# Whiskey Tango Fargo



## gruppo (Jan 28, 2005)

This is the first life of my new Van Dessel Whiskey Tango Foxtrot (WTF) frame, and even this one is going to mature over time. It's a really spiffy high quality butted steel frame/fork with continuous twin curved top/seat tubes, and has an eccentric bottom bracket. It can be set up as a single/fixie with either chain or belt drive, or as a geared bike. This initial build was mostly with stuff I had lying around the shop - 700c disc 'cross wheelset (Sram hubs & WTB rims) with an 18 T aluminum EndlessBike cog and spacer kit; Schwalbe Marathon Extreme 700x35 tires; Cook Brothers crank arms and bottom bracket with ti spindle & adjustable cups, a 36 T ring, and a Salsa guard; Avid BB-7 road discs (160mm front & 140mm rear rotors) actuated with Sachs aero levers; On One Midge bars; old style American Classic seatpost and my 30 year-old Brooks Pro saddle; MKS RX-1 pedals with Christophe toeclips & straps; etc...

I left the fork's steerer tube uncut so I could run the drop bars level with the saddle. I might swap out the Syntace stem and multiple spacers with a 110mm by 25 degree riser stem and fewer spacers to clean up the look a bit. Otherwise, it rides nice, is pretty speedy, and looks quite zooty


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## BianchiJoe (Jul 22, 2005)

Too bad they didn't have any of the really *bright* green ones left!

Nice scoot!


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## gruppo (Jan 28, 2005)

BianchiJoe said:


> Too bad they didn't have any of the really *bright* green ones left!
> 
> Nice scoot!




It's neon celeste!? If you go to the Van Dessel website, you'll see that the prototypes of the Whiskey Tango Foxtrot were silver w/red panels.


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## terry b (Jan 29, 2004)

I gotta ask - why not a larger frame? You have a large amount of post showing, and the steerer, well, that's like nothing I've ever seen.

I had a look at the VD website and it looked to me like they are able to get the bars darn close to level without a foot of spacers.


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## gruppo (Jan 28, 2005)

terry b: As I mentioned in the OP, this frame will be built up in several ways to meet a number of uses. One of those* will be a geared off-road bike using a new Sram X9 2x10 drive-train and 29'r 2.1 knobbies. For this I wanted a smaller frame to offset the much larger diameter of 29'r knobbies, and maintain decent top tube clearance. Plus I had the good fortune to throw a leg over a couple WTF's at Interbike and the frame you see is the correct size for me given what I intend to do with it.

*Another will be a geared road/monstercross bike with a Sram Rival drivetrain and 700x28 tires.

The WTF frames have short head tubes and integrated headsets, so it you want to run your drop bars high you need to use lots of spacers (In my case 120mm, or about 4 3/4", which is OK with a steel steerer tube). I also mentioned I was likely going to install a riser stem* to improve the looks. 

*You may recall the high rise/short reach Salsa drop bar stems from the 80's (I'm running one on my drop bar 26" wheeled American Breezer) - they were the hot set up for using drop bars on mountain bikes back then (Which a bunch of us, including Tomac, did). Well Voodoo will be selling one in the spring that's designed for threadless systems, and I plan to get one (A number of the builders at the recent Oregon Handmade Bicycle Show had their custom versions of this type stem - they were pretty neat).

If I was just going to use it as a drop bar single speed or 'cross bike, I would have gone with the next size larger frame. The website WTF's have lots of exposed seatpost shaft, stacked HS spacers, riser stems, riser mtb bars, etc. Any multiple use bike will have compromises. My plan is to try several builds with different wheelsets, tires, gearing, drivetrains (Hopefully being able to use a three piece crank so I only have to swap the drive side arm), handlbar/brake handle-shifter combinations (With Ritchey cable quick disconnects), to test the WTF's versatility.

Thanks for the comments!


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## bacoes (Mar 30, 2002)

Wow, that remind me of my old CRB. Same green.


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## Dave Hickey (Jan 27, 2002)

Wow...I don't know how I missed this one.....great bike....


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## tihsepa (Nov 27, 2008)

My LBS has several and I must say I am really impressed with the versatility of this frameset. I wish they used the newer EBB like Niner uses though. I do like them though. They have one all built up in pure black and green and it looks killer. Definatley on my list. 


BTW, they are not that green in person.


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## FlynG (Aug 23, 2006)

Well I like it a lot, but I ride a neon pink SS too.


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## Pablo (Jul 7, 2004)

Wow. I want to say something positive, but I can't stop fixating on that steer tube situation you've got going on.


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## gruppo (Jan 28, 2005)

Thanks for the comments - my Whiskey Tango Foxtrot continues to be a zooty bike and has proven to be a real head turner. It has snowed a bunch around here so I mounted a set of 700x40 studded Nokian tires this morning and went out for a very enjoyable spin. 

And while functional, I, too, am not totally satisfied with the look of the spacers/stem set-up (The same can be said of the use of the Technomic stem on threaded head-sets to achieve a seat level handlebar height). But, as I've mentioned, I'm working on getting a custom high rise threadless drop bar stem (Like the extreme rise/short reach drop bar Salsa stem from the 80's) to spiff up the look. I'll keep you posted.


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## gruppo (Jan 28, 2005)

Well, as I previously mentioned I was going to do, I've installed the Voodoo Nakisi Dirt Drop stem and it really spiffs up the the appearance of the saddle height stem/handlebar set-up. Because of the stem's integrated adjuster cap, it was a bit tricky to install (It wasn't the usual, install the fork, slide on the appropriate spacers & stem, mark where the steerer protrudes, disassemble, subtract 3mm, and cut off) , but everything went well. The stem looks really zooty, is lightweight cromolly, and is a perfect high perch for the Midge bars (As I mentioned it's a threadless version of the Salso drop bar quill stem from the 80's, one of which I'm using on a geared 26" wheel randonneur bike).


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## tihsepa (Nov 27, 2008)

It looks good. Can I get more info on that stem?


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## gruppo (Jan 28, 2005)

A from Il said:


> It looks good. Can I get more info on that stem?



It's distributed by BTI, so your local shop can contact them (Or, if they don't deal with BTI, send me a private message and my shop can help you out). The MSRP is $89.95.


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## serious (May 2, 2006)

To me, that stem looks awful. That bike is just not meant for drop bars, plain and simple.


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## holy cromoly (Nov 9, 2008)

What size frame is this? I've been eyeing this bike.


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## CleavesF (Dec 31, 2007)

I <3 the color on that. Makes you wonder why all my commuters are dark as night... real safe!


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## gruppo (Jan 28, 2005)

What size frame is this? [/QUOTE said:


> It's a 53 (They come in 50, 53, 56, 59, & 62). I got the 53 because I've built it up with tire sizes from 700x25 to 29x2.2, and have done a fair amount of off road riding with it. The 29'r tires raise the standover height a bunch. If I was only going to run tires up to 'cross size (700x33), I would have gotten the 56.
> 
> So far it's been built up as a single speed, a geared touring bike with bar-end shifters, and an off road adventurer with X-9 2x10 derailleurs and Rival shifter/brake handles. This spring I'm going to try Gates new Centerline belt drive stuff.


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## marvie (Feb 20, 2012)

Hi Gruppo, how much is the green frame? is it for sale internationally?


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## THATmanMANNY (Jan 24, 2008)

i can't seem to find any pics of the dropout break that allows for belt drive. Can you take a picture of that?

Also, how tall are you and what size bikes do you normally ride? I usually ride M mtn bikes and 54 road bikes. I got a 52 surly cross check and I'm afraid that is on the tight side for me and if I were to get a WTF I think 53 would be it. 56 would be way big. So I was wondering about you. Thanks


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