# 2009 Salsa Fargo



## FatTireFred

it's a 29er touring mtb! although looks like a 69er or 96er in the pic. much more info on their website. they also have 2 new roadies, a scandium racer and an ox plat designed for long rides


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## kiwisimon

Never really understood why tourers need all those knobbies. Why not spec the bike with something with less rolling resistance? Other than that looks pretty good


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## MB1

kiwisimon said:


> Never really understood why tourers need all those knobbies. Why not spec the bike with something with less rolling resistance? Other than that looks pretty good


Well it is a MTB tourer and lord knows the US has an amazing network of dirt roads that make for fantastic riding with the right equipment.

This looks like the perfect setup for hardcore dirt touring.


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## treebound

Are those water bottle cages on the rear side of the forks? Interesting.


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## lancezneighbor

kiwisimon said:


> Never really understood why tourers need all those knobbies. Why not spec the bike with something with less rolling resistance? Other than that looks pretty good


Maybe you don't know what the roads will be like plus appreciate the cush of the big tires. I want that bike with semi slicks as my commuter now! Too bad I will be in London for 15 months and would be too scared of it being stolen here.


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## GirchyGirchy

MB1 said:


> Well it is a MTB tourer and lord knows the US has an amazing network of dirt roads that make for fantastic riding with the right equipment.


It does?


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## Hollywood

GirchyGirchy said:


> It does?


Yep.

would be perfect for a hut trip!


// where's the slider/EBB option for an internal hub?


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## knucklesandwich

Digging the Pistola, aimed at my style of riding- steel, SRAM Rival, 25c tires. Would be a tad cooler if the top tube was more horizontal, but I know that's not really how Salsa rolls. I'd also have spec'd higher spoke count wheels (though I do love my own Aksiums) but I know sexy sells...


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## MB1

*Sure.*



GirchyGirchy said:


> It does?


Well for starters we can ride from our house in the middle of DC pretty much off pavement all the way to Pittsburg. It is amazing how many dirt roads there are once you look for them.....


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## PMC

This is really an interesting bicycle and what a lot of guys tried/did with custom built 29ers in the last few years. 
The top tube is shorter, the head tube is longer, the bottom bracket is lower, the front end isn't built around a suspension fork and they've raked the fork out to keep toe overlap to a minimum. Add in that they've added mounts for just about anything you would ever want to bolt to a bike and you have the first (that I know of) drop bar 29er at a reasonable price point made for the masses that can be toured on.
Just about perfect if you can live with the disc only brake option.

Does this bike fill a niche or is it an answer to a question not asked? I guess we'll find out next spring when it's available.


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## JoeDaddio

The bottle cage mounts on the fork seem like a pretty rad idea.

I like the bike a lot. I've never toured, but I really, really want to.


joe


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## Guest

Looks like 5 (?) bottle cages??


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## MB1

*6 actually.....*



toomanybikes said:


> Looks like 5 (?) bottle cages??


If you count the fitting UNDER the down tube where a pump is shown.


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## treebound

I wonder if they have any pics of the bike with a rider riding it.


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## Henry Chinaski

Awesome.


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## lancezneighbor

GirchyGirchy said:


> It does?


Heck ya! In NM we have almost limitless dirt roads all over the state.


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## Salsa Cycles

*Yes and thank you.*



treebound said:


> Are those water bottle cages on the rear side of the forks? Interesting.


Fun to see this pop up here. Thanks for the kind words. This isn't your normal touring bike. You can ride this bike anywhere, not just pavement. 

Yes, they are bottle mounts. They work very well for fuel bottles too. You can also add an old toe strap to make sure they never move. Kind of important to not lose your fuel bottles. 

Anyway, thanks. This was a fun bike to work on and test......

Jason
Salsa Crew


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## kiwisimon

Hollywood said:


> Yep.
> 
> would be perfect for a hut trip!
> 
> 
> // where's the slider/EBB option for an internal hub?


I hear you all about off road dirt riding but I have tried riding a fully loaded tourer off road and with the panniers and weight of the bike it is really difficult to ride anything approaching hard core. Unloaded this salsa looks like fun and is very close to what I have with more slope

but why not go for a tire like this









Hollywood hear you about the EBB


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## Hollywood

JB!

nice work. See ya in a few weeks.  




Salsa Cycles said:


> Fun to see this pop up here. Thanks for the kind words. This isn't your normal touring bike. You can ride this bike anywhere, not just pavement.
> 
> Yes, they are bottle mounts. They work very well for fuel bottles too. You can also add an old toe strap to make sure they never move. Kind of important to not lose your fuel bottles.
> 
> Anyway, thanks. This was a fun bike to work on and test......
> 
> Jason
> Salsa Crew


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## SelfPropelledDevo

i've been running Vulpines since April, and they're fast. lets me ride fast with my roadie buddies, and they work pretty good in the dirt. they are wide enough to handle a little bit of a load, etc...

the Fargo, screams to me a new MTB Mixte

but i guess kudos the the Salsa Crew for digging this one up.

what i dont understand, is why open cables under the BB
and why that big Tower-o-spacers between the stem and headset.
they could have used a curved top tube, like on The Big Dummy...

the front rack... held on by a single tab... at the fork crown


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## weltyed

mmmm. podio would compliment my raza quite nicely. i will take mine in a 45. (just wish it were green)


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## endure26

The under BB routing of the cables is nothing new. If you use stainless cables its pretty maintenance free and offers very low friction. It also cleans up the seat stays and avoids pannier/bag to cable interference.

New bikes generally come with spacers so the buyer can trim fork length to fit. Most bike builders don't design their rigs for silly "glamour shots".

The front rack appears to be a bag support vs. a rack. It has a nice decaleur for a bag mount. The fork clearly has rack and fender eyes and brazeons for a low rider if you want to stack on weight.

From my perspective this is a pretty well thought out touring bike ready to take on any terrain. Its been 32+ years since Bike Centennial and a brief period where interest in cross country riding was high. I would love to see a resurgence of bike touring. I see too few of these bike out there - great to see Salsa bring the Fargo to market. Too cool.


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## Guitar Ted

*More than just touring*

I put on a race in Iowa called Trans Iowa and it encompasses about 320 miles of "_strada bianca_" every edition. We also have a fair number of dirt roads here, which are fantastic for riding and seeing scenery you'll never get fom the pavement. 

The Fargo will be a bike sent from heaven for such adventures and events like Trans Iowa. It also will double as a commuter, a single track bike and utility rig for a lot of folks. 

Really, it shouldn't be hard to understand this bike. Think about where mountain biking was in the early 80's. This is more what this bike is about than anythin in my eyes. Just going out on an adventure in the backcountry.


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## endure26

We've got the dirty Kanzaa in KS. It's only 200 miles, but the leaders are usually on cross bikes. I'd agree with you on the adventure touring aspects of the Salsa. Gravel roads, rail trails, dirt roads - really anything. Harkens back to the early days of MTB when we would just explore whatever we could find the wasn't paved.


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## skullboy

*good for the silk route?*

I am hoping to join Tour d'Afrique's Silk Route ride from Turkey thru China. Wondering if the Fargo is durable enough for this trip.


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## Mr. Versatile

It looks like the Land Rover of bicycles. It needs a small clip for a high level Swiss Army knife.


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## smartfrenchy

Well I saw the Fargo on an add in the Momentum magazine yesterday - caught my eyes, did some investigation and by 5:00PM I was at Mighty Riders in Vancouver to get a quote on a "custom" Fargo. Man this is to me the deal of the industry. I will be using this guy on 700 wheels I can change from knobies to slicks within minutes.
My only question on that forum, is about few components I am wondering if I should upgrade or not (I am a 15,000km - 10,000 miles a year rider) 
The proposed derailleur are Deore-Front SLX-Back what people's opinion on this choice?

Also I am a simplistic I'd rather get the simple shifters on the handlebars instead of the fancy ones on the break lever (I am thinking reliability in the back roads / remote location) but at the end of the day I'd much rather shifting with my brake lever. Anyone has stories about these?


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## buck-50

Bar end shifters are about as bulletproof a shifter as you can find.

The only thing harder to break would be DT mounted friction shifters. 

You've got friction as an option with bar-ends, so you can shift pretty much anything (5,6,7,8,9,10,11, shimano, campy, vintage, whatever) that you can get your chain to work with.

They take a day or two to get used to, a couple days to feel like you've got them mastered. Once you figure out downshiftting with your palm while your hands are still on the bars, you're golden.

You lose a little bit of quickness. But it's not like you'll be riding fast or racing, so you can wait a second or 2 before you decide to shift. Actual shifting is crisp and solid.


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## Lifelover

smartfrenchy said:


> Well I saw the Fargo on an add in the Momentum magazine yesterday - caught my eyes, did some investigation and by 5:00PM I was at Mighty Riders in Vancouver to get a quote on a "custom" Fargo. Man this is to me the deal of the industry. I will be using this guy on 700 wheels I can change from knobies to slicks within minutes.
> My only question on that forum, is about few components I am wondering if I should upgrade or not (I am a 15,000km - 10,000 miles a year rider)
> The proposed derailleur are Deore-Front SLX-Back what people's opinion on this choice?
> 
> Also I am a simplistic I'd rather get the simple shifters on the handlebars instead of the fancy ones on the break lever (I am thinking reliability in the back roads / remote location) but at the end of the day I'd much rather shifting with my brake lever. Anyone has stories about these?


Derailleurs are fine. Don't upgrade unless they break or let you down.

As far as shifters go, it just depends how you plan to ride. If you think you are going to be shifting often, get brake integrated shifters. I could get a way with bar ends on some of my bikes but would demand brifters for most.


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## FatTireFred

buck-50 said:


> Bar end shifters are about as bulletproof a shifter as you can find.
> 
> The only thing harder to break would be DT mounted friction shifters.
> 
> You've got friction as an option with bar-ends, so you can shift pretty much anything (5,6,7,8,9,10,11, shimano, campy, vintage, whatever) that you can get your chain to work with.
> 
> They take a day or two to get used to, a couple days to feel like you've got them mastered. Once you figure out downshiftting with your palm while your hands are still on the bars, you're golden.
> 
> You lose a little bit of quickness. But it's not like you'll be riding fast or racing, so you can wait a second or 2 before you decide to shift. Actual shifting is crisp and solid.





friction 11? that would prob take a very delicate touch... the stock shimanos likely do, but not all bar-ends have friction as an option, newer campy for example and possibly sram


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## buck-50

FatTireFred said:


> friction 11? that would prob take a very delicate touch... the stock shimanos likely do, but not all bar-ends have friction as an option, newer campy for example and possibly sram


THe bar ends this bike come with have friction as an option.

And yer right, friction shifting an 11 speed cassette would probably be an exercise in frustration, but it would generally work, as opposed to brifters, which are pretty inflexible.

Of course, IMHO, salsa pretty well screwed up when they made the fargo disc only- that actually makes that friction option on the shifters useless- yer pretty well stuck with a disc rear wheel, which means 8 9 0r 10 only.


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## My Own Private Idaho

I just ordered a frameset. I have some Ultegra 9-speed brifters to build it with. I'll post pictures if I ever get it done.

I test-rode one recently, and loved it.


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## montclairbobbyb

buck-50 said:


> THe bar ends this bike come with have friction as an option.
> 
> And yer right, friction shifting an 11 speed cassette would probably be an exercise in frustration, but it would generally work, as opposed to brifters, which are pretty inflexible.
> 
> Of course, IMHO, salsa pretty well screwed up when they made the fargo disc only- that actually makes that friction option on the shifters useless- yer pretty well stuck with a disc rear wheel, which means 8 9 0r 10 only.


Sorry to disagree, but having disc brakes on the Fargo is absolutely essential, especially if you plan to ride it in all weather, loaded down (as I do)... I have had some awesome rim brakes on my bikes over the years, but nothing has come close to hydraulic discs I use... 

Also I don't understand why anyone would run a 10-speed, let alone an 11-speed cassette... and NEVER on a Fargo. That would make for a weaker drivetrain.... It means a skinnier (and therefore inherently weaker) chain and thinner/weaker cogs... and after all, how many gear combos do you really need, really?!?!.... I thought 7 or 8-speed was optimal... and have pretty much (reluctantly) settled on 9-speed cassettes for my newer bikes... (but that's one man's opinion)... 

I originally built up my Fargo with a set of vintage 1985 Suntour XC friction thumb-shifters (on a 9-speed cassette!)... 
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/3105088433/" title="Land Beast 2 by montclairbobbyb, on Flickr"><img src="https://farm4.static.flickr.com/3006/3105088433_02c49e5960.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Land Beast 2" /></a>
I really loved this setup, but ultimately found it difficult and problematic to get precise shifting, so after lots of gear-grinding I gave up the frictions and went back to indexed.... I love friction on my older 5-speed freewheeled Stumpjumper, but for a 9-speed cassette I personally need to run indexed .

Peace,
BB


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## buck-50

montclairbobbyb said:


> Sorry to disagree, but having disc brakes on the Fargo is absolutely essential, especially if you plan to ride it in all weather, loaded down (as I do)... I have had some awesome rim brakes on my bikes over the years, but nothing has come close to hydraulic discs I use...
> 
> Also I don't understand why anyone would run a 10-speed, let alone an 11-speed cassette... and NEVER on a Fargo. That would make for a weaker drivetrain.... It means a skinnier (and therefore inherently weaker) chain and thinner/weaker cogs... and after all, how many gear combos do you really need, really?!?!.... I thought 7 or 8-speed was optimal... and have pretty much (reluctantly) settled on 9-speed cassettes for my newer bikes... (but that's one man's opinion)...
> 
> I originally built up my Fargo with a set of vintage 1985 Suntour XC friction thumb-shifters (on a 9-speed cassette!)...
> <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/3105088433/" title="Land Beast 2 by montclairbobbyb, on Flickr"><img src="https://farm4.static.flickr.com/3006/3105088433_02c49e5960.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Land Beast 2" /></a>
> I really loved this setup, but ultimately found it difficult and problematic to get precise shifting, so after lots of gear-grinding I gave up the frictions and went back to indexed.... I love friction on my older 5-speed freewheeled Stumpjumper, but for a 9-speed cassette I personally need to run indexed .
> 
> Peace,
> BB


I understand about how awesome discs are- all I'm saying is if salsa wanted to build the ultimate do-all tourer, adding canti bosses would have meant you could use pretty much any wheel that's available 5 speed through 11 speed. that's kind of nice when you figure 29er disc wheels aren't all that common yet and wheels do tend to break in the weirdest places. And yeah, friction shifting anything over an 8 speed is increasingly futile, but it's nice to have the option, right? 

I'd disagree with the necessity for discs in bad weather. Having commuted through the last 2 Wisconsin winters and a whole lot of rain, I can say that cantilevers never let me down and always stopped me as fast as I could ever want... at least as fast as my studded tires would allow me to grip the road/ice/snow...


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## FatTireFred

buck-50 said:


> I understand about how awesome discs are- all I'm saying is if salsa wanted to build the ultimate do-all tourer, adding canti bosses would have meant you could use pretty much any wheel that's available 5 speed through 11 speed. that's kind of nice when you figure 29er disc wheels aren't all that common yet and wheels do tend to break in the weirdest places. And yeah, friction shifting anything over an 8 speed is increasingly futile, but it's nice to have the option, right?
> 
> I'd disagree with the necessity for discs in bad weather. Having commuted through the last 2 Wisconsin winters and a whole lot of rain, I can say that cantilevers never let me down and always stopped me as fast as I could ever want... at least as fast as my studded tires would allow me to grip the road/ice/snow...




remember this is a MTN tourer... discs WILL stop you faster, there's no doubt about that... esp w/ iced up or wet or muddy rims. they are the standard for mtn bikes now, and their other advantage is that when your wheel goes wonky and way out of true you have a wheel that still rotates, not nec so w/ rim brakes. and it's got mechanical discs as originally pictured, so special pads and rotors, but still cables and no on-the-road bleeding. imo, there's not much worse looking than unused canti bosses or disc mounts, just pick one or the other and go w/ it


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## montclairbobbyb

buck-50 said:


> I understand about how awesome discs are- all I'm saying is if salsa wanted to build the ultimate do-all tourer, adding canti bosses would have meant you could use pretty much any wheel that's available 5 speed through 11 speed. that's kind of nice when you figure 29er disc wheels aren't all that common yet and wheels do tend to break in the weirdest places. And yeah, friction shifting anything over an 8 speed is increasingly futile, but it's nice to have the option, right?


YES, you're right...and besides...canti bosses DO provide a nice mount for a Nitto rack in the front  



buck-50 said:


> I'd disagree with the necessity for discs in bad weather. Having commuted through the last 2 Wisconsin winters and a whole lot of rain, I can say that cantilevers never let me down and always stopped me as fast as I could ever want... at least as fast as my studded tires would allow me to grip the road/ice/snow...


_'Canti'_ argue with that... :lol: _(sorry....)_


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## buck-50

Discs or no, that thing is on my short list as a new MTB...


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## Plum

buck-50 said:


> Discs or no, that thing is on my short list as a new MTB...


$1.50, I know you're in WI but not sure where. If you want to check one out, there's one in my garage. Plain-jane setup, XT, 3x9 with bar end shifters, Avid BB7 brakes, nothing fancy. I'm in Madison.

Plum


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## buck-50

Plum said:


> $1.50, I know you're in WI but not sure where. If you want to check one out, there's one in my garage. Plain-jane setup, XT, 3x9 with bar end shifters, Avid BB7 brakes, nothing fancy. I'm in Madison.
> 
> Plum


In madison myself- may have to take you up on that one of these days...


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## justanoldhobo

Just picked up my medium Fargo and the size is right. We are having 40-60 mph winds on tap today so I may only get the miles from the shop and around the town but it is even sweeter than I expected. I thought I would have the drop bars off this afternoon, switched to a bar with less drop. The Bell laps are good and I rode in the drops for 7 or 8 miles without thinking of moving to a different position. I rarely ride the drops on my road bikes but the Fargo make it intuitive. Hope for less wind tomorrow so I can roll further.
Better than I imagined!


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## m_s

buck-50 said:


> I understand about how awesome discs are- all I'm saying is if salsa wanted to build the ultimate do-all tourer, adding canti bosses would have meant you could use pretty much any wheel that's available 5 speed through 11 speed. that's kind of nice when you figure 29er disc wheels aren't all that common yet and wheels do tend to break in the weirdest places. And yeah, friction shifting anything over an 8 speed is increasingly futile, but it's nice to have the option, right?
> 
> I'd disagree with the necessity for discs in bad weather. Having commuted through the last 2 Wisconsin winters and a whole lot of rain, I can say that cantilevers never let me down and always stopped me as fast as I could ever want... at least as fast as my studded tires would allow me to grip the road/ice/snow...


Hm. I don't understand your first point. Wheel choice is limited by hub spacing primarily. How does having canti bosses allow you to use a narrowly spaced freewheel hub when the hub spacing is 135, the mountain diameter? OK, you could space it at 130, but then the people wanting discs are pretty much SOL: there are like 4 130mm disc hubs that I can think of, a couple of which are stupid pricey. 135 geared mountain hubs are all compatible with sram/shimano 8/9/10 speed cassettes, or you could use a narrower cassette with spacers, or you could build like a 6 speed cluster on a ss mountain hub, also spaced 135. No campy without some sort of conversion dealie, but that's campy's fault: they don't make a mountain group, and they just have to make their hub splines and chain widths different than everyone else cus they're so special.

As to 29er disc wheels not being common...well, they're pretty comon, actualy, and more importantly, both 135 disc hubs and 700c rims are pretty much everywhere, which is all a 29er wheel is, albeit often with a wide rim, but you can use, say, an open pro in a pinch, especially with less than 2.0 tires.

And as to disc brakes not being necessary. Well, of course they aren't, but I will say that there are places where a fully loaded touring bike is going to reach higher speeds than in wisconsin during the winter. No offense, but there are more vertically diverse places


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## [email protected](ERCurt

I was wondering about a few things on the Fargo. I've read that it has a lower bottom bracket. Just how low is it to the ground cause I'm an adventure tourer my self. I also see that it has barend shifters, can I switch it over to STI brakes/shirters. I've read on a review somewhere if the handlebar swung either way to far the barend shirters could hit the top tube. I also noticed that Bikeman has this bike on sake for $1,594.99 that seems like a killer deal for a Salsa tourer. So has anyone bought this bike online, does it come with the front and rear derailer already mounted to the frame. it's not like I can't mount those myself, I just have trouble adjusting derailers sometimes.


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## StageHand

[email protected](ERCurt said:


> I was wondering about a few things on the Fargo. I've read that it has a lower bottom bracket. Just how low is it to the ground cause I'm an adventure tourer my self. I also see that it has barend shifters, can I switch it over to STI brakes/shirters.


Yes you can, but the stock setup is 9 speed. Shimano only makes 9 speed at the Sora level, now, so you'd need a new cassette (Sram is making 10 speed mountain cassettes, now) if you want nicer shifters. 



[email protected](ERCurt said:


> I've read on a review somewhere if the handlebar swung either way to far the barend shirters could hit the top tube.


This is unlikely while riding. The rest of the time, it depends on the height of your handlebars and the angle of the shifters, etc. The top tube is also easily defended from such attacks. 



[email protected](ERCurt said:


> I also noticed that Bikeman has this bike on sake for $1,594.99 that seems like a killer deal for a Salsa tourer. So has anyone bought this bike online, does it come with the front and rear derailer already mounted to the frame. it's not like I can't mount those myself, I just have trouble adjusting derailers sometimes.


Most complete bikes need what is essentially a full tune up (Rims, hubs, headset, brakes, shifting) when they come out of the box. Assume that this is what's needed and factor the cost of that (Time or money) into your decision. After that and shipping, compare it to what you'd pay at a shop, and what support they might offer.


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## [email protected](ERCurt

Well I see I messed up making my name on this site, thats what I get for being in a hurry before I had to leave to get to work on time, it should've been MTB29ERCurt.

Okay back to the Salsa Fargo. I've been reading on this guys review of the fargo on. http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/forum/board/message/?thread_id=131455

I've been reading that he is having some shimmy problems with loaded touring with the Fargo, I doubt very much if it's the bike at all. But I would like to wait before I drop $1810 bills on this bike if I let my LBS order it for me. Thats them matching the Bikeman price with shipping but ofcourse I would have to pay tax too and it all comes to $1810. So I'm going to wait to see if Neil Gunton figures out where his shimmy problem is coming from before I drop that kind of money on this bike.

I also read on Neil Gunton Crazyguyonabike page that salsa told him that they are coming out with a Shimano LX version of this bike and it would be about 400 bills less. 

Salsa should have a build your own version on their website cause I favor Sram components over Shimano.


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## StageHand

[email protected](ERCurt said:


> Well I see I messed up making my name on this site, thats what I get for being in a hurry before I had to leave to get to work on time, it should've been MTB29ERCurt.
> 
> Okay back to the Salsa Fargo. I've been reading on this guys review of the fargo on. http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/forum/board/message/?thread_id=131455
> 
> I've been reading that he is having some shimmy problems with loaded touring with the Fargo, I doubt very much if it's the bike at all. But I would like to wait before I drop $1810 bills on this bike if I let my LBS order it for me. Thats them matching the Bikeman price with shipping but ofcourse I would have to pay tax too and it all comes to $1810. So I'm going to wait to see if Neil Gunton figures out where his shimmy problem is coming from before I drop that kind of money on this bike.
> 
> I also read on Neil Gunton Crazyguyonabike page that salsa told him that they are coming out with a Shimano LX version of this bike and it would be about 400 bills less.
> 
> Salsa should have a build your own version on their website cause I favor Sram components over Shimano.


If you're worried about loading the front end, you might be looking at the wrong bike. The Surly Long Haul trucker will accommodate some pretty fat tires (48c, I think, ~1.9") in the 26" wheel frames. If you're touring is mostly road, a little bit off road, that's a much more appropriate bike. The Fargo is ONLY built for off-road touring, hence the lack of consideration for weight on the front. It's clear to me that that is an obvious choice, rather than afterthought. The shimmy is probably related to the bike, but what exactly is causing it, I couldn't say.

The Fargo is a fine bike (it seems to me from a 20 minute test ride), but it's built for a small subset of a niche market.

BTW, it is available (pending stock of course) as a frame and fork if you want to build it yourself with SRAM. Salsa used Shimano bar-ends to hold down the price of the complete bike (and because they're ridiculously solid pieces of equipment).


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## bolandjd

StageHand said:


> If you're worried about loading the front end, you might be looking at the wrong bike. The Surly Long Haul trucker will accommodate some pretty fat tires (48c, I think, ~1.9") in the 26" wheel frames. If you're touring is mostly road, a little bit off road, that's a much more appropriate bike. The Fargo is ONLY built for off-road touring, hence the lack of consideration for weight on the front. It's clear to me that that is an obvious choice, rather than afterthought. The shimmy is probably related to the bike, but what exactly is causing it, I couldn't say.
> 
> The Fargo is a fine bike (it seems to me from a 20 minute test ride), but it's built for a small subset of a niche market.
> 
> BTW, it is available (pending stock of course) as a frame and fork if you want to build it yourself with SRAM. Salsa used Shimano bar-ends to hold down the price of the complete bike (and because they're ridiculously solid pieces of equipment).


LHT will fit 1.8" tires on the 700c models and 2.1" on the 26" models. I've riden with 1.8" Bontrager Jones XR's on my 58cm and it rides wonderfully well offroad. I'd definitely do a fireroad tour on it. Singletrack is tougher, but doable if you don't mind a little (or alot) of peddle strike. I think that's where Fargo makes a lot of sense. One thing to remember about the LHT is that even though it has the necessary braze-ons for a front rack, it still has a high-trail geometry that is better suited to carrying the majority of weight in the back. Loading the front end heavily will effect the bike's handling. How much, I think depends a lot on how sensitive the rider is to handling querks. What could be barely noticable for some might be virtually unridable to others. I haven't really looked at Fargo's geometry, but I assume its the same way. Small handlebar bags shouldn't be a big deal. Heavier loads might be, but keeping the weight as low as possible helps, I'm sure.


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## m_s

SRAM wouldn't be a good idea for touring. You would have to use road shifters, which limits you to 10 speed. By being limited to 10 speed you must use road cassettes (too narrow for touring, especially off road) or use a XX derailleur and IRD or XX 10 speed mountain cassette, which seems way overkill.


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