Comments on: Salsa Fargo: The Off Road Update

By: Guitar Ted

Guitar Ted — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 03:08:50 +0000

Darren: Hey, I bet it would ride great, but I doubt I’ll get anything that skinny for it. I divested myself of all my roadie stuff and all I have are mtb rims, which I wouldn’t put that narrow of a tire on. I just do not feel that is a wise thing to do.

That said, I will certainly try something in the 38mm range and let folks know about that when the weather warms up here.

By: Darren

Darren — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 02:43:47 +0000

I would love to hear how it rides with 700×32 on it…Any feedback on the road rides?

Darren
Philly

By: Guitar Ted

Guitar Ted — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 04:59:40 +0000

dan: Late Update: It now looks as though Salsa is bringing in both offsets of the Fargo fork for aftermarket sales. I do not have a time line on when they will become available, but stay tuned, if I do hear anythng, I’ll post it up here.

By: Guitar Ted

Guitar Ted — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 20:22:12 +0000

dan: Sorry about the late reply!

Salsa does not sell this particular fork aftermarket. The fork’s axle to crown measurement is 444.3mm. The offset on small to Large sizes is 55mm. The XL and XXL get 50mm offsets (See this link for the whole geometry story: http://www.salsacycles.com/fargo09.html )

You could see if you could get a Blackbuck rigid fork ( http://www.osbikes.com ) which has a simlar axle to crown at 440mm and 51mm offset. It is a curved blade fork and has no provisions for bottles, fenders, or racks, however.

Otherwise, your only alternative is custom.

By: dan

dan — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 13:58:18 +0000

Hello from NM does salsa sell the fork ? Seems like a new option for big wheel .Do you now the lenght of fork ?

By: GreenLightGo

GreenLightGo — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 22:27:29 +0000

Salsa and Surly ought to collaborate on a drop bar production – something that would work for a Fargo and Karate Monkey It could cross some boundaries and attract more to the proposition of drop-bar MTB’ing.

By: mg

mg — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 16:32:14 +0000

Well Cloxxi, I wouldn’t assume it’s just a rumor… and it’s a big world. Lots of people talk.

The Bell Lap has more drop, reach and not enough sweep in the drops for what I’m looking for in a strictly off-road drop bar. That’s what I’ve verbalized to Jason at Salsa, and I’m content to let him run with that feedback. I trust that he and the team in Minneapolis will combine my feedback with the feedback from other Amigos around the country, and their vast perspective and experience, and come up with something similar in innovation to the Fargo itself. That’s my hope at least… Perhaps it’s a bit of a tall order, but hey, I can dream, right?

By: Cloxxki

Cloxxki — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 08:16:51 +0000

LOL, I think I actually was the one starting that rumor
At least, I seem to remember having openly put my trust in Salsa to come up with a drop bar right to its full potential.

I ride the Bell Lap 46cm to work every day, on my Surly Pacer – in office wear and overcoat. With all due respect, but I regard it a crit handlebar for broadshouldered men. Better for cross than a 100% road bar, but no culture shock.

@Mike:
If I were to get a Fargo, I would probably ride it off-road for a fair bit of the time (too lazy for long hauls lately), even racing if it were just for the heck of it, to piss off fellow racers sporting racerboy kiddy wheels and carbon broomstick handlebars.
I was figuring, if I take a Fargo in a larger-than perfect size (XXL in stead of XL), and stick in a custom fork of 465/470×55mm, I would closely match the smaller Fargo’s front end geometry, while in the process rasing the BB as well as shortening the effective reach.
With such an uber-tall front end, I’d just mount a zero degree stem to -til we get something better from you- a Midge bar.
- more bar height
- more BB height
- less reach (needed due to getting too-large frame)
- better matched seat tube height for my uber-long legs.
The only thing, I suppose, I would suffer, is a taller BB on the longer hauls, but then, I will run longer cranks than an S rider anyway.

How do you think such a franken-Fargo would work out?

By: jmoote

jmoote — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 07:21:59 +0000

Sounds like it’s just photo trickery then – 3″ of drop sounds perfect to me! The Fargo seems like something you have to experience in person, so hopefully I am able to do that someday.

By: MG

MG — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 02:56:17 +0000

it’s funny, because i might’ve been lured into thinking jmoote was right in my household, but i gotta’ admit, in my household, on my mountain bikes, i’m back to the racer-boy, 3-4 inches of drop from the tip of the saddle to the bars, depending on the bike, and unsagged, my big mama has the biggest differential, believe it or not. i think that’s because i run more sag in the rear than the front, since the fork has slightly less travel (i’m running an sc32 maverick, currently, some may recall). but i digress… these are all flat bar bikes that i’m speaking of here, btw, for those who don’t know.

ironically, both of my el mariachis, my big mama, my chili con crosso and my la cruz are all sitting immediately in-front of me as i type these words. i love laptops and wireless connections… the bike room is my domain!!

have i mentioned how much i can’t wait to add a fargo to the stable?