Your opinions on Cutthroat (or similar)

[feynman]

Further refining my pointless do-it-all bike quest, I have some mild interest in the Salsa Cutthroat.

My cycling desires remain something along the lines of a comfortable yet fun/fastish feeling bike on rocky/sandy desert trails, imperfect roads, good roads...

I've been having a lot of fun on my recent endurance-road-geo gravel bikes, but my mind is always running what-ifs. I know the Cutthroat's design points, MTB leanings, the Tour Divide, expected use cases, etc. Mine would be more for 'portly older man trying to enjoy long bike rides in a variety of terrains.' I'd still like to work toward some brevet or shorter credit card touring on a bike.

Phoenix 'gravel' is often what other places would call fairly rough singletrack, at least in periodic spots along most trails here. I feel like the Cutthroat may be a smart all-rounder.


I know ever so many Internet opinions, but I don't know the vaunted Paceline experience.

Anyone have one? Likes/dislikes? Do they feel too slow/sluggish handling on the road? Thoughts in general? Rivals to consider? I'm also a bit of a sucker for the Warbird's looks and would consider that too.

Thanks, again.

[Hilltopperny]

I have owned a Cutthroat and like it for single track, winter riding, rougher terrain and comfortable gravel riding. It's a good bike for all of those things. It can do road rides, but it is portly compared to an allroad style gravel bike and especially so compared to a road bike.

I have a Moots Baxter that does all the same stuff, but rides better everywhere compared to the Salsa. That's not a knock on the Cutthroat as it is a very nice and fun bike to ride. The Moots is just the most capable of the drop bar bikes I have had to date and still does pretty nicely on the road.

I just did a 41 mile 3300+ ft gain event on it with a 100mm suspension fork and flat pedals. I am in upstate NY, so early season riding and the bike handled the 46% paved and 54% unpaved ride without a hitch. I had it locked out the majority of the time, but opened the suspension while descending some of the faster slippery sections. The bike rides amazing with a rigid carbon fork as well, but the lightweight suspension fork makes for a bit more fun in the single track. It's one of the most fun bikes I have had to date.

The Cutthroat does the same kind of stuff in a well made package. It is around 22-23 lbs with larger tires and can handle most anything you throw at it. If you can find one that suits you then it sounds like you have the terrain to enjoy it!

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[Hilltopperny]

Originally Posted by Hilltopperny

I have owned a Cutthroat and like it for single track, winter riding, rougher terrain and comfortable gravel riding. It's a good bike for all of those things. It can do road rides, but it is portly compared to an allroad style gravel bike and especially so compared to a road bike.

I have a Moots Baxter that does all the same stuff, but rides better everywhere compared to the Salsa. That's not a knock on the Cutthroat as it is a very nice and fun bike to ride. The Moots is just the most capable of the drop bar bikes I have had to date and still does pretty nicely on the road.

I just did a 41 mile 3300+ ft gain event on it with a 100mm suspension fork and flat pedals. I am in upstate NY, so early season riding and the bike handled the 46% paved and 54% unpaved ride without a hitch. I had it locked out the majority of the time, but opened the suspension while descending some of the faster slippery sections. The bike rides amazing with a rigid carbon fork as well, but the lightweight suspension fork makes for a bit more fun in the single track. It's one of the most fun bikes I have had to date.

The Cutthroat does the same kind of stuff in a well made package. It is around 22-23 lbs with larger tires and can handle most anything you throw at it. If you can find one that suits you then it sounds like you have the terrain to enjoy it!

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My thoughts on the Cutthroat are here! https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink/top...ink_source=app

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[commonguy001]

I really enjoy my Cutthroat but it's not a speedy bike by any means. I've had it built with both rigid and 100mm suspension fork and for how and where it gets ridden it's pretty spectacular. I also flat bar'd it for a while and while it wasn't perfect it wasn't horrible. I had a lot of fun on it set up with flat bars.

If I am going out with someone on a Fargo and we're riding a mix of gravel, pavement and single track - it's perfect. If I'm heading out with guys on gravel bikes and we're sticking to that I'll ride something faster like my Open. It's super comfortable though and I ride it often when going out solo.

You can stuff a pretty big front chain ring on them so if you wanted more gear inches you can do that as it'll take a 40t pretty easily. I have a wolftooth oval 38 on mine with room to spare. Stack is pretty high on it (my 58 is like 645) so even slammed it's up there. I've never tried little tires on it, it's been living on 2.35 Mezcals for a while and I think they're pretty great on it and I like them way more than the stock tires it came with.

Cutthroat excels at chunky gravel, steep climbs (with my gearing 11/50 and 38t), loose chunky steep descents, being loaded down and handling well.
Cutthroat isn't ideal for speedy rides with others on "faster" bikes, pavement only (it's high trail) and feeling snappy on paved climbs.

[EB]

Have you also cross-shopped the other frames in this hyper specific niche of drop-bar 29er bikepacking rigs? Most of them are not suspension-corrected, other than the Cutthroat and Fargo - that may or may not matter to you.

Salsa Fargo
Bearclaw Beaux Jaxon (titanium fork wooo woo)
Ritchey Ascent
Black Mountain Cycles La Cabra

Etc

Bikepacking.com has a big list, recently updated in 2023: https://bikepacking.com/index/drop-b...in-bikes-29er/

[dmitrik4]

The buddy I typically ride with has a Cutty and loves it; that said, it doesn’t seem like it’s built for speed on smoother stuff. There are some great options on that Bikepacking list—the Rodeo Labs bikes are really nice, and pretty great everywhere. I know a lot of happy Flaanimal owners.

I’ll also plug the Fairlight Secan; I’m pretty happy with it so far everywhere from road to rooty singletrack. Official clearance for 1x is 700x50 and 650x58, but that seems conservative. A Wilde Earth Ship might also be worth considering, and sits a bit more on the bikepacking side. Also the Lauf Seigla seems quick and can fit a ton of tire.

[feynman]

Thank you to all for the replies. I appreciate the opinions. I think I probably wouldn't be fully happy with the drop bar MTB as N=1, though practically it would work.

I've talked myself down.

[Alistair]

I'm not sold on drop-bars for a do-it-all "gravel trail" bike.

From a pure comfort/handling perspective, I prefer flat bars. Unless I was spending a lot of time on pavement getting to the rough stuff, or racing it, I think a 100mm hardtail makes a lot of sense.

Or maybe have a custom frame built around one of the gravel suspension forks and a flat bar if a longer/lower fit was desired.

None of which is to say I won't buy a drop-bar monster-crossy thing at some point as an N+1. Only that as a one-bike solution for "some light trail, lots of gravel, and light touring/bike-packing", I'd pick a hardtail.

[feynman]

Agreed.

I have a very good endurance road/gravel bike that's perfect for me, and a MTB that picks up where that leaves off. N=2 seems to be my acceptable minimum.

I liked the idea of N=1 more than I would actually like it in reality.

[Open]

Originally Posted by feynman

Further refining my pointless do-it-all bike quest, I have some mild interest in the Salsa Cutthroat.

My cycling desires remain something along the lines of a comfortable yet fun/fastish feeling bike on rocky/sandy desert trails, imperfect roads, good roads...

I've been having a lot of fun on my recent endurance-road-geo gravel bikes, but my mind is always running what-ifs. I know the Cutthroat's design points, MTB leanings, the Tour Divide, expected use cases, etc. Mine would be more for 'portly older man trying to enjoy long bike rides in a variety of terrains.' I'd still like to work toward some brevet or shorter credit card touring on a bike.

Phoenix 'gravel' is often what other places would call fairly rough singletrack, at least in periodic spots along most trails here. I feel like the Cutthroat may be a smart all-rounder.


I know ever so many Internet opinions, but I don't know the vaunted Paceline experience.

Anyone have one? Likes/dislikes? Do they feel too slow/sluggish handling on the road? Thoughts in general? Rivals to consider? I'm also a bit of a sucker for the Warbird's looks and would consider that too.

Thanks, again.

I have a Salsa Cutthroat and would describe it as a MTB with drop bars. I use it for unpaved bikepacking mostly, because it handles good even when carrying some bags, which you can fit to the frame easily. I also own a Open W.ide and prefer that bike for the purpose you describe. I run it with a 700c road wheelset and use a 650b wheelset with 2.4" MTB tires for gravel and the woods. It is a more versatile bike, as soon as you want to cover more road miles. You can even put 40mm 700c tires on it, where there is a great variety of tires you can choose from, when mixed terrain is your main playground. The Open W.ide can be built up quite light ... mine is 7.5kg with the road wheelset and about 8.5kg with proper 650b wheels and 2.4" tires.

[sparky33]

Originally Posted by feynman

My cycling desires remain something along the lines of a comfortable yet fun/fastish feeling bike on rocky/sandy desert trails, imperfect roads, good roads...

Phoenix 'gravel' is often what other places would call fairly rough singletrack, at least in periodic spots along most trails here. I feel like the Cutthroat may be a smart all-rounder.

Thoughts in general? Rivals to consider? I'm also a bit of a sucker for the Warbird's looks and would consider that too.

The Salsa Warbird is a great gravel bike - notably comfortable, utility mounts, relaxed geo - the design hasn't changed in a while, but it's a good one.
The Open Wi.De is terrific; super comfortable, very quick, massive tire clearance. Great for anything resembling a road.
I hear good things about the Revel Rover.

If I were looking for a rougher-stuff gravel bike today, I'd consider the current Santa Cruz Stigmata or a 100mm xc hardtail.

[commonguy001]

Originally Posted by Open

I have a Salsa Cutthroat and would describe it as a MTB with drop bars. I use it for unpaved bikepacking mostly, because it handles good even when carrying some bags, which you can fit to the frame easily. I also own a Open W.ide and prefer that bike for the purpose you describe. I run it with a 700c road wheelset and use a 650b wheelset with 2.4" MTB tires for gravel and the woods. It is a more versatile bike, as soon as you want to cover more road miles. You can even put 40mm 700c tires on it, where there is a great variety of tires you can choose from, when mixed terrain is your main playground. The Open W.ide can be built up quite light ... mine is 7.5kg with the road wheelset and about 8.5kg with proper 650b wheels and 2.4" tires.

Originally Posted by sparky33

The Open Wi.De is terrific; super comfortable, very quick, massive tire clearance. Great for anything resembling a road.

This ^^ is actually my gravel bike and agree with everything above. Super fun on 650b, I’ve done a lot of miles on Schwalbe 2.25 G ones and they roll great on everything. It’s really fun on 700c sworks pathfinders as well. Great bike that would probably be much closer to what OP wants.

On a drop bar MTB note, I also have a Black Mountain Cycles LaCabra. I just built it up over the winter so not a ton of miles on it but I like it. The build is probably 4 pounds heavier than a cutthroat due to frame and fork weight but it is a fun bike where I ride most.
If I ever do another one I think I’ll do a custom Singular Gryphon or Bearclaw Beau Jaxon, really want to try ti frame and fork combo.

I love these bikes but not for their speed. I ride a lot of extremely chunky NF roads with steep climbs and descents, they bridge the gap for me between gravel bikes and hardtails so I don’t feel under or over biked. They also are great for overnighters and multi day rides.

[dmitrik4]

Originally Posted by Alistair

I'm not sold on drop-bars for a do-it-all "gravel trail" bike.

From a pure comfort/handling perspective, I prefer flat bars.

Ewwwdaniel.gif

I can barely stand the flat bars on my FS MTB.