2016 Warbird

Warbird CARBON Rival 22

2016 Warbird:

Today I am going to outline Europa's Warbird offerings for 2016. The Warbird has been around for a few years, but Salsa Cycles recently stepped up their game in regard to this bike, and now it makes more sense than ever for many cyclists to take a harder look at this bike. 

So, just what is this thing?

Isn't this just a road bike? What's the big deal? Well, these are all great questions. Here's the deal here- these are not your typical road racing based bicycles. The Warbird is the fast paced road going bike that doesn't flinch when you hit that pothole. It doesn't mind those rail road crossings. Rumble strips? Big deal. The Warbird soaks all that up and spits it right back out. But that's just scratching the surface of the capabilities of the Warbird line. 

The Warbird Tiagra

   The Warbirds are bikes that can also go on gravel, dirt, and anything that resembles a road is its domain. 
So, don't limit yourself! These bikes are waaaay more versatile and capable than anything you've thought about for a road bike. 

But what about those tires? Won't they slow me down?  

See, this is the perception of a lot of cyclists. What is ironic is that studies are showing, based off of scientific findings using power data and measurements of other kinds, that fatter tires are actually faster than skinnier ones, especially at moderated pressures. Think about that in terms of a car. You don't put the skinniest tires with the highest pressure rating you can get on your car because it would make the car less efficient, not to mention less comfortable. The same rules apply with bicycles. Weight? Take a look at that white Warbird. It weighs 19lbs. So, no, you aren't going to be held back by anything this bike has on offer. Get a racing bred machine with skinny tires and you'll maybe feel faster, but you won't be, and you'll be less comfortable and stuck on smooth paved trails or roads. Why do that to yourself when Iowa has so many roads you could be riding on that aren't baby-butt smooth? How about upwards of 70,000 miles of gravel roads? There are soooo many places you could be going, but you can't, on a traditional road bike. 

The Class V Vibration Reduction System starts here

I haven't even told you about the ClassV Vibration Reduction System that these bikes have, which erase high frequency vibrations, give you tons of comfort, and smooths out any road you want to try. In fact, the aluminum framed Warbird is so smooth, it supplanted titanium in Salsa's line up because they found it was better than their previous titanium frame in reducing vibration. Up to 6% better, as measured by accelorometers placed on their test bikes over gravel test tracks. The carbon frame is 9% smoother than the Ti one was!  

There is a whole lot more we can talk about when it comes to the Warbird bikes. Things like lightweight, state of the art carbon construction, a custom designed carbon fork just for this bike line, or how the SRAM Rival 22 comes with hydraulic disc brakes. The aluminum line can be had with Shimano 105 or Shimano Tiagra groups, and both come with the excellent Avid BB-7 brakes. The aluminum frame is hydraulically formed for optimum frame wall and strength characteristics. Through axles grace both ends of the bike, and are so ridiculously easy to use, and make the bike track so well, you'll wonder why on earth you've never had them before. 

Check out the Warbirds on offer at Europa Cycle & Ski soon!  

Salsa Cycles 2016

The all new Drop Bar Marrakesh

Here at Europa Cycle & Ski we are always excited for mid-July and the announcement of Salsa Cycles line up for the coming year. We were no less excited this time, but we were taken a bit by surprise by a couple of developments within the line. Here I will make some comments concerning the Salsa line up as it pertains to the shop, and explain why the shop is doing a few things differently this time around with the Salsa line.

First up, we weren't at all ready to see a new model aimed squarely at touring/gravel road/commuter cyclists, but we are the most excited about the bike Salsa is bringing out for these cyclists. It's called "Marrakesh" and Salsa defines it as their "World Tourer" as far as its capabilities. It is certainly all that and more. The Marrakesh has an impressive feature list-

• Steel frame and fork for durability and good ride feel. Made with new Cobra-Kai steel spec'ed by Salsa engineers for heavy duty use.
• Touring Geometry: Low bottom bracket for stability, longer chain stays for stability, slacker angles for comfort and stability.
• Room for up to 29 X 2" tires without fenders. 40mm with fenders. You can keep your definition of "road" pretty broad here! 
• The Alternator Low Deck 135 Rear Rack comes stock
• Alternator Drop Out: Can adjust wheel base, turn the Marrakesh into a single speed in an emergency, or utilize IGH type drive trains. 
• Brooks B-17 saddle stock 
• Disc brakes for ultimate power in stopping a fully loaded touring bike.
• Three bottle braze ons for frame, two for the fork, or utilize the Three Pack bosses for an Anything HD Cage for more capacity in carrying stuff. Low Rider mounts are also there as an option for those who use front panniers. 
• Spare Spoke carrier on chain stay.
• Kickstand plate on chain stays behind the bottom bracket to mount a traditional kickstand. 

So, as you can see, the Marrakesh isn't a "pretend touring bike", it is the real deal. All for $1599.00 and we will have these on the sales floor late Fall.

Don't like drop bar bikes? Don't like "bending over too much" when you are seated on a bike? How about a Marrakesh specifically designed for flat bars? Yep! Same basic spec only with a flat bar specific geometry.

The Marrakesh Flat Bar in Creme

We will also be stocking the flat bar version as well. We are excited about these bikes because they are bikes you can use on our bike paths, on county roads, on our single track dirt trails, (remember- it can handle bigger tires), and an all-year round commuter bike. Or use it for touring, of course. The Marrakesh would also be a fine gravel road bike, should your roads take you that direction.

To compliment the Marrakesh, we will also be restocking Salsa's venerable Vaya. The Vaya sees a color change, some spec upgrade, and a move to a 44mm diameter head tube. This is important because now you can get a carbon fork on a Vaya to save more weight. The Vaya is Salsa's "all round" road" bike that our customers have used as a fast tourer, RAGBRAI bike, gravel road bike, and as a more comfortable road bike than the traditional road race bike. Look for those to show up in late Fall as well.

Waebird Carbon

We will also be bringing in the Carbon Warbird and the Warbird Tiagra to compliment the Warbird 105 model we already stock. The Carbon Warbird Carbon is a fantastic bike that can go on any road, paved, chip seal, or gravel, and comes spec'ed with SRAM Rival 22 which features hydraulic disc brakes. The entire bike weighs in at under 20lbs, and features Salsas VRS Class 5 Vibration Reduction System which yeilds a significantly smoother ride. Maybe you just want a bike for the road with a smooth ride? This is your bike. Featuring three bottle bosses, you can go a long way and be very comfortable on a lightweight bike that is any road capable.

The Tiagra Warbird features the same aluminum frame as the 105 Warbird we already stock, but spec'ed with Tiagra for a lower price point. These bikes should show up late in the year.

Now for a word on the situation as we sit on currently in stock Salsa bicycles. As you all may know, Winter was a bust last year, and as a result, we are sitting on a pretty healthy amount of 2015 Salsa and Trek fat bikes. We have slashed prices on these bikes to make them more attractive to customers. So, if you are looking for that elusive "deal" on a fat bike, now is the time. We will not be restocking on our fat bike line until we clear out the current inventory, so we have no plans on bringing in any 2016 fat bikes unless they are special ordered.

Salsa Fargo bicycles are another area where we have a fair amount of current stock and, as a result, deals for customers. Again- we want to clear out that inventory before we make any future commitments to pull in more Fargo bikes. These are fantastic, versatile machines, so we hope to be able to bring in more in the future.

27.5+ is a big deal now, and Salsa Cycles has responded with the Pony Rustler 27.5+ bike line up. We do not plan on bringing any of those in, however; because we are really not in an area where this bike makes sense for our clientele. That said, if you'd like to special order on, better get on the bus! These are going to be really hard to get. 

Stay tuned. More coming soon!