25 comments

1. I guess I will start the curmudgeon comments. It can’t be a real tourer, it doesn’t have a proper curved fork, like the Trek or the Surly. I have the ’88 Trek 520, and believe me, those forks are curved for a good reason.

2. I have a straight-blade fork on my Co-Motion and Gellie Custom, and a curved fork on my Surly. I agree that it’s nice having a curved fork if you tour with narrow tyres. But when using 35-50c touring tyres, I don’t think I could tell the difference in a blind test. This is because the tyre will deform much more than the fork will flex vertically.

3. I agree the ride is at least as good….but I always think of the curve as something that keeps you from going over the handlebar. It helps to keep the momentum linear, instead of going centrifugal, when you get in trouble.

4. If this bike was going to be outfitted with a Jones H Loop Bar would you feel that the drop bar or flat bar model would make the better starting point? I am guessing the flat bar model.

5. You’re right, the flat bar frame will be the best for the Loop Bar.

6. The rear rack capacity is 60lbs.

7. You’re right, Salsa just updated this on their website!

8. “The gear range. This long distance touring bike uses a touring crankset (48-36-26t) with a mountain bike cassette (11-34t). This yields gears for all occasions, even with four panniers (21-121 gear inches)”

   Still a tad high. Unless you are young and strong, a 48T big ring for touring is unnecessary but you do need a mid range 34T and definitely a 22T granny if carrying 4 heavy panniers etc.

9. Im torn between the two frames. I’m wondering if I should get the 59.5cm drop bar frame and build it up that way I’d like (i.e. Rohloff, different racks, rims, ect.) or go with the XL flat bar frame. I’m right between 6’3″ and 6’4″ (or 192cm). I can purchase the frame only, where I work. Any ideas or opinions?

10. Would you be doing a drop bar build or a flat bar build?!

11. I’d be doing a drop bar.

12. P.S. Hey Alee, Thanks for responding. I’ve been reading your stuff for a long time now and really appreciate your in-depth and honest reviews. It sounds like you’ve done some extensive touring. I’ve only done a solo self supported cross country (Seattle->Long Island, N.Y.) but am looking to do a Seattle to Patagonia in the near future. I like the versatility of this bike, i.e. bigger tires, heavy load capacity. I was looking at the Co-motion Divide, but the cost seems more appropriate in the Marrekesh. Any further thoughts?

13. Definitely get the 59.5cm drop bar frame then! It’s 56mm shorter in the frame ‘reach’ which is necessary to accomodate for the reach difference between flat/drop bars.

    The Divide is about as good as it gets in terms of steel tubing and workmanship for touring bikes. It will fit proper off-road knobby tyres too. But being 2x the cost is a hard to justify rationally. If you appreciate knowing where your frame came from and like the idea of custom colour choices, the Divide is a killer bike.

14. FWIW… I bought the drop bar model of the Salsa Marrakesh in seafoam green (similar to Bianchi celeste) when it first came out and am *still* in love with this bike. For reference, I’m a 5’5″ woman and my bike is a 52cm frame. I’ve ridden this bike as a daily commuter, for fun, on a bike MS 150, and just about everything in between…I’ve even ridden it off road on some dirt paths. My only complaint is that when I bought my bike, it came with a Brooks B17 narrow saddle. My husband was very happy with that though, he got a new saddle and I replaced it with a Brooks B17S. I looked at the Surly Long Haul Disc Trucker and Kona Sutra before purchasing, but the Marrakesh was, at least for me, the best value for the money. I wish they were still offering Schwalbe Marathon Plus tires… mine haven’t flatted yet (fingers crossed). Do yourself a favor and at least test ride this bike!

15. Thanks for letting us know about how much you’re liking your bike! 🙂

16. How exactly does it do that?

17. Think about a curved fork as a gothic arch. It distributes weight over a greater distance. A straight fork is a Roman arch. The force vector on a curved fork tends to distribute the weight behind the axle with a more linear force (hence the stay down and good tracking). But you won’t easily crank a curved fork up a hairpin climb – the straight fork maximizes force at the axle, hence the quicker handling.

18. Never had a long downhill or a slight tailwind or slipstreamed a buddy? It’s ALWAYS worth having a higher gear than you can push on the flat.. nothing worse than spinning out especially when you’re trying to get somewhere before dark..

19. I’m not an engineer (but am architecturally & structurally trained and have done a lot of mechanical tinkering so I have a good understanding) so I know that you sound like you know what you’re talking about but, and I could be wrong, I don’t think you really do.. What ‘exactly’ do you mean by ‘distributes weight over a greater distance’ and how does that have any effect on ride? How, in any way, does a straight fork resemble/act as a metaphor for a Roman arch? It’s more like a post in a post-and-beam structure.. You do know that a straight fork is cranked at the crown to place the axle in front of the force vector in exactly the same way as with forks such as Surly’s huh?

20. A Roman arch is the same thing as a post and beam. So never mind. Let’s just say the designers of classic road bikes had a proven design…and you don’t really realize it till that day your bike doesn’t endo.

21. As I thought – you don’t know what you’re talking about

22. my bad…I meant Greek arch.

23. Ha ha.. whatever kind – no arch bears any similarity to post and beam (where there are bending forces) and none of them relate in any way to a bicycle fork.

24. Alee, thanks to this article I finally found my favorite touring bike that can “do it all”. I already have placed 2500 miles on it since June 2017. Please keep doing a great work on this web page

25. Thanks Djani. I’m glad you found a bike you really like!

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