Your opinions on Cutthroat (or similar)

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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.