Salsa Cycles Fargo: Gen II Ride Report

I've spent a good bit of time riding the Salsa Cycles Fargo since it came out. I have ridden it plenty on single track, and I thought it did alright. Maybe there were days I just didn't "have what it took", and then there were days I could just rip it on that Gen I Fargo. (Riding gravel was never an issue. There it always ruled.)

Single trackin' Fargo

Then Salsa revised the Fargo. They made some tweaks that my friend Ben up at Milltown Cycles said had made him want to ditch his Gen I Fargo and go with the newer version, it was that much better. Hmm.....

Ben usually has a really good handle on what I like in a bicycle, but I resisted. I was "okay" with what I had, I said. Gen I Fargo was good.

Then I rode Gen II at Interbike. That changed everything, as I stated here in this post. The new Fargo does single track very well, at least at Bootleg Canyon it did. I was intrigued enough to pick this green one up and ride it here in the Mid-West.

My first rides were hampered by a too-worn-out cassette, so hammering it was not going to happen. That is, until yesterday when I did have a good cassette on it. Did it feel like it did at Bootleg Canyon? I'm happy to report that yes: Yes it did. The same rippin', fast feeling, glued to the trail bike that I felt in Nevada was now rippin' it under me on my local trail. Good stuff!

Now I know that Salsa Cycles portrays the Fargo as the ultimate off-road tourer/adventure bike, and it is. However; don't forget that stripped down to bare necessities, this bike kills single track.

Drop Bars off-road? You betcha!

I remember when my buddy MG was telling me about his desire for Salsa to make a "drop bar El Mariachi" for their line up. The first Fargo wasn't really that bike. This new one is. The old Fargo wasn't much of a "monster-cross" bike. It was something quite unique. There are some aspects of this new Fargo that are very "road bike like", but not in a touring bike way. No- In a very racy, cyclo-cross bike way. Maybe it is the "ultimate monster-crosser".

This specific set up is really, really smooth. The steel frame, the Cane Creek Thudbuster ST seat post, and the supple Specialized Ground Control tires made the roots and rough spots much smoother. The bike feels very well weighted front to rear, and corners on rails.

Climbing, (what there is within the city limits), was good. I need to get out to the Camp on this to see about a more technical, slow speed climb up, but I am expecting good stuff here. The weight is reasonable. I know this will never beat something like the carbon frames I am testing now, but Salsa Cycles has struck a great balance between strength for touring/loaded riding and weight here.

Now, I am not ready to ditch Fargo #1 just yet, because that bike travels gravel so well. I am probably going to switch the rubber out to Vulpines on that one though, and stay away from doing much single track with it.

On Fargo for gravel, one Fargo for off-road rippin'. It's all good!