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Interbike: Salsa Fargo, adventure touring (and commuting?)
September 24th, 2008 by Tim Grahl 
A lot of people are having trouble categorizing the new Salsa Cycles Fargo. They’re labeling it an “adventure touring” bike. It has all the comfort for long distances of a touring bike while built as a mountain bike. It looks to be the perfect bike for long gravel roads and perhaps some adventure commuting.
One of the complaints often made about using a road bike as a commuter is the comfort issue. Road bikes are hard on the body and aren’t exactly made for hopping curbs and potholes, which you may find yourself having to do on a regular basis on a commute.
There are cross bikes, which are built to take a beating, but they aren’t built to carry a load and don’t come with braze ons for racks, fenders, etc.
This is where I think the Fargo will be a perfect commuter bike for a lot of people.
It has six water bottle mounts, standard fender mounts and standard front/rear rack mounts.
It’s built to take 29er mountain bike tires (knobby or slicks).
While I didn’t get a chance to take the Fargo out for a ride at the Outdoor Demo, I spoke to several people that did and the overwhelming comment was how comfortable it is.
So it looks to be a bike you’ll be able to carry plenty of stuff on, can take a beating and is extremely comfortable… sounds good to me!
MSRP’s:
Frame/fork: $625 (available in November)
Complete build: $1865 (available in February 09)
Click here to check out Salsa’s site for more info and specs on the complete build.
September 24th, 2008 at 1:42 pm
I could almost get on board with this. That’s a beefy build. I see it being popular among the people who would consider a Long Haul Trucker but want something that will gleefully tackle the singletrack. That’d almost be an ideal year-round commuter rig for me if I had a spare wheelset with touring road tires kicking around somewhere…
September 24th, 2008 at 1:44 pm
Keep in mind that the price tag is still up there… but that’s almost in that “if I could only have one bike to replace the ones I use right now” category.
September 24th, 2008 at 2:33 pm
The Fargo looks awesome but I don’t think I would ever switch it out for my crosscheck commuter(racks and fenders). But for TransIowa or some of the other gravel rides, etc, Fargo would take the cake.
September 24th, 2008 at 3:44 pm
Yeah I second all that. Really cool idea but the price seems a little up there for a niche you could accomplish by building out your own based on the LHT or Crosscheck, which *DOES* have all the rack mounts you could want.
I’d love to see one in person though.
September 24th, 2008 at 5:42 pm
I am not interested in a bike that makes me carry more tires and tubes than I already have for 700cc, as good as it otherwise is.
September 24th, 2008 at 6:13 pm
Six water bottle mounts?!? It may be “nice to have” in a car, but this a bike. With 6 full bottles, I can ride for 6 hours. Kind of a long ride for a commute…
September 24th, 2008 at 6:55 pm
Pugsley Lite! Really, this goes way beyond what any cross bike will do - it’s the urban compatible 29er. A tough concept to promote, but it’ll be perfect for many things.
September 24th, 2008 at 7:44 pm
It’s like an anti-hybrid!
It’s so crazy, it just might work. I can see this idea either flopping hideously or taking off to become the Next Big Thing that eventually trickles down to Wal-Mart level to make up over half of the dumpster market. I suppose it will depend on how many people take the plunge with that price tag.
September 24th, 2008 at 10:04 pm
The way I picture this bike being used is for the year-round commuter that is facing all kinds of conditions. There’s not anything that comes to mind that this bike couldn’t tackle.
Sure, 6 water bottle holders and such is overkill for a commuter… but this bike isn’t built specifically to be a commuter. But since I look at every bike through a commuter’s eyes, I saw a ton of potential here as a bike that can take anything you can throw at it.
I think this would definitely be a great do-all bike. You could use it to comfortably get to work, go for path rides or take it out for some gravel grinders and light mtb.
October 4th, 2008 at 11:59 am
I saw this bike recently on another blog, and it’s been my new favorite ever since. As a long time mountain biker I started commuting on a mountain bike, but soon moved to a road bike for the added speed and efficiency. As a “Big Guy”, however, I’m finding more and more that I miss the durability and pothole-worthiness of my mountain bike. To me, this bike, with its drop bars, bomb-proofness, big wheels and hauling capacity seems like the best of both worlds (and maybe the worst of both worlds at the same time if that makes sense). As for the 6 bottle cages. I can’t really say that I’d often use them all, but the bike does look pretty cool bristling with racks and cages.
October 10th, 2008 at 5:58 am
The frame looks a bit too compact for my taste (I like my commmuters in the road bike mould) but it’s a good concept, by the looks of it.
On the water bottle thing, I can see one cage having the battery pack for lights, one having an AirZound reservoir, and maybe one for tools/spares, so that’s three before you even think about hydration
October 23rd, 2008 at 9:08 pm
THANK YOU, SALSA DUDES! You’ve answered my prayers…. I have been searching for a steel, fat tire, big adventure touring bike kinda like:
the Tout Terrain Silk Road
http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/tout-terrain.asp
or the Thorn eXp
http://www.thorncycles.co.uk/enlargeexp.html
without the steep price tag
I’ve been spending my time making Franken-creations from my Salsa Ala Carte (and 650B wheels, drop bars, etc.)… I could have just waited a few more months for the Fargo to come along…. THANKS…
As crazy as this may seem to many (at the moment), THIS IS BRILLIANT, and SHOULD be a huge hit, whether or not it actually happens…. BRAVO!!!! BRAVO!!!!
Peace,
MontclairBobbyB
Belle Mead, NJ