Frannie is a 2019 Salsa Vaya.
Steel frame with a Shimano 105 drivetrain. We roll tubeless. She typically hauls between 20 and 40 pounds of gear depending on the season. I used to ride carbon, but once I hit my 40s every ride started to hurt a little more, so I moved to steel. Unloaded, the frame weighs about 19 lbs, but it handles smooth as silk.
I would spend 8 hours a day on this thing if I didn’t have a job.
Dat azzzz
Sick bike! How do you like the brooks saddle? I take it you’re riding without padded shorts?
Also thank you for cross posting it to the bike comm, so I could upvoter it twice!
Hello fellow old person!
once I hit my 40s every ride started to hurt a little more, so I moved to steel. Unloaded, the frame weighs about 19 lbs, but it handles smooth as silk.
Was it the vibration? Because I had some crappy joints and now I’m thinking I should try some steel…
My brother has a similar type of bike that he uses for almost everything for over the last 25 years.
Granted, it has had lots of maintenance over the years and it’s a little bit a ship of Theseus situation with tires, brakes, chain, sprockets, etc, but the frame and wheels, steering bar etc. are still original.
Good bikes be good bikes for life
That’s awesome! Bike goals.
All the maintenance and tweaking are part of the Zen of the whole thing, for sure. Sounds like your brother knows what’s up.
Magnificent beast!
And (for some reason) still how a proper bike looks like in my mind :).Who dis?
Well spotted! That’s Gizzy Gator, the mascot for King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard
She’s a beauty.
lol, great name
Happy Pride Weekend! 🏳️🌈
She’s frantastic!
Why did carbon hurt? Also, is there anreaons for no front basket? Looks great!
Carbon is stiffer than steel, so a carbon bike doesn’t have as much shock-absorbing flex to it.
Sweet rig 🤙
Thank ya!
Very nice
Beauty! What kind of handlebar tape do you use?
Thanks! It’s Brooks tape (same brand as the saddle), but I’m not sure I’d recommend it unless you care more about looks than comfort, unfortunately. It’s pretty thin, and doesn’t offer much in the way of cushion or pad. I put it on thinking it’d enable me to ride without gloves, but it ended up having the opposite effect.
Put on some cushion-y foam tape, then put the fancy Brooks leather tape back on over it. (Hopefully you haven’t cut the Brooks tape too short, 'cause that stuff is expensive.)
Or if not the whole bar, get some of those gel pads that cushion key areas:
Fran Fran with that fancy saddle
Best investment you can make if you’re a frequent rider, hands down. Makes bike shorts and chamois pointless, you can ride in anything. I’ve had that saddle longer than I’ve had the bike, there’s probably 10,000 buttmiles on it.
Nice ride
