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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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#4,350 ·
Salsa did not own their nistake

looks like I have to pay a lot of money to buy a bike frame.
I already payed a lot of money for a bike frame.
Paying a lot of money for something I already payed a lot of money for sucks!

I have some places I want to go
I want to feel safe on my bike while I am there
Spoke

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#4,351 ·
Chris,

I think you should just ask yourself what you can do about it and focus on that. I have had a pretty bad experience with Salsa's customer service, or complete lack thereof and would never buy another bike from them based on that. I own two of their bikes and won't sell them because I like both of them and to sell them does not remedy their poor CS - it would only cost me money.

You, on the other hand are not being served by keeping that bike and I would sell it. If having a later model copied is too expensive, it may still be what's best for you to buy a later model Fargo frameset despite your feelings towards the company, which I totally concur, are justified.

I have no doubt that the V1 Fargo is not bagged out more is simply because it is almost never used to carry a front load mounted up high to maintain off road clearances, which is supposedly what it's designed to do.

I have a 2013 (brown) model which is the latest geometry, but I have reservations as to how it'd go with a high mounted heavy load up front and I wonder just how many people there are out there that could vouch for that particular situation.

Perhaps that is the big question. If enough people can vouch for it under that condition, it may be the cheapest and most practical option and therefor what's best for you, despite being made by what I agree is a poor CS company - that, I'd be happy to discuss if my own crap experience was with this model.

Best of luck with it. I hope you can put this all behind you soon.
 
#4,353 ·
so i hate to interrupt chris' borderline troll-like attempts to derail the thread, but I have a question about the 2012 Salsa Fargo

for whatever reason, my LBS has a single 2012 Salsa Fargo in their inventory, just wanted to make sure there wasn't something..."odd" about that year's Fargo, as they blow through the other models years like nobody's business and don't even have any 2014s on hand
 
#4,355 ·
I think this is the year of the Crème or Green colour options. I have the 2013 which has a 44mm head tube allowing me to use a tapered steerer. The one you are looking at will have a 30mm head tube and suspension fork options are becoming less as time passes.

Personally, I don't think I'll ever use a suspension fork, but you may want that option. It just depends on how available straight steerers are now and in the future for those forks.

My geo is the same and I really like the bike a lot. I've never loaded the front up yet though. :p but I think it was a great buy.
 
#4,361 ·
so i found a Fargo 3, 2012, new at my LBS. Took it for a ride, hated the shifters (I do not comprehend bar end shifters).

Now here's a question, it has BB5s. I was looking to possibly upgrade to BB7s or Hayes Expert CX brakes (they have them there a bit cheaper than the BB7s). I'm a clyde (255#/117kg) and I would like a bit more oomph with the standard brakes.

Would upsizing the rotors to 180mm front/rear be enough, or should I also upgrade the BB5s to Hayes/BB7s?
 
G
#4,362 ·
May depend on what you can find deal wise on brakes. I bought some BB7s from Jenson USA pretty cheap and I see them on price point (with 160mm rotors) for $40, which is probably cheaper than the mounting brackets and rotors alone. Make sure you pay attention to road/mountain designations. The road brakes will work with your stock levers, mountain brakes will require a problem solvers adapter.
 
G
#4,364 ·
Yup,
Avid BB7 Road (Pricepoint) 2x 53.97 (comes with rotors and mounts)
Jagwire Brake Kit 29.99 (Price Point)
Total = 137.93 and change.
If you can cut brake cable, you can install these yourself - it's pretty simple. Remember to burn in the rotors (Pinkbike site has a good instruction set) before any other riding (or you'll be back griping about how they squeal and don't have enough power).
 
#4,365 ·
oh holy crap, that's literally half the cost. now, I wanted 180mm rotors, does that perhaps explain the added cost? Are Hayes Expert CX brakes really good or something? That's really shocking.

also, thanks for the pinkbike reference. I found this:

Tech Tuesday - Silence That Squeaky Disc Brake - Pinkbike

The short version of that article seems to be to break in your new disc brakes, "pedal real fast and jam on your brakes a bunch of times" in order to break them in properly. Am I on point here?

thanks. :)
 
G
#4,366 ·
Perhaps, The Price point brakes are 140s. Art's cyclery has them in 160s for $55. I'm running 160's on my Fargo with no issue and 200/160 on my Paragon. You probably don't "need" bigger rear rotor but the bigger front wouldn't hurt. I would reccomend buying and installing them, if you still think you a bigger front rotor PM me and I'll see what I can do for you.

As far as burn in goes, clean the pads and rotors with isopropol or wood alcohol (keeping your fingers off the surfaces), spin to 15mph and brake hard down to three (one brake at a time) and repeat (20 or so times with the rear, then 20 or so times with the front), read just your calipers and pads and you're set. Don't let the bike come to a complete stop or lock-up the wheel when the pads are hot before you've finished (parking lots work great for this) and be real careful the first few runs as the brakes are pretty useless the first few cycles. I put six miles on my paragon doing this and my brakes are really strong and very quiet unless they get a bunch of road gunk splashed on them in a rain storm. A few miles and they're back to normal. The other cautionary note is, BB7s only actuate from the outter pad (the inner pad is stationary) so you want the inner pad as close to the rotor as you can get it (without touching). This gives you the best final adjustment and results in the least rotor deflection during braking.

Can't comment on other discs, haven't ridden them. You will see vast differences in every brand's pricing scheme based on features. With BB7 the more mainstream applications, non-current models (2011 rotor), and OEMish a brake is the cheaper they seem to be.
Good riding.
 
G
#4,368 ·
Pad/Rotor burn in or adjustment? Burn-in yes, adjustment no. Hydraulic brakes (at least everyone I've seen) have actuation from both pads and should self-center if they're otherwise properly adjusted. The burn-in deal is a function of properly and evenly contaminating the rotor surface with pad material (at the micro-tiny level). I suppose you could just find a really steep hill and cycle through the brake applications a bunch of times but you don't want to over heat anything either. My paragon came with Elixer 5s that squeeled like a pig (fairly expected at a bike shop). I cleaned the rotors and pads and burned them in and they were much better. It works better though it you break them in properly upfront.
 
#4,370 ·
The difference between the BB5 and BB7 is that the inner pad is adjustable on the BB7 and NOT on the BB5. This feature is well worth the cost increase as it will allow you to maintain equal pad wear if you adjust them regularly. I am not sure there would be a lot of difference in power of the mechanical brakes you are considering unless one has bigger pistons than the other. A larger rotor will not increase power but allow the brake to operate much longer without fading on long downhills with loads by reducing heat--so you might consider that more power but not really in the true sense of the word. If you really want a lot of power might consider a hydro or something like the TRP Hy-road. I am considering the Hy-roads as they will have more power but still used with a cable brake lever.
 
#4,373 ·
Sorry to hear someone is not happy with their Fargo. To balance things out I'd like to say I'm every bit as happy with mine as the day I bought it. I go through a lot of bikes, but this one has kept me happy for three years now. Another year of great adventures. Some loaded up, many more just riding trails. It's such a comfortable mile muncher. The Swiss Army Knife of bikes?
Now running Rabbit Holes front and rear. Knard up front, 2.35 Hutchinson on the back.



 
#4,375 · (Edited)
Surly Ogre vs Salsa Fargo

Hi,

I'm currently looking at getting a do-everything, n=1 bike. Will be used for daily commuting, light singletrack, and possible weekend bikepacking trips around AZ. My choices have narrowed to the Salsa Fargo or Surly Ogre, however, I can't seem to decide between these.

1. I know these frames aren't designed for it, but since this will be my only bike for the foreseeable future, I'd like to also be able to set it up for occasional road riding (for commuting and road tours). I was thinking of putting some skinny (700x35) tires on either the stock rims or a 2nd wheeset, like these builds:





Surly Ogre Build - Imgur

Would this be OK, or will the bottom bracket/pedal stroke be affected too much? Should I instead stick to wider slicks (29" Big Apples, Super Motos, etc.) for riding on road?

2. I have read the Ogre dropouts can be set up in multiple configurations (ie. SS, internal hub, etc.), and that is definitely something that attracts me to that frame, in case I decide to pursue one of these routes in the future. However, I just learned about the Alternator dropouts for Fargo frames (2014+ model) that seem to be able to do everything the Ogre can. I also read that the Salsa dropouts are easier to work with than Surly's? (Salsa alternator dropout vs Surly dropout?) If this is the case, does one frame have more features that the other is missing?

3.
I'm definitely looking at the used market for both bikes, however I would need to factor in the additional cost to set it up to my specs (drop bar, STI shifters, 2x10). While I like how the Ogre frame has clearance for wider tires, I prefer the way the stock complete Fargo is set up (Woodchipper drop bars, 2x10 drivetrain). The Fargo seems to be already 90% there. Are both frames/forks compatible with Anything Cages?

Thanks, any insights or opinions are welcome.
 
#4,376 ·
well, my search is finally over. After far too much hand-wringing and agonizing and multiple test rides, I'm going with that new 2012 Salsa Fargo 3 my LBS found hiding in a box. I'm getting BB7s from a fine upstanding gentleman of this forum, I'm going to upgrade the front rotor to 180mm, and I'm going to have them install the Jagwire Cable Kit and Shimano Sora in place of those wretched bar end shifters.

total cost - $1255.18 + tax

very pleased. :D

thanks to everyone who patiently answered my questions.


bosun120, I did a ton of researching and test riding of the Ogre and the Fargo, and the local Surly shop owner has an Ogre set up almost exactly as you have it, except he's a major proponent of the Schwalbe Big Apples
 
#4,378 ·
well, my search is finally over. After far too much hand-wringing and agonizing and multiple test rides, I'm going with that new 2012 Salsa Fargo 3 my LBS found hiding in a box. I'm getting BB7s from a fine upstanding gentleman of this forum, I'm going to upgrade the front rotor to 180mm, and I'm going to have them install the Jagwire Cable Kit and Shimano Sora in place of those wretched bar end shifters.

total cost - $1255.18 + tax

very pleased. :D

thanks to everyone who patiently answered my questions.

bosun120, I did a ton of researching and test riding of the Ogre and the Fargo, and the local Surly shop owner has an Ogre set up almost exactly as you have it, except he's a major proponent of the Schwalbe Big Apples
Congrats.......post up some pics when you can.
 
#4,381 ·
Hi Fargo Folks-
I just bought a 2011 Fargo, one owner, low miles, ice cold air. As I wait for it to arrive via a UPS truck I thought I would ask about the gearing. Specifically, the FSA Comet crankset with 27/40 chainrings. I suspect that the gearing won't be low enough for me (old, weak, slow), but I would love to hear from other forum members about their experience with this set-up, and, if it was unsatisfactory, what they did about it. Thanks so much!
 
G
#4,387 ·
I think it really depends on where you live and what you'll be riding it on. My Fargo is stock gearing (26/39) and my Paragon uses an XT crank 28/40 (both with a 9-speed 36T cassette). I don't think I'd get very concerned about a 27t granny, but if I was in real steep country adding a 42T cog or swapping for a 3x crank might make the list of to-dos. On the top end, I frequently pedal out the big ring but for me it has more to do with the law of averages. If I can usually avoid pedaling big/big and I can find the ratios I need I'm happy. If those ratios don't conform to someone else's estimate of perfection, it's of no impact. I'd ride and see what you think before spending anything. Nothing worse than taking a half-step in corrections and then spending more to finish up.
 
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