I get asked about bike weights all the time, and I've never really cared that much. "It is what it is", I would say. In 2025, 3 things caused me to want top actually take a look.

Part of my overhaul of my 2013 Salsa Vaya this offseason is getting my wheels rebuilt (with Tuned/Honey Wheels). After 2 season and about 9,000 miles, I was starting to develop cracks in the rear rim. This was due to all of those miles being loaded touring miles, as well as a packing system that had a disproportionate amount of weight over the rear wheel (that is getting solved in another blog post).

718 Outdoors is a 1-person operation that has remained small, local and independent by design since 2008. If this resonates with you, your support is welcome and greatly appreciated! If not, that's cool too. My mileage Year-in-Review is completed. I know there are a few weeks left in the year, but I am beginning to take my bike apart to overhaul it over my offseason. (sorry, December) I use RideWithGPS for navigational and data tracking. The info then gets spit out into St

My 2 goals this off-season in terms of my packing for our 2026 season are to 1) reduce overall gear weight and volume, and 2) redistribute gear load from the rear of bike

I am redesigning my drivetrain this offseason. I am running what is referred to a 3x10 drivetrain (3 chainrings on the front derailleur and 10 cogs on the rear cassette) . The big picture here is that I have a drivetrain with 8,000+ miles on it that needs to be replaced this offseason. The changes I am looking to make are the shifters (more robust and reliable SunTour vintage bar-end shifters), a crank with a square taper bottom bracket (more weather and dirt protection)

This is a developing blog post, and I will update it as I get further along in the process. 718 Outdoors is a 1-person operation that has remained small, local and independent by design. If this resonates with you, your support is welcome and greatly appreciated! If not, that's cool When I built up my 2013 Salsa Vaya , I decided to use 650b wheels instead of the Salsa-specified 700c wheels . My initial thought were about building a stronger wheel, which the shorter spokes

I know it's early, but I have stated the bike mock-up process on my 2013 Salsa Vaya in anticipation of our 2026 Tour and Micro-Tour Season.

The backstory on my 2013 Salsa Vaya is one that will stay with me forever.