Hey all, my partner and I love camping and biking but are only now starting to get into optimizing and paying attention to the specs of our gear.
We are looking to start touring more in the Shenandoah mountains on back roads/fire road/horse trails with some areas being pretty chunky and lots of climbing.
My partner has a Salsa Vaya she bought new in 2016 and that’s about all we know about the bike. We’d like to optimize her bike for this kind of riding and are honestly not too sure what we can do with this bike. She wants some more substantial tires and some more low gears for climbing.
In my very limited bike knowledge I’ve only heard of 700c/29 and 27.5 wheels. On the salsa site they only say this bike can fit 700×50 but I’m pretty certain these aren’t 700’s. Also wondering if it would be possible and worthwhile to switch to a 1x gearing?
What would yall do to make this bike better equipped to handle rougher terrain and optimized for bikepacking?
by LeGentleChad
4 Comments
Firstly, I think it’s a 2015 model. https://salsacycles.com/bikes/2015_vaya_3
Looking at the above website, it must be a smaller frame that uses 26″ diameter tyres, and a maximum width of 1.9″.
If you don’t want to spend lots of money, fit some quality tyres as wide as will fit, some sort of semi slick like a schwalbe silento. 26″ was the standard for all but road bikes about 15 years ago, and though still available, finding high end or tubeless tyres can be tricky but the good news is there’s lots of fancy but cheap 26″ wheels available used. If you want full length mudguards, make sure there is room for these. Also, if there isn’t already, fit an 11-34t cassette on the rear wheel (the biggest the derailleur can handle).
Its an old bike with old standards so there’s an argument that its not worth spending much money on it. But if you did want to spend some money and change to a 1x groupset then you’d need rear derailleur, cassette, chain, chainring, and shifter. Probably something from the 11 speed cues range. While you’re at, would be a good time to upgrade to hydraulic brakes or stick with cable brakes and upgrade calipers to TRP spyre.
With 1x touring, I always suggest to fit a smaller and smaller chainring until you can get up all the hills. You might spin out downhill but that doesn’t really matter.
The sky is the limit.
Tires are always an easy upgrade, although you are more limited with 26″ tires. The rims are quite nice, so as long as the hubs are solid I would run them.
A huge thing is to dry-run your setups before you attempt the actual trip. It’s no fun to discover how shitty your new bar mounted bag is while on the way to the campsite. Sort that stuff out while you’re still sleeping at home and actually enjoy the ride.
I know I’m in the minority here, but I would stick with that groupset. Sora isn’t the nicest, but their 3×9 groups are Shimano’s greatest achievement. It just works in just about every condition and parts are plentiful, two things I want for my bike kit.
The other things I would take into consideration are the usual contact points. Everyone always says this but it’s true. Get good bar tape if needed, make sure your pedals aren’t falling apart, and spend the time and money to find a saddle that truly works for you and supports your body/bodies.
The Vaya is one of my favorite bikes! Have fun riding.
You don’t need to change much if anything. Maybe some knobby tires if you’ll encounter mud, and fenders or mudguards. But you have racks and thus presumably bags, you have lights, and if she’s ridden the bike since 2016 then it must fit. And the Vaya is a quality bikepacking bike.
Make sure the bike is well adjusted to fit the rider. Fit the largest tyres you can. You should already have good gear range with that 3x setup. As someone else mentioned, just check the cassette. If it’s not a 34 big cog you could fit a larger cassette.
No need to make this a money pit, its a solid bike already