Here's the Fargo in action. post yours when you get it here...
Yeah, I can get with that assessment. The Deadwood will do anything the Fargo will do, but the Deadwood is also more capable of doing some things that wouldn't be as enjoyable on the Fargo.The guy at the bike shop pointed out with the Deadwood's 29+ platform, it is even more versatile than the Fargo- at least in the off-road touring genre. (This was his opinion)
As much as I love my Fargo, yeah, a voice in the back of my head keeps nudging me toward a Deadwood in the future. I'm becoming more and more sold on fatter tires for bikepacking, as I see few if any downsides, and some significant pluses.With Salsa introducing the Deadwood, does that now make current Fargo owners consider changing bikes?
You gain some weight with the fargo, but I think the ride quality is worth it. I run between 22 and 40 miles of commuting several times a week with an even mix of gravel, crushed lime and pavement. The fargo seems to do great at all of those. The only change from stock I've added are fenders, a brooks saddle and double handlebar tape. Otherwise it's been a kick to ride.I went to my LBS to test ride a 2015 Fargo 3 (green), but he also had a Fargo 2 (gray). I couldn't leave without the Fargo 2.
I was really wishing that I had a fully rigid 29'er on the DK100 earlier this year and on some other extended gravel rides. Just something more comfy on the B roads and easier gearing for the rollers. I'm hopeful that the Fargo will accomplish both.
Did you have the wheels built or buy them complete? I'm thinking of trying this out...A while back some folks were asking for recs. for some wide rubber. I decided to try the b+. Got a pair of the WTB Trailblazer 2.8 and mounted onto some Velocity Blunt 35 27.5 rims. These fit nicely both front and rear, but I already knew that after reading Guitar Ted's article on the same setup. These tires are huge, way wider than any 29er tire I have seen. Overall hight is a little less than my 29x2.2, but about the same as my 700x42 Conty Speedrides I run most of the time so bb hight was about what I am used to.
I was just on Cape Cod for a week and got to do a bunch of fire road riding along with some single track and even some beach riding. These tires were so much fun everywhere. The fire roads there are very sandy of course so the wide tread was great and I think something like a 2.2 would have had some trouble.
So I think if you are going to get new wheels anyway the B+ is the way to go to get some fat rubber on the Fargo. I found some Velocity Blunt 35 rims built on some XT hubs for just a little more than the tires cost! Of course the Trailblazers are not cheap.
TT