To folks with disabilities, an electric bike can be much more than a recreational device. Dillen Maurer, a familiar face to Radavist regulars, reviews the Salsa Confluence ($2,999), a gravel e-bike, from his unique perspective as an amputee. Paul Kalifatidi provides the images. Let’s dive in…

Editorial note: At The Radavist, we believe in the bicycle’s power to unite us. It’s no secret that e-bikes are divisive, mostly due to their use in places they shouldn’t be. We support responsible bicycle usage. For this review, we made sure that all riding was done on e-bike-sanctioned surfaces; legal trails and roads. The photos were taken on Forest Service and state park roads around Bellingham, Washington. We hope this article showcases one of the remarkable ways e-bikes can bring us closer to the places and people around us.

Salsa Confluence Quick Hits

• 6061 T-6 Aluminum Alloy frame
• Carbon fork
• Mahle X35+ Class 1 hub-drive system with 40 Nm max torque
• 250 Wh battery (range extender to 458 Wh is available)
• BSA bottom bracket
• Up to 50 mm tire clearance
• 6 different sizes (49, 51, 53, 55, 57, 60)
• 2 drop bar builds: Sram Apex 1 ($2,999) and Shimano GRX 600 2x ($3,499)
• 2 flat bar builds: Shimano Altus ($2,499) and Cues 11 ($2,999)
• 68.5º head tube angle on all sizes
• We reviewed the 57cm Apex 1 build

Background

I was a professional cyclist. Though, if I’m being honest, I feel like that part of my identity died two years ago when I was in an accident on my bike that left me without my left foot. As an amputee, my relationship with bicycles has changed significantly. I’m still figuring out where my past and present can coexist.

All this to say, I was reluctant when Paul Kalifatidi asked if I wanted to participate in this review. Since the accident, bike rides haven’t felt as good as they used to. Instead of giving me a sense of peace and physical strength, riding became a painful and limited activity that reminded me how much I lost. I miss feeling connected with my bike, and I miss the joy I always found wherever I rode. Riding used to be second nature.

Nothing feels second nature now, not when it comes to movement. Being in a prosthetic is never comfortable, and the once-simple act of swinging my leg over a bike reminds me how my new carbon and metal limb leverages painfully against what remains of my left leg. Despite my hesitation, my wife encouraged me to ride the Salsa Confluence and tackle this review from the standpoint of an amputee.

She encourages my voice when I struggle to speak up, which is something I’ve noticed happening more as I discover how difficult it is to navigate this world with a disability. It can be easy to stay silent and quit when things are hard, but I am grateful I did this. Riding an e-bike gave me back a sense of freedom I can only achieve by riding a bike quickly.

Flying over the ground, feeling the rush of wind, and getting the blood pumping put a smile on my face in a way that many feelings can’t. I’m grateful that the Salsa Confluence was mine to get to know because it gave me back the joy of riding in a way that tempered my pain and helped me reconnect with the movement I had lost.

Accessibility

When I ride a bike, putting a lot of torque through my prosthetic is incredibly uncomfortable due to the pressure it creates on my limb. These scenarios include starting from a stop, going up a steep grade, and maneuvering through janky terrain. The e-bike alleviated that pain by making it easier for me to get going. Its 40 Nm Mahle motor gave enough supplemental torque that pushing hard enough to start moving wasn’t painful.

Wearing a prosthetic also requires some bike fit considerations. I use 135 mm cranks from 5Dev as these help reduce the bend in my knee through the pedal stroke. My prosthetic socket runs into the back of my knee when going through the full rotation on standard-length cranks. This clearance problem is a common obstacle for below-the-knee amputees. There are a couple of ways around it.

Cutting the prosthetic down to get better knee flexion means it’s no longer as suitable for walking and everyday use. Some folks have two prosthetics: one for riding bikes and another for walking. The solution I opt for is using shorter cranks so that I don’t need to bend my knee as much for each pedal rotation. This means I can comfortably ride a bike and still walk in the same prosthetic.

I can ride to the coffee shop. I can hike-a-bike. I can attempt a typical bike-focused life. 135 mm cranks do have a drawback: I have a shorter lever to use, and the result is that I have to apply more torque than a more traditional crank length. Again, the extra 40Nm of torque assistance from the hub motor made this a non-issue.

Crank Interface

Something to consider about e-bikes and crank lengths is that quality e-bikes tend to have non-standard crank interfaces. Most higher-end e-bikes use mid-drive motors that replace the bottom bracket. There are reasons for this, the most obvious of which is keeping the bike’s mass more centered within the wheelbase. The crank spindle is part of the motor, and many crank spindle interfaces exist across different motor brands.

Aftermarket crank arms are available for many of these systems, but none are available in the length I need for my fitment. The Salsa Confluence uses a hub-mounted motor, meaning the bottom bracket is a standard BSA threaded shell. This makes it easy to swap out cranks and, in my case, make the bike fit me. This is yet another reason the Confluence is lovely for disabled folks.

Electric Motor System

The Mahle motor delivers power smoothly, without any unexpected jolts. It feels natural to accelerate. This is not quite the same on the other side of the speedometer, where the motor cuts out at its speed limit of 20 mph. It is easy to find that speed limit when putting the bike in its highest power setting. The Salsa Confluence is a Class 1 e-bike, meaning it only provides pedal-assist power and only up to a top speed of 20 mph.

This loss of supplemental power is very noticeable. If you sit at that speed, you might experience a tailwind-headwind-tailwind effect as the motor cuts in and out. A smoother transition to no assistance would be appreciated, but it’s certainly not the make or break for this bike. This sensation is somewhat alleviated by putting the bike in a lower-power mode or just pedaling a bit harder and getting above 20 mph.

Four power modes are accessed through the single top tube-mounted controller: high, medium, low, and off. The battery is small – only 250 Wh – and Paul and I could drain it on the highest setting on hilly, fifteen-mile rides. Salsa claims that you can get 45 miles out of it, but in our experience, you must constantly consider what power mode you’re in if you want to achieve that kind of range.

There is an available range extender that almost doubles the battery capacity and replaces a water bottle cage. Should long rides be your normal, this would be a compromise to consider.

Build Kit and Riding Experience

The flat bar version of the Confluence comes with a handlebar-mounted controller that makes it easy to select and cycle through the various modes. The drop bar builds have a button only on the top tube to control the motor. This makes switching modes less intuitive and ergonomic.

This short range isn’t necessarily a considerable downside as the Confluence achieves what most e-bikes cannot: it feels like a bike even with the motor turned off. Should you run out of battery or want to go for an exceptionally long ride and conserve the battery for climbs, the Salsa Confluence pedals and handles like any other bike.

It’s only 35ish pounds, and there isn’t any noticeable drag from the motor. It doesn’t completely change its nature with the motor off. The problem is that this rig’s e-bike nature is very evident regarding ride quality.

The aluminum frame – which houses the battery – and aluminum cockpit components are coupled with a carbon fork. The wheels are built with straight-gauge spokes and are wrapped in 42 mm Teravail Washburn tires that offer some squish but are not enough to compensate for the other contributors.

These factors add up to a jarring and harsh sensation even though the fork is marketed as having a “compliant ride”. For the sake of comfort, both Paul and I dropped the tire pressure far enough that a pinch flat became a genuine concern. The frame can clear 50 mm tires, and I would certainly beef up the tire volume to offer some extra comfort. A compliant carbon bar, suspension stem, and suspension seat post would also help take the sharpness out of the ride quality.

I’ll concede that the bike must be stiff for a reason: E-bikes have to be built in a way that leaves no room for comfy flex in the frame. With some attention to detail and personalization, this could likely be tuned out. The hub-mounted motor means that swapping out to a different, more compliant wheelset means having to rebuild the rear wheel with spokes and rim of your choosing.

Besides the “stock” ride quality, the bike checks many boxes. The Class 1 designation makes it feel like a regular bike with some added assistance, as opposed to a lumbering beast of a machine filled with anger and ability only fueled by a battery. The geometry feels excellent at higher speeds, and it corners brilliantly.

I prefer a slack head tube angle on my bikes, so the 68.5 degrees feels fantastic on the Confluence. Would I take this bike on some shreddy single track? In its stock build, no. If singletrack is the intended terrain, I’d want to swap bigger, knobbier tires and change the components for increased compliance. However, it’s nice to know the geometry supports speed and stability on higher-speed gravel roads.

If rougher terrain is your regular riding condition, Salsa makes a different e-bike, the Tributary, that is similar in geometry to the Cutthroat. That bike uses a mid-drive, bottom bracket-mounted motor, so it isn’t adaptable with my short crank requirements. The Confluence wants to be on gravel roads, greenways, or asphalt.

That’s where it will truly shine. The small battery may mean you don’t have a huge range, but it also means that the bike is still pretty light when the battery inevitably dies. It also means the battery charges back up fairly quickly when it’s time to plug it back in after a day of scooting around. This is where we found a comically frustrating experience: the plug design is complicated to get situated correctly.

The proper orientation is confusing and takes getting used to. You may think that’s a ridiculous complaint to have, but plenty of power plugs in our lives can be used without even looking. We live in the future, and I shouldn’t struggle with a plug on my bike for over a minute to get it oriented perfectly.

Who Is This Bike For?

As I stated earlier, the Confluence is ideal for folks who use special cranks for their disability and want an e-bike. There are no super-short cranks for e-bikes on the market yet, meaning hub-driven bikes are the only option for those who need a specific fit. I already owned cranks that made this e-bike accessible to me. For that, I will give the Salsa Confluence top marks. It is a well-made e-bike that is accessible to me, unlike most higher-end e-bikes currently on the market.

For use cases, the Confluence is a bike. It looks like one, and it functions like one. Paul enjoyed it for those quick after-work-just-before-dark rides where climbing back up the hill he lives on was just a bit easier. You can throw racks and fenders on it and make it cargo-capable. You can ride it to and from work. You can ride it for fun. The name of this bike wasn’t lost on us. A confluence is where two rivers become one. This bike is a happy combination of bike and e-bike – if such a subcategory is allowed to exist.

It gave me access to a seemingly distant ability. If you’ve got one leg, want a little more current in your ride, or want a bike with a bit of extra spice, then this might just be the bike.

Pros

• $2,999 retail is competitive in the market
• Feels, looks, rides like a bike
• 35 lbs is light
• If the battery dies, there’s no motor drag
• Well equipped out-of-the-box

Cons

• Battery life could be better
• Stock build kit is a bit harsh in terms of ride quality
• Drop bar version only has one control module on the top tube, flat bar has one on the handlebar

See more at Salsa!