Editors Note: Yeah, yeah…..another year end review! Tis the season! So, here are my favorite things that have passed through the Twenty Nine Inches review process during the past year. I want to point out a few parameters that I used for what I chose here.
1. The product had to be in the review process during the time period of December 2008 through to the end of November 2009. Reviews that are currently in process I did not include and will be eligible for my 2010 Top Ten list.
2. They had to be products or bicycles that I personally used during this period. Nothing any of the other Twenty Nine Inches staff reviewed on their own could be considered for my list. This list doesn’t necessarily reflect the opinions of anyone but me, Guitar Ted.
3. The reviewed products were provided to Twenty Nine Inches at no charge for review. I was not paid or bribed for this review. I will give/gave my honest opinion or thoughts through out.
That said, let’s get on with this……
Number 1: Salsa Cycles Fargo: Salsa Cycles introduced the world to the Fargo at Interbike 2008. Twenty Nine Inches got a Fargo in for testing in the fall of ’08 and we wrote up the last post on it in June. This steel hard tail rig is sold as a frame and fork or as a complete.
Why It Made The List: The Fargo is a steel hard tail, fully rigid, non-suspension corrected bike. “Yawn”, right? You couldn’t be more wrong. It isn’t so much the Fargo as a bicycle but more about what the bike represents. No other 29″er has reached as many riders like the Fargo has, or has inspired as many competing designs, save the Karate Monkey from Surly. The Fargo appeals to the wanderlust, the adventurer, and the utilitarian cyclists out there looking for something different, versatile, and having big wheel capability. The Fargo is that bike.
My Two Cents: I have been a proponent of what I call “Adventuring” for cyclists of any wheel size, saying that it will become the next big movement in cycling. Well, little did I know that Salsa Cycles was on a similar page but when I saw the Fargo, I “got it” straight away. Apparently so did a lot of other folks. As I have written here already: It isn’t so much the bike, but what the bike represents that makes the Fargo a very influential bike. Yes- I said influential. Think I’m nuts? Well, the Fargo posts continue to be #1 on the stats here on Twenty Nine Inches and on my own personal blog, Guitar Ted Productions. The Fargo has had several bikes follow in its wake, Singular’s Gryphon, VooDoo’s Nakisi, Van Dessel’s WTF, and most recently, Siren’s Sierrita. One of the main features here is the drop bar specific design, which you either get, or not, but there it is.
The Fargo as a bike specifically just happens to live up to its promise too. It handles really well off road, does back roads, gravel, and pavement with aplomb. It does loads, and it has capabilities to mount plenty of water bottles, fenders, and some sizes even have a pump peg. Now, not everything is great with the Fargo. It has a slightly lower bottom bracket for better handling, but some may find this annoying off road. It also is geared specific, which limits possibilities of single speeding the bike or using internally geared hubs. Finally, you can’t really put a suspension fork on it, and flat bar choices may not work very well on this drop bar specific frame. That said, there is no denying that before the Fargo, there wasn’t anything available like it with big, fat wheels. It defines a category, and you can’t say that about many 29″ers, if you can say it about any other 29″ers at all.
The Salsa Cycles Fargo is my #1 pick on the Top Ten 29″er Products Of ’09.
Thanks for reading Twenty Nine Inches this year. Your Reader’s Choice Award will be revealed in the next post. Stay tuned!
Good choice. It’s a cool bike for sure. I’ll have an “adventure” bike in my stable eventually.
[quote]The Fargo has had several bikes follow in its wake, Singular’s Gryphon, VooDoo’s Nakisi, Van Dessel’s WTF, and most recently, Siren’s Sierrita.[/quote]
Sam might argue that the Gryphon was on the drawing board earlier
All nice bikes though and it’s great to have such choices.
No Superfly 100. Groundbreaking bike weight for a full suspension 29er. Seems to be a clear choice against some other obscure products on this list. I guess there were too many good products to choose from, but many on this list I don’t agree with. On the other hand, this is a great site.
@Eurowheels: Please read the Editor’s Notes at the top of this post and you will understand why the Superfly 100 wasn’t on the list. (Not to mention that it wasn’t in consumers hands until late October. Far too late for a review on this site to get on the 2009 list)
That said, stay tuned for the Reader’s Choice Awards, which operate under your assumptions.
You certainly do get it, Guitar Ted… The Salsa Fargo represents freedom — freedom from the boundaries that previously defined the question of “where am I going to ride today.” Because when you’re on a Fargo, you truly can do it all reasonably well with one bicycle.
What I’m still blown away by is the geometry coup they pulled off. It’s quick and stable. Riding to work this morning on snow and ice, I easily rode hands-free to adjust my stocking cap… past an incredulous pedestrian walking his dog. He actually took the time to tell me how insane I was to ride with no hands in the slick conditions, but it felt just fine to me — a testament to the secure handling Salsa’s team built into the Fargo.
To say I’m a fan would be an understatement… But then you’d expect that, wouldn’t you? I’ve been a proponent of the Fargo ever since it was just a concept being bounced back-and-forth, and I was calling it the “Super Casseroll,” and describing my vision to Jason at Salsa as a “love child of the El Mariachi and the Casseroll.” I had no idea they’d put six bottle mounts on it, or innovate like they did with the post mount rear disc brake, but they went ahead and did that anyway… Awesome!
And the Fargo is only the beginning…
I am not an expert, just a guy that likes to ride far, usually on gravel. As I began planning for the Transamerica in 2012 and the Dirty Kanza in 2010 I knew I needed a new ride. Do they make a bike that could do all that? The Fargo can. It became my new bike this year and I love it. Good choice.
Not too much of a surprise from G-Ted. I wonder how much different this list would look if it was written by a racer or wanna be racer. There is some decent stuff on the list, but it is skewed towards non-racers.
@Andrew Brautigam: Well, that’s easy, Andrew. Just refer to the rules for the list at the top. If a “racer/wannabe racer” reviewed what was submitted to Twenty Nine Inches during the specified time period, I doubt you would have seen any “racer” oriented product showing up this year.
If you understand how the list works, it makes more sense. Yes- other great products were introduced in 2009. That stuff wasn’t reviewed here. That is why I opened up the Reader’s Choice Award category, which takes the reader’s opinions into consideration.
That said, even that list was not dominated by “race” oriented products, save one which made the post you’ll see next.
Hope that makes sense.
I for one want to throw my support fully behind GT’s parts review choices and the broad view of this site. It is oriented a bit away from the racer crowd and that is great. Not all bike enthusiasts are racers, or even wannabe, believe it or not. I actually do enter a couple of long events every year, but I don’t consider myself a racer. When it comes down to it aren’t just about all MTB riders trail riders first?
A lot of us out there think a bike like the Fargo, that can be loaded up like a tourer and still be a competent ride on trails, is a big deal. A lot of us think steel is a great frame material. I personally couldn’t care less about the latest sub 3 pound carbon frame, and wouldn’t spend thousands to ride the latest/greatest for one season.
The everyman rider gets little love from the bike media, and GT gets that, and deserves thanks for it.
So thanks for the regular Joe reviews, Guitar Ted. On to 2010!
As a former bicycle tourer in the 70 & 80′s, an adventure motorcycle rider for most of the previous decade and a kayaker currently, I “get” it. I wasn’t looking for a bicycle when the Fargo was brought to my attention – and now I’m thinking about that next great adventure to somewhere like Copper Canyon (Chihuahua, MX), Emas National Park (Brazil) or maybe even something closer to home – the backside of the Bradshaws from Crown King down to Lake Pleasant. The Fargo was designed for someone like me, 50+ going on 15. My cycling coma has ended and it’s good to be back.
We all have our own perception of the ideal bike but for me Fargo has come as close to that as anything to date not custom. GTed has lauded the Fargo since it became available and has pretty much rung it out, experimenting with different components, surfaces, and bringing it out of the closet.
Considering the buzz this bike has created and the number of people who are completely infatuated with it I would say it deserves the top spot. I haven’t heard of any bike that has started a cult following the way the Fargo has.
MG is right on the money saying the Fargo is freeing, no fear to go anywhere and no lack of a smile anytime you ride it. Wish I had jumped on the Fargo when it first came out but I was building a Niner MCR. The Fargo has more mikes in 3 weeks than the Niner has in six months.
My opinion of the Fargo and Gted’s picking it is ” It wasn’t that hard to choose”
Fargo is a legend in the making and I expect it’s evolution will bring even more smiles to those of us who love to ride.