09 Salsa Fargo
 

http://www.salsacycles.com/images/zoom_fargo_bk.jpg
Link to specs:
http://www.salsacycles.com/fargoComp09.html
Looks pretty sweet. It has six water bottle braze ons!

I don't know what they're thinking with that front rack, but it doesn't look like it could hold a load. And the second cage on the downtube does not seem terribly accessible (clearance between the top of the bottle and headtube seems like it would be tight.) Oh well, it's nice to see somebody out there trying something different. I can't really see how they mount the discs, but in the PR blurb they mention that they won't get in the way of mounting a rack, which is nice.

OMG! The second most (Next to a Surly Big Dummy) perfect commuter for Houston Streets! :love:

Wow !! I love that Salsa !!! Too kool !!! :thumb:

Heres something sort of similar:
http://nycbikes.com/item.php?item_id=605
http://nycbikes.com/images/items/_mid_605_1.jpg

Muy caliente!! Were those bottle cages on the forks?

Not available until Feb. '09, and probably way out of my budget. But if I win the lottery, I think I could make room for this one...

It's a Nitto. It will hold a small load just fine. It's meant to hold a little loafer or something like that.
I just wouldn't go trying to hang panniers on it.

And read the fine print. Racks, bottle cages and pump not included.


Those big knobbies would have to go. Maybe replace with some schwalbe big apples.

Yes, read the specs... 6 bottle cage mounts.

Ohhh thats sweet! I really like the racking options. 700x35s or 29x 1.5 , fenders and you got a awesome set up for commuting and still a reasonable single track.

That just moved way up the list of Want bikes. Its right up there with the LHT.

See any pricing on it yet?

Read the specs. Just never actually seen fork mounted cages before.

Just added to my "my next perfect bike that I really need to do evryting I do" list.

Jerry

Seeing something like this makes me wonder if the good folks at Salsa are gonna hop on the Xtra bandwagon. That Fargo looks pretty neat, but I wanna see some longtail :)

Seems like alot of these kind of bikes are coming out. The Kona Sutra is similar but not as mountain bikey. That salsa is hot.

Lotsa testosterone on that bike. Not at all practical for a road commuter, but if your commute has some off-road/rough roads, it looks kick @ss. That's more or less the bike I had in my head when I first started commuting. Except I'd have a front suspension fork or head shock. But now that I've been on a road bike commuting for a few months, I would never go with that much 4x4 off-road stuff. Maybe for a winter commuter, but I'd have to have fenders since those big knobbies would be throwing sh*t everywhere.

The rear caliper mounts on the inside of the rear chain seat stay. That leaves the outside of the stay for rack brazons. No need for disc specific racks. My Schwinn World DBX is setup that way. Simple solution to an age old problem. Can't believe it took builders that long to figure that one out.

I read in another thread that it's expected to be about $2000 for the complete, or $650 for frame/fork. So it's "only" twice as much as the LHT, but it also looks about twice as fun. :)

They also moved away from IS mount and used Post Mount instead, much better. I'm holding off my purchase for now until I see more framesets like this offering with chainstay disc mount using Post Mount instead of IS.

Pretty cool looking bike. I wonder why they have the Road Morph pump on upside down. I carried mine there for a while and ocassionally on rough roads the handle will vibrate loose from the locking position. I think it would be bad for the handle to drag on the road. Also at 28lbs. thats a lot of weight to push back and forth to work every day.

I'm not sure I like the radically sloping tt, I noticed this on their other 2 new road bikes also. I wonder if they are going this way to be able to only make a s/m/l size range? It sounds like Rivendell is doing this with their new line coming out in the spring...I don't like this trend.
Chris

uh. Velcros?

Bullocks.

I'm sure some will use it as a commuter, but it doesn't even necessarily seem marketed to that. Who needs all that crap on a sub-20 mile jaunt?

Seems more like a Great Divide Trail rig or for exploring the endless logging roads of the PNW. Maybe even Colorado/Rainbow Trail or something.

I'm thinking rocky, jeep trails and fire roads way off the beaten path...not a quickie in the mornings ;)

QBP and Salsa+Surly
 

The bike seems nice and all those cage mounts make sense for a long range tourist adventurer type. Hot weather can sap you and water isn't always available. Definitely not a commuter bike necessarily but you can use any bike for the typical short commute.

Don't forget, QBP owns Salsa and Surly brands and they are both made in the Orient soooo............there is very little difference in the quality. Kind of the like the difference between a Chevy and a GMC truck.

28lbs isn't that bad. My daily commuter probably weighs 40lbs.

You are a go faster on 700x23's I bet.

28lb is not a bad weight at all for the basic bike on that size tire. That's pretty well the weight of most "10 speeds" from late 60's though even the early 90's. Bikes lighter then that were made from unobtainum to the average rider then. It wasn't till the late 80's that the average rider was getting bikes near 20lb.

I'm riding a M400 with street tires and its 27lb stripped. I leave out in the morning with Lunch, Water, Coffee, locks and junk in my trunk bag I am over 47lb. I pump some pretty good hills on my way to work and while that weight does slow me down some it really is not that bad. A sand bar dweller like you can handle it on the flats you live on if a 200lb+ guy like me with heart issues can handle it in the North Ga Appalachian foot hills.

That bike is a pack mule. Its made to haul weight long distance without failures at a medium pace. Enjoy the ride and look around it doesn't have to be a race. ;)

Another overkill bike. I love it!

Not overkill for its intended purpose. But it is overkill for commuting. And not to mention that it's mother****ing ugly. If I ever have an unwanted *****, all I have to do is pull up that image.