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The Salsa Fargo Thread

2M views 6K replies 794 participants last post by  hankj 
#1 ·
Here's the Fargo in action. post yours when you get it here...



 
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#3 · (Edited)
Thanks GT, here are a few pics of mine

I've got almost 300 pictures of the Fargo. Heck, it might even be 400. OK, maybe even 500. I've even got a couple of you riding one! I love this bike. Since frames just started shipping last week. I'm sure some crazy builds will show up here. Let's try to keep this thread to pictures. If you've got some specific questions, create a new post. We all need more pics.

Thanks again.

Jason
Salsa Crew
 

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#5 · (Edited)
Here's mine. Apologies for the poor quality photo; it's a cell phone camera.

This is my first nice bike. I've been riding MTBs off and on for 15 years, but they were both totally stock, much lower end bikes. I wanted to get a good do-it-all bike for my 40th birthday, with bias toward something that would work for bike camping and long gravel road exploration. I know very little (read: next to nothing) about components, bike fit, or bike technology in general, but when I saw the photos of the Fargo, it was love at first sight.

I ordered a frame from the regional Salsa dealer and they assured me I'd be getting one of the very first ones. I relied on their advice along with the factory bike specs, and had them build it for me. It's very similar to the factory complete bike, except that the wheels are the Salsa Delgado 29er Race model, and the shifters are different. Oh, and I got the Thudbuster ST after seeing it on the Gnat blog.

I've had it for about 5 days, and thus far I've done some town cruising, a couple of hours of singletrack, and some laps on a local cyclocross course. So far it's a blast. It feels like it's glued to the ground, but fast. I have no idea how a bike like this should fit, so I'm open to suggestions. Right after taking the photo I lowered the handlebars to one spacer above the bottom, and it seems OK. I have very short legs for my height (5'11", 30" inseam), so the sloping top tube is really nice for me.

The bike handles really well on singletrack, but the clearance is a little low for many of the trails around here. I'm sure it's probably set up this way to enhance stability while touring, which is fine with me.

I have a Surly rear rack and a frame bag on order for it. So far two people have independently named it my "Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome Bike", which I think fits it quite well.

PS: I'm also soliciting recommendations on fenders that will work with racks.
 

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#6 ·
My rolling chassis is up and I hope to get her strung up tonight. The stem set-up is temp while I figure out where I want to end up and how I want to get there. I wish you could buy a nice stem with more rise than 15 degrees. Not that Dimension isn't the last word in quality hardware or anything. :D

Big rubber looks good on it! Plenty of clearance with Rampages.
 

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#7 ·
SanJuan,

Congrats on being the first rider to get one of these built and spend some time on it beyond one of us "industry folk"! The setup looks fantastic, simple and practical. From your photo it appears that the bar height is good for primary use in the drops. There is no "perfect" method for this. Try different things, rely on your shop and folks that you trust for advice and you'll figure it out.

The BB is low and you nailed it on the "why"? If it is cranks that your hitting, shorter arms would help. If it is chainrings and you find yourself not using the big ring, or wanting to ride more aggresive singletrack you could always drop the big ring and put on a bashguard.

The "Mad Max" analogy is great! I've heard some others as well. When people have asked me "what is that?" I've been calling the Fargo the "#@$% Kicker", threatened to ride it at a local cross event and ride through the barriers, and my favorite yet, enter a local criterium event on it. The bikes is tough, versatile, and super fun!
 
#13 · (Edited)
Salsa Fargo Build

I don't have my Fargo frame yet, but when I do get it, this is how I intend to build it up. It's going to be slightly different from other builds I've seen so far.... The most glaring difference will be my H-bars (not drop bars), hydraulic disc brakes, and vintage friction thumb shifters. I'm hoping to see some very creative variations out there... Here's what my Fargo will look like:

Fargo frame and fork, size Large (I'm 6'1", 34-inch inseam)
Thomson Elite seatpost (410mm long)
Brooks B17 Special saddle (honey color)
Chris King headset
Salsa Cromoto stem (length and pitch TBD, to fit)
Titec H-bar handlebar, wrapped
Shimano hydraulic disc brakes and levers (Deore/LX)
Vintage 1985 Suntour XC thumbshifters (friction, non-indexed)
Shimano SLX front and rear derailleurs
Shimano SLX crankset (44/32/22 teeth)
SRAM 9-speed cassette
Rims: Stan's ZTR Flow 36-hole rim with tubeless rim tape
Front wheel: Schmidt Nabendynamo (Son28) disc generator hub
Rear wheel: Phil Wood disc cassette hub
Spokes: DT Swiss double-butted
Road Tires: Schwalbe Big Apple 29 x 2.35, tubeless (yes, tubeless)
Off-road Tires: Panaracer Rampage 29 x 2.35, tubeless
Fenders (when needed): Planet Bike Cascadia
Rear rack - Tubus Logo
Front rack - TBD, need recommendations. Must coexist with my lowrider Tubus Tara rack
Lights - Home-built J-Dro 3-LED handlebar-mounted generator light (it ROCKS!)
Pedals - Dual-sided cage/SPD pedals

Additional bling:
Niner bottle cap stem cap (because you are what you drink)
Japanese brass stem-spacer bell

Now how cool is that gonna be?

Peace,
BB
 
#14 ·
frame size

Go Kart Motzart, what size frame is that?

My rolling chassis is up and I hope to get her strung up tonight. The stem set-up is temp while I figure out where I want to end up and how I want to get there. I wish you could buy a nice stem with more rise than 15 degrees. Not that Dimension isn't the last word in quality hardware or anything. :D

Big rubber looks good on it! Plenty of clearance with Rampages.[/QUOTE]
 
#18 ·
large

Nice looking bike. I like the length of the headtube on your size Large. I may have to go XL though. I am always between sizes. Oh well.
Go Kart Motzart said:
Sorry, I just now saw your post.

My Fargo is a large and seems like it will fit quite nice (6 ft.), but the bars will need to come up just a shade more. I will be in the drops most of the time on this bike.
 
#22 ·
couple-a-fargos

I'm finally getting a few fall miles in on my Fargo and have to say I'm totally digging it. We've put one together for the wife also to replace her cyclocross bike with something more trail friendly and have eliminated toe overlap in the process which is a big deal for her. My Schnauzer loves them too and can't wait to get out in her tail wagon for a trail ride soon.
Mine is large built up with a shimano mix of bar ends and xt/xtr drivetrain, Sugino cranks Hope/Stans wheels with Captain 2.2s tubeless.
I went with a 172.5 crank to help with ground strikes but I've spent a lot of time on a cross bike on the same trails so I'm pretty good at keeping them to a minimum. I'd even try a set of 170s if I could get them cheap enough.
Wife's is a small with the build kit pulled from her cross bike other than the disc brakes and pink king stuff. We just got it together and with company in town for the holidays she hasn't gotten out yet.

My home trails are the same ones that the salsa crew ride to work as I live in Bloomington so it's safe to say these bikes have seen a few miles on our river trails around here. It works really really well down there and I'm thinking that it'd be perfect for the Fat Tire 40 if I happen to get in.

Cheers
Pete
 

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#24 ·
ATXSS said:
That's definitely my kind of build. Functional without being too flashy. What size is yours for reference?
PMC said:
...
Mine is large...
Wife's is a small...
Cheers
Pete
:D
I read carefully,since I want to build a Fargo, if I can sell off a couple bikes, this economy is bad for sellers unless you want to take a bath on price... :madman:
 
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