Terry66

You could always buy the frame and build your own. I just picked up a full Ultegra group for $300, so there are deals out there!

CrazyLemurBoy

I built my Vaya up from the frame. I love it! I used to ride a '79 Motobecane Grand Jubilee that was destroyed in a crash :[ I wanted a steel tourer with disc brakes, and this bike fit the bill perfectly. I ultimately wanted the Disc Trucker but I couldn't stand to wait until March '12 ( I think that's the expected delivery, or so the LBS told me). Luckily one of my LBS had the Vaya in stock and I was able to buy the frame from them. I've ridden it on Schwalbe Marathon Plus 32's and now I'm on Vittoria Randonneur Hyper 38's. The balloon tire is nice, and actually faster than the Schwalbe. I love the flat protection of the Plus but good god it's like pedaling through muck.

Anyways, it's a great bike. I am very happy with my purchase, and would recommend it to anyone. Very stable ride, even loaded like hell in the back only.

Ridefreemc

Almost all the above for me too (simonsgc's post on page 1). I have a 2011 and put Shimano Ultegra brifters (and other components) on. Built from frame and went with XT hubs and Mavic rims (I think 719s or 720s?). Went with BB7 discs for better adjustability. They work great - once adjusted no further issues. I am used to the way Shimano shifts and I didn't care for the feel of the SRAM. I have a 32" inseam and anm 5'10 1/2" tall and went with a 56. Harder to get a leg over, but while riding it is perfect. I don't like the 50 tooth big chainring and would prefer smaller, but that is the only thing I'd change. I have Schwalbe Supremes (41 mm) on and they are fast rolling and are versatile. If I were onroad always I might go with 35s, but no smaller. However, like the simonsgc said they do overlap your toe (especially with fenders - Plantet Bikes for hybrids just fit over the 41s perfectly).

I test rode the Surely LHT and it did not feel as lively as the Vaya.

I have Tubus Duo front rack and Tubus ?? rear. I tow a BOB trailer and the Vaya is very solid with all weighted down (contrary to my wiggly Marin Highway One).

I commute 9 miles daily on it and ride it everywhere around town daily. I have had it on longer rides along the Blue Ridge Parkway and so far even a little offroading and it handled everything. I put a Brooks B17 Imperial on it and really like the comfort (not broken in yet either) and the look. I get compliments on the bike everywhere I go (it is the orange version).

I like the discs even though we aren't wet often (but I do ride with fenders year-round) because I do not like the sand grinding on the rim when wet - like scratching a chalkboard.

I plan on riding from Washington DC to Central New York on it in April.

Terry66 that is a cool color scheme!

Jhan where do you live as you could test ride mine if you were close to West Central Florida.

Any of you interested in a black Salsa Rear Wanderlust rack I have one that is practically brand new that I would ship for $65.

Andy_K 

How do those cross levers work with the disc brakes? I love cross levers on my rim brake bikes, and I've been thinking about trying them out on the one with disc brakes but I wasn't sure how the BB7/cross lever combination would work.

CCrew

It works just fine. Only real difference between the BB7 roads and the BB7 MTB is the amount of pull needed, it just means that you may have to set the stops shorter a bit on the B levers.

To answer the OP, I'm 5'9" and ride a 54cm Vaya, and love the fit. Bike rides like a Cadillac yet is wonderfully responsive. Wife is 5' and rides a 50cm. Her's is the charcoal black. At the time I purchased the built bike wasn't available in black, in order to get that you had to buy the ferame only. Built bikes were orange..

Both ours were built up with a mix of 105 and XT. Both have brifters and 50/34 compact doubles, hers with 11/34 and mine with 11/32 on the rear. I'm actually running 42's on mine right now with room to spare, and hers being the 50cm is running 26" with 1.5" WTB slick's. Both are used for loaded touring and mine for commuting also. If I had to own only one bike it would be the Vaya and I have 12 others sitting in the garage to compare against if that tells you anything.

simmonsgc

Man, that little 50cm vaya is cool. I've always thought small frames are more aesthetically pleasing proportionally than large ones (there was a C&V thread about that recently, as I recall). On that 50cm bike with the 26s, the chain stays look about a meter long. When she rides north, that back wheel is somewhere down here in NC! Like your bento box? I just missed one of those on eBay recently, dang it.

BigCircles

Like others have noted - the Vaya is an amazing bike! A true "do all" workhorse. Commuting...riding around town...grinding gravel... You name it - the Vaya can do it.

Henry III

I was actually debating between the CC and the Vaya. Originally I had my heart set on a Salsa Fargo but after trying it out I didn't like fitting. I was literally sitting down in the frame(I ride a 48 +/-2cm) if that makes any sense. The CC is nice but pretty basic and that'd makes sense on it's cheaper price. Plus I like the use of 26" wheels on the smaller size frames instead of 700's. I'm a Campy guy also so the choice of components between the two didn't make one more appealing then the other. Though the Sram Apex looks nicer in my opinion then the simple CC but the discs sold me and the brifters over the barcon shifter were a nice touch also.

The one thing I didn't see anyone mention was Salsa's sizing is strange. The frame size is actually the top tube length and not the standard seat tube length. The shop I bought mine at only had a 52 instock but after riding it the sizing was super comfy. Now when you measure the seat tube it's actually a 47cm. It even had the guys at the shop scratching their heads on Salsa's sizing. Makes sense since my custom frame I was fitted for has a 48cm seat tube and 54 top tube but it's built to have me more aero. So be careful though it's nothing a extending the seatpost more or longer stem would cure but I don't like making a frame fit that way.

Here's my Vaya. It's pretty stock besides the Brooks B17 Narrow Imperial saddle, Shimano SPD pedals, some carbon cages I had laying around and a rear rack and panniers. Now it's not the lightest bike but does what it's meant to do and take whatever gets thrown at it and go where ever I point it. The one thing I'm thinking about replacing is changing the front hub to a dynamo hub to make it even more of the ultimate commuter/touring/whatever rig.

peterw_diy

Fenders + 700c wheels + non-skinny tires is pretty much a recipe for toe overlap. That's the one thing that bugs me about my Cross Check. I ride 32c road tires or 35c studded winter tires, and my (admittedly somewhat long) toe clips overlap the 45c fenders. Your post inspired me to throw together a spreadsheet to calculate toe/clip clearance on a number of frames I'd considered. There's very little difference between frames. The Vaya is "worst" of those I checked, but only by a fraction of an inch. In a ~56cm frame, switching to a Bruce Gordon Rock 'n Road or BLT (the size that he says fits like a 56) would gain you less than half an inch over a Vaya -- and Bruce's frame is the roomiest of the bikes whose geometries I analyzed.

If you want fenders without toe overlap, you need to switch to smaller wheels. If I switched my 700c Cross Check to a 700c Long Haul Trucker frame, I'd gain about one tenth of an inch. But if I switched to a 26" Trucker, then even with 26x2.1" tires I'd gain about an inch and a half, and my overlap problems would disappear. Look at the Vaya specs, since the two smallest frames use 26" wheels. The 58cm frame, despite having a top tube that's over 2" longer than the 52cm, only has about 1/10" more toe/crank room (based on 700x45c and 26x2.1 tires).

-Peter

Henry III

Another thing you could do is if the frame/fork is setup for discs and 700c then you could switch the rims to run 650B and toe overlap issues would be gone plus it would be a plusher ride. Though if the frame is only setup for canti's then you might have issues with reach. The bottom bracket drop would be minimal and shouldn't be too much of an issue either. Could always switch to a bolt on style caliper and run a long reach Tektro or Rivendell caliper if all else fails.

I picked my Vaya because the smaller frames used 26" wheels instead of 700c's unlike what the Surly had to offer. Companies seem to think that even though you "fit the frame" that it's the end of the story. Not factoring in toe overlap or just extending the top tube length to compensate for it. That doesn't cut it for me. The Vaya uses a more common sloping top tube seen on modern frame over the more level classic top tube. Mind you I'm a C&V guy but I wanted a super comfy and easy mounting bike for maneuvering when it's loaded. I used my bike for family riding so my son's trail-a-bike is hooked up and needed to have ample clearance to stand full footed when stopped to hold both of us up.

That was the first issue I found with the Salsa Fargo and so it ruled that bike out. Not to mention just the weird fitment of the small frame and the 29'ers.