Neglected But Not Forgotten: Part 3

New-ish Soma Cazaderos on old, old wheels!

So, I don't know if many of you noticed, but 2021 did not feature much of the old Gen I Fargo here. That's because I did not ride it much at all. Maybe a few times back and forth to work earlier in the year, but then most of this Summer and Fall? Not a day. It sat near the back of the stable most of that time. 

A couple of weeks ago now I started thinking about why that was. Obviously I was busy reviewing stuff and most of that happened with other bikes. Not that I couldn't have used the Fargo, I just didn't. 

Anyway, there it sat, unused, and without any real inspiration to dig it out, I let it go for weeks. Weeks turned into months, and you know what is next, and I did not want that to happen. So I needed to consider why it was I felt like I did concerning this bike and it boiled down to the heavy wheels and tires I had on there. While the fat Extraterrestrials were fun, they are just so darn heavy, and that pedestrian wheel set I was using, while okay, was pretty heavy as well. It made for an uninspiring ride. 

That meant they needed to go, but for what? Later on, when I was clearing out some junk that had accumulated, I got inspired to do something about all the tires I had gathering and taking up space, and that led to a wheel inventory. That's when I started putting some ideas together. 

I had these almost new Soma Cazadero tires in 700 X 50mm and a set of Sun Ringle' Black Flag 29"er wheels I had tested waaaaay back for "Twentynine Inches" which they didn't want back. (Standard Disclaimer) Those are pretty lightweight aluminum rimmed wheels with a really narrow inner rim width. In fact I have to laugh because these so-called MTB rims are actually narrower than current gravel rims. 

So, I had to refresh some tape, clean up some old sealant, and I set those wheels and tires up on the old Gen I Fargo and came up with this.....

The current state of things with the Fargo Gen I

I think it looks pretty all-right with these wheels and tires. More importantly, it is much more fun to ride, and much more comfortable. You'd think that those Extraterrestrials would ride smooth, and they do, but not like the Cazaderos do. These new tires should be a lot of fun on this bike and I look forward to riding it in this configuration for quite a while. 

I also now can mount fenders to this, if I want, while the old set up did not leave room for that. So that's a bonus to these wheels and tires as well. The drive train on this bike was getting on in wear, but I won't worry about that now until next Spring as I may use this some during the Winter.