the right motor it could hang with most of the roadie folk.

[Errin]

@Gnat-- Wanna trade? Fly out here with a Mukluk and ride home on a KTM?

[MG]

That's an awfully nice looking ride, Gnat. Nice work. Have fun.

[mikE]

I'm thinking I will rebuild my V1 Fargo (custom alfine build) into something similar to this. Few questions:
Why do you need downtube shifter adapters?
Does the Apex brifters work with mtn BB7's without any adapters?

[Gnat]

@MikE - The Vaya has downtube cable stops so you need to have adapters. Also, the APEX brifters will not work with MTN brakes without some sort of adapter. Sorry. I'd like to run the Mtn version too but don't and don't like adapters.

[mikE]

Really? So does the new Fargo have adapters for the brakes? Nothing was listed on the build spec, and it seems kind of odd for a production bike.

Thanks for the info.

mikE

[Gnat]

@mike - Let me double check the spec on the Fargo and I'll reply here.

[Whitebike]

Hello Gnat.

I am in the process of building up a Vaya and had a couple questions.

I am hemming and hawing over which bar is better, the Woodchipper of the Cowbell? I intend on using the bike for gravel riding/racing.
Would an XT rear derailleur be a good choice for a 11 - 34 set up with the same rings on the front that you are running.?
Planning on running the Stans Alpha disc wheels, do you think they are too light for gravel riding?

Thank you for your help.

Whitebike

[Gnat]

Whitebike - Thanks for the comment. Right now I am really liking my Cowbells. They give a smoother transition to the shifters/brake levers. Less of a V. They don't quite have the really long and comfy drops though.

XT RD would work great on there with the right shifters and that range of cassette.

Regarding the rims, I don't know anything about your weight. I don't know the Stan's wheels or what rim is on teh Alpha disc wheels so I can't comment there. I use 355's for gravel and I weigh 200lbs and I have not had one issue in 2 years. I also have friends running the crest rims with no issues.