Field Test 2022: Salsa Journeyer Apex 1 700c gravel bike review

"The Happy Bike." That's what we kept calling the Salsa Journeyer during our 2022 Field Test in Steamboat Springs.
The Journeyer is Salsa’s most affordable gravel bike and is intentionally versatile to provide an almost open book on what it can be used for and where it can be taken. Certainly, this bike doesn’t want to be pigeon-holed into any sub-segment of gravel.
We’re occasionally criticised for being a little too negative about the bikes we review, but this, The Happy Bike, proves there are great bikes that can turn our frowns upside down. And more importantly, a bike like this will go a long in helping to convert more cycle-curious riders into the impassioned cycle-obsessed.
You can read our full review of the Journeyer at: www.cyclingtips.com/salsa-journeyer-apex-1-700c-gravel-bike-review-2022-field-test/
CyclingTips would like to thank the generous support of Assos for this year’s Field Test.

[@SalsaCyclesOfficial]

Thank you for including the Journeyer in your Field Test, and thanks also for your detailed review. Much appreciated. -Kid

[@crpage1984]

This bike is for anyone. Even people that hate each other but have to make a video together.

[@restraum]

Great review in a great series. Thanks and kudos for publishing bike reviews like this! They’re not only superbly informative but also wonderfully entertaining.

[@chasepalpatine170]

You’re best review in the series yet. Everyone looked really synchronized in your energy and the contributions by everyone were meaningful. Great job.

[@kiprandom7208]

I've had my 650x47 with the sora 2x9 system for 2 weeks. I love it. Perfect crossover from my mtb and road

[@williamsmith1453]

Thank for your vidoes. Nice to aferm my decision on get the Salsa journeyman. I love mine. It can go anywhere I want on pavement and off.

[@andrewschietzsch5398]

$1800 without hydraulic disc brakes. Inflation is hitting hard.

[@lesthedog]

It's making that $1800 steel Marin on test look like good value. 🤑

[@lenolenoleno]

@@lesthedog Yeah the brakes are a bit of let down, though these Tektro's appear to be a TRP Spyre with cheaper materials (and the Spyres are pretty good). Though splashing $30 on some compressionless housing and it would still be a better bike vs. the Marin which rides like a heavy sluggish touring bike, with gearing that's more akin to a race bike than a gravel bike (have tested it).

[@lesthedog]

@@lenolenoleno Fair enough re. the Marin, I can imagine. I have a soft spot for them as I have an old Marin Lombard as my gravel/commuter/pub bike. As it happens, it also has TRP Spyres (upgraded them from the awful Avids it came with) and I agree, very good for mechanical discs.

[@WtfYoutube_YouSuck]

the old claim was hydro was too hard to fix on the trail, while mechanical is an easy fix. But honestly, most of the Tour Divide racers are running hydro now.

[@lenolenoleno]

@@lesthedog Yeah I quite like Marin (they're a bit Kona-esque in many ways in that they tend to make production semi-niche bikes).

[@davidbee8178]

Fun, informative review !! THANKS guys !! I've just recently discovered the Salsa line here in Montreal and "on paper" thought that a 55CM might be a good fit but now, thanks to your heads up about sizing, I'll get a Fit Kit sizing done to see if a 57cm might hit the sweet spot a bit better AND get the GRX 600 which HAS hydraulic brakes :-) Happy, safe cycling everyone !!

[@niles_stone2540]

I had the Journeyman as my first drop bar bike and it was perfect for me to explore all type of terrain, and pack full with 5 water bottles and a rear rack to head out to nowhere. It bridged the gap to feeling comfortable to ride on trails and rural roads.

[@malcontent_1]

Thanks for being the grownup Ellen

[@EvanSchurr]

As a mountain biker the Cush core thing made me chuckle. I can't ever imagine taking a gravel bike into a scenario where I would want or need Cush core. Maybe I just don't gravel bike enough.

[@stevenr5149]

great review.

[@pgreenx]

In know it’s been said before but it’s hard to find something more comfortable than my Fargo. Not the fastest and heavy but I love how comfortable it is and look forward to riding

[@KaushikNSanji]

Love this field test series! How would you compare this bike with Merida SILEX 400 which is also around the same price point (thanks to the inflation and demand)?

[@jaxsun72]

Just got one from Pedelea bike shop in Vega Baja Puerto Rico. I don't honestly know what all options I got but it was $900 marked down from $1,000 and probably last year's model. I know it's not huge money but $1200 for a bike and a helmet;is a lot of money for me. I can't wait to get out and sweat all over it. 🤣

[@arifazhari7598]

Even the Marin Nicasio started looking very good despite it's steel frame. Some bike brand doesn't even look at the competition. In my country i can get marin nicasio 2 or lombard 2 at 2000 AUD. Or under 1800 USD. I love those bike manufactured locally, so the price is cheaper compared to international pricing. 😁😁

[@Hintonbro.]

Love the discussion about hitting a price point - It’s a trade-off and interesting to think about. It feels like only CT does this. (Meanwhile other channels offering more videos on ‘Dura-Ace vs Ultegra’)

[@jmounce50]

Valid point - the average cyclist can not afford dura ace or ultegra we need bikes in the sub 2000.00 USD range - I’m not sure how people can afford yet justify 5,000.00 bikes when you have kids and family obligations.

[@Casual_BackPacking]

This frame with a redshift stem would be awesome

[@JordanStead]

I’ve got the 2022 Journeyer 2.1 810 GRX (700C). My local shop fitted me as a 60 cm. I’m 6’, 185 lbs, 32” waist. Heard these run small, as I historically rode a 58cm Bianchi road bike. Does that seem on point to you? Thx!

[@jeffb3174]

Thank you. I'm a XXL rider and am wondering how well it would handle larger riders.

[@sweatyballsac]

I'm 5'4". Will the recommended 51cm be too small for me?

[@kristaps2010]

@5:30 that thread looks as I could use it on my commute around London roads

[@WtfYoutube_YouSuck]

is this just an alloy cutty?

[@Casual_BackPacking]

Would you guys race this frame?

[@nokia6800]

How tall is Ellen? I'm 5'4 and was wondering if I should go for the 51 or the 53

[@alexbobincheck1130]

From what I have been seeing in the other comments it seems to run a tiny bit small so go for the bigger size I’d say. But I don’t own one so maybe take that with a grain of salt

[@bradcomis1066]

Long chainstays and slack head angle ain't so bad eh?

[@LOZUPONEJ]

Doesn’t need to be a ‘starter bike.’ It’s really all one needs

[@KoenMiseur]

But if the tire pressure matters so much on this bike than Dave is super right in what he says, because than it's the tires that make it comfortable and NOT the frame.

[@virginiascurti5036]

Now was the choice of Journeyer nothing more than a PC choice?

[@Ming3r]

I know the seat tube is real short but it's probably great for people like me with short legs and longer uppers. I ride a 56 midnight special and can barely stand over it comfortably

[@alexbobincheck1130]

I’m so happy I read this comment as I was about to get a midnight special and myself have very short legs

[@ebigarella]

A hard tail rigid fork MTB with a road handlebar ;)

[@ladev91]

It can go much faster on road than an MTB

[@Sharpie37377]

Y'all aren't slow. Ellen is just really really fast.

[@set2outdoor936]

1800bucks and no hydraulic disk brakes, like what are we paying for?

[@volition5559]

these roundtables always seem like they're being filmed at gunpoint- no chemistry. Also, what the heck does 'get on and ride' mean? I would imagine that a bike you're paying nearly 2grand for is rideable. Just seems like classic, advertiser pandering reviews.

[@paulmagus2133]

I was thinking all this too

[@drewshannon]

If you’re paying 2x this price for a bike, I think the expectation is that you’re approaching custom-fit territory, and will therefor want to do more work to change stem length, bar width, crank length, etc. there’s something nice about being comfortable on a bike “out of the box”, especially a sub-$2k bike

[@volition5559]

@@drewshannon I have 0 idea why you brought the subject of 4k bikes into the fold. The point about it being a bike you can ride comfortably straight out of the box is entirely subjective, as there is very reasonably someone that will buy this bike and have to immediately change the stem/ seatpost/ saddle/ cranks/ whatever, for it to be comfortable. It may have been comfortable for them to ride out of the box, but that's more than likely not a universal feature. Even so, it's the kind of relatively intangible thing that media outlets that need to pander to companies to receive products to review so they can keep the content going say to add fluff to a review- at least in my mind. I have no doubt the journeyer is a solid bike in this market, but the review is pretty unintuitive.

[@drewshannon]

@@volition5559 My point being - if you're going to spend a lot of money on a bike, it's pretty normal to have a higher expectation as to the quality of the fit, and fully expect to have to spend more money to custom fit it to your body. It's pretty surprising (and laudable) for a lower-cost bike to feel comfortable for most riders out of the box. It's not unrealistic to think that some companies would think "oh, we expect people to want to change a bunch of parts, so we'll put bottom-of-the-barrel stuff on our lowest-end bike". It seems they didn't do that here.

[@OM-sb2bd]

I think “bike reviewers” these days have warped price ideas. $2000 US (tax included) for mechanical disc? Mediocre at best wheelset? Then they give kudos to Salsa for including the Volt saddle … I mean I guess it’s not a $30 throwaway saddle, but it’s still only $90 at your local REI … $68 on sale recently actually …

[@simonfarr8670]

the version on the bike typically costs less than $50!

[@beep_]

canyon grail with rival axs and full hydro is just 600 more lol

[@jmounce50]

They need hydraulic breaks - Salsa needs to get over the cable activated brakes, I get it old school hard core people think they are easily fixed on the trail and more reliable due that but honestly how many MTB or Gravel riders have had their discs to fail?

[@drewshannon]

I don’t think it’s an “old school hardcore” choice as much as a pricing decision to put this bike within reach of a ton more people. If someone can only spent $2,000 USD on a bike and wants to learn how to wrench, do you really think they’re going to want to bleed brakes?

[@jmounce50]

@@drewshannon I pretty much agree with your point but I have heard some old school bike packers say they wanted cable activated brakes so they could repair them in the field. I think their point is invalid because t]none have fixed one in the field lol - they just overthink everything and some guru said this is what you need for bike packing. I do believe for years that was Salsa’s point of view although today I think it is a way to save a few bucks!

[@Fatbutnotflat]

I've heard of a couple ultra distance racer had a problem with their hydro brakes. My friend brakes needs rebleeding = going to a shop. But the biggest dealbreaker is the price

[@bradcomis1066]

@@drewshannon Exactly right. Most of the price difference is in the shifters between hydro and cable. Hydro shifters are so damn expensive (even at the OEM level).

[@kyleharden5260]

Going to make it less/cheap to change it over to a flat bar with the cable pull brakes.

[@pingpongballz5998]

Salsa Journeywoke

[@lesthedog]

You guys should be sponsored by the Go Tubeless Marketing Board. Agree that tubeless is great for inspiring confidence on gravel, but also I used inner tubes for years quite happily and still managed to get gnarly without excessive p* fairy visits. YMMV.