Just In: Salsa Warroad - good looking carbon endurance bike with all the mounts

Salsa is a brand you might think of if you're in the market for a gravel/adventure/quirky bike, but it is doing road bikes now too. The brand new Warroad was launched earlier this year to cater for endurance road cyclists with a side order of adventure and bikepacking, and we’ve got one in for review.

You’re looking at a full carbon frame - with a size-specific layup - and fork, offering clearance for up to 53mm (2.1in) tyres on 650b wheels, or 35mm if you go with 700c. The frame has been designed to provide comfort on long rides and all the rough roads you might encounter on such rides, with specially shaped seat says intended to provide flex and a geometry geared towards a comfortable fit. Salsa calls it Class 5 VRS (Vibration Reduction System) frame technology.

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The bike we’ve got in for test is rolling on 650b WTB rims with WTB’s popular Byway, a 47mm tyre that looks huge compared to what you get on most regular road bikes. The groupset is Shimano’s excellent 105, combining mechanical shifting with hydraulic disc brakes and a wide range of ratios for dealing with hilly terrain. Finishing kit is Salsa branded, so that’s handlebar, stem and seat post, and the saddle comes from WTB. On the scales this 56cm sized bike is 9.5kg (20lb).

Salsa is asking £3,650 for this model, which does appear steep compared to some of the competition. But a bike has to be judged on more than just the equipment so we’ll see how the value stacks up with a full review. The range also includes Ultegra and Force 1 equipped models at £4,800, or you can buy the frameset for £2,100.

Details include three bottle cage mounts, a top tube pack mount, mudguard eyelets and the fork provides Anything Cage mounts and fittings for a Low Rider Rack for adding a front pannier. You can also fit Salsa's Wanderlust rear rack using their Rack-Lock system. There’s internal routing including for a dynamo but, perhaps hinting at the sort of epic distance riding this bike is designed for.

Salsa has given the new bike an endurance all-road geometry. What that means is the 56cm pictured here has a slack 71-degree head angle, short 415mm chainstays, 381mm reach, 584mm stack, 1,020mm wheelbase and a 172mm head tube. The trail is 64mm. How it compares to other popular endurance bikes is something that Stu Kerton will be assessing in his forthcoming review.

Look out for a full review soon. More info at https://salsacycles.com