Salsa Warbird Single Speed Conversion - Thoughts and Reviews

After about a thousand miles on my Salsa Warbird, I wanted to take a minute to talk about the custom build and my initial thoughts!

Hope you enjoy!

[ks-pgsh]

If you haven't already resolved the chain skipping issue, you might try converting the Surly tensioner to the push-up position. (Using the other spring that came with it. Instructions on the Surly site if you don't still have them.) The other option, would be something like the Melvin from Paul Components, which is the same one I used when converting my Why Cycles R+ to single speed. Hope that help.

[ADKMTNLYN]

Awesome setup! I love my Kona Honzo (steel hardtail) as a SS and would be interested in converting in my Kona Rove (steel gravel bike) into one as well. What gears are you running up front and in the back?

[LeoInterHyenaem]

Singlespeed or not - in My opinion, there's no bike in the world more beautiful than the WarBird. The few bikes that match the WarBird in its beauty - are anything Bastion, the Cannondale Synapse, the Specialized Aethos, the Merida Silex x000 -series, the Simplon Inissio and maybe the Trek Madone / Émonda / Domane. The Geneis Datum and the Norco Search XR C, the Accent Feral / Freak and a couple of others come close as well. I find it rather shocking that no-one I've heard discuss the WarBird, appears to appreciate its gorgeous, organic, flowing lines (especially the rear end), combined with the compact frame geometry, etc. No wonder our contemporaries consider Grace Kelly's or Christie Brinkley's delightful aspects mediocre, yet find the likes of Jenny Lawrence, or, worse yet - Aniston - "hot" (whatever that's supposed to mean), or find Alain Delon in prime okay, yet ugly folks like Mayweather Jr. (and likely, even uncle Jeff) - "pretty".

Back to the bikes: I also find it shocking that many people actually like stupid dropped seatstays and seatstays with hideous unnatural curves like the Mason Bokeh, the Fuji Jari carbon and many newer steel / titanium bikes, as well as high, horizontal top tubes with very little to no slope (usually, combined with what appears to be dropped seatstays, although more compact, sloping top tube same seatstays would fit so much better, as they would not appear "dropped", but would simply organically continue the line from top tube down to the dropouts / TAs).

In My experience, too, it is remarkably fast and comfortable - I cannot disagree on that count.