Salsa Warbird #2
Here it is, finally. More than a year after the first one was destroyed in an accident, and I nearly was too, here's my second Salsa Warbird. It's strange to spend so much time waiting and putting so much work into building a new bike, only for it to be almost exactly the same as the one you had before...
I actually started assembling it a year to the day after the accident. I hope to keep it in one piece for at least a year this time.
From now on, I will post everything related to this new bike here, and leave the previous one rest in peace on its own page, since it’s the same bike, but not the same at the same time.
Most of the components are from the old bike. Only the frame, front wheel, crankset, handlebar tape and top cap had to be replaced. The rest was in better condition than I thought it would be, only slightly scratched. There is still a bit of red paint on some components from the accident scene. Many thanks to Salsa for sending me a new frame free of charge after learning what had happened to the first one, to Clément Random for helping me with the building process, and to the mysterious benefactor who sent me a Sram Force carbon crankset to replace the previous one ︎
I brought it home on October 22, 2024. Before leaving the shop with it for the first time to bring it home, I jokingly told Clément (who did most of the work on the building process) that this time, I hoped to keep it in one piece for over a year, unlike the first one. But... I'm sure you can already see where I'm going with this...
A cab driver managed to hit me while I was waiting at a red light, at full stop for over a minute, on my very first trip back home with it… This is the third time I've been hit by a car in 2024, and where I for sure was not at fault... And I'm not even talking about the crash from 2023, which is why I needed a new bike in the first place, or all the “close calls” that I manage to avoid… I feel like an actor in a bad movie, with a bad joke that has been running for way too long. But unfortunately, the bad joke is nothing else than the reality... I mean, I’m not even moving, and I still get hit… I don’t get it.
Fortunately, the bike and I were fine, it was more like a very rough bump than a real accident, but still... It's getting depressing... I'm not even out of the rehab hospital after my accident over a year ago, and I've already been hit three times... Give me a break!
× Salsa Warbird full carbon gravel frameset
× ZIPP 303S wheels
× Hutchinson Overide 700x40 tyres (tubeless)
× Sram Rival 1x AXS groupset - upgraded with a Sram Force carbon crankset
× Ritchey WCS C220 90mm stem
× Ritchey WCS Link seat post
× Ritchey WCS Beacon handlebars
× Lizardskins 3.2mm bar tape
× Ergon gel pads under the bar tape
× PRO saddle
Total weight: 8.5kg
