Darth Lefty 

I really like the Journeyman flat bar frame but the builds are lame old school. Is anyone making something similar with maybe Apex 1 or Deore and hydraulic brakes.

badger1

Somewhat similar -- aluminum frame:

1x9/aluminum fork: https://www.specialized.com/us/en/si...ext=92420-7205
1x10 (Deore)/Future Shock/carbon fork: https://www.specialized.com/us/en/si...=271475-171175

Darth Lefty 

^^^ that's got the components, but it looks like a drop bar gravel frame built with MTB parts

badger1

Well, the Sirrus is and always has been a purpose-designed flat-bar frame. I have the carbon version (Sirrus X).

But yes ... it is more closely akin to endurance road/gravel than to mtb, and the geometry reflects that. The flat-bar Journeyman does seem much more akin to contemporary mtb geometry, with a very long frame reach and the capacity to take very wide (e.g. up to 51mm) tires. If that's what you're after the Sirrus wouldn't work.

Giant's Toughroad (flat bar version) might be closer (?), but then I think you're back to component issues!

DorkDisk

An option is to find a bike shop willing to deduct the parts you don't want and add the parts that you do want.

When I worked in shops, these kind of deals were not uncommon. Salsa is a QBP brand, so you can hit up every bike shop in the USA - your odds are good.

subgrade

What about Jamis Sequel? https://www.jamisbikes.com/usa/sequel.html

Darth Lefty 

That's right in line... but 28 lb, where'd they put it all? Steel frame... Something wrong with how they are calculating reach. Also, straight head tube, limits fork options.

A lot of these bikes still have solid steel spindles, too. I bet you could build up a Journeyman (al frame, cf fork) pretty sporty

AlmostTrick

That Jamis is hot.

I'd swap out the cassette for something narrower and go.

prj71

That bike could be so much more if they went to thru axles and away from loose ball bearing hubs and added a carbon frame to the lineup.

prj71

Right idea, but poorly executed. Steel frame...too heavy.

Should have been aluminum or carbon.

Darth Lefty 

The Journeyman flat bar really does have the most forward MTB-like geometry of all these options.

PDKL45

Check out the Camino from Sonder, the house brand from Alpkit in the UK. Frame's just had a revamp for better tire clearance and you can work with them to spec the bike with their Love Mud wheelsets and components if you want to change their stock build a little. Frameset option available too.

https://www.alpkit.com/sonder/bikes/...-v3-apex1-flat

Darth Lefty 

^^^ Thanks, that's an excellent build. Just what I was looking for in components, even the GXP version of the crank and no PowerSpline compromise. Great deal too. It's a really short frame though, about 2" shorter than the Salsa in all the lengths ahead of the BB. It's really more like the curly bar Salsa.

Maybe the lesson I should be taking here is that the Salsa is pretty extreme. Need to do some test rides...

PDKL45

Yeah, that's a drop bar adventure bike with a flatbar, basically. The Salsa flatbar is purpose built for better reach, while they've just put a flatbar on a dropbar frame with the Camino.

Darth Lefty 

I've been looking at a lot of bikes... despite a veto in advance by the finance committee Nothing else has quite the amazing length of the Journeyman flat bar. I'm not actually sure this is something I want. It's not all in the steering, some of it is in the top tube. It also has a really short stem and wide handlebar like a current mountain bike.

The Cannondale Quick has similar steering geometry and a shorter reach, offset with longer stem and narrower bar. It also comes with hydraulic brakes. The component level is still... fair at best. Levels 3 and up can be had for similar prices and have a carbon fork. It does not have all the braze-ons the Salsa does... just the normal rear rack and two bottle setup. Also lacking tubeless rims, a big down vote. It does have a built in BT speed sensor and cell phone mount.

PDKL45

Check out the Merida Speeder Ltd. It's unavailable in North America (Spesh and Merida want you to buy a Sirrus instead) but probably importable from Europe, as they are big in Germany.

https://www.merida-bikes.com/en/bike...peeder-limited

mdcoram

No way! It's not a race bike but steel frames are perfect for back country riding.

mdcoram

Love my Jamis! I noticed when checking my ride logs that I put more miles on my Sequel than all my other bikes combined last year. More smiles too!

Darth Lefty 

I test rode a Cannondale Quick 3 (on clearance at REI for a good price). I liked the ride and handling, it felt stiff and planted but not harsh. The size was spot on, Cannondale's M is in between Salsa's M and S and it was spot on for me at 5ft8. The steering was fine but I missed the leverage and fit of the wide bar / short stem. But I didn't really like the drivetrain and derailleurs (much like the Journeyman Sora) or the tiny tires, and I wished it had those fork and top tube mounts.

Gconan

Perhaps this for value? Fuji Absolute