The Virtual Turkey Burn Challenge Bike: Update

 The Virtual Turkey Burn Challenge which will be happening  November 28th - December 1st will be done on this Fargo. I had changed up the set up in terms of the stem/handle bar position recently and I needed to take that out on a bit of a test ride to see how that was going to suit me. 

The original intentions for the Fargo were that it would be a drop bar, mountain bike adventure machine. In light of that, the drop bars were supposed to be set up so that the primary position would be hands in the drops. That's why Gen I Fargos have tall stack heights despite being non-suspension corrected. 

Now you may be thinking, "Hold on there a minute, Guitar Ted! What's all this "stack height" and "non-suspension corrected" stuff have to do with my preference in handlebar set up?" Well, seeing as how Fargos get - what shall we say? Personalized? Set up in odd ways according to whims of their owners? Hmm.... I think you catch my drift here. What I am saying is "original intentions" mean nothing to many Fargo owners. But if you want to know, riding in the drops is how it was meant to be done. 

So that's how I set mine up. See those black grips, those Redshift Sports Cruiser grips? Now imagine that that spot is where a flat bar and its grip would be in space, lower the head tube a bit, level out the top tube a bit, and if you are still following me here what we would end up with is a box-stock El Mariachi from 2008. 

Besides the bar/stem changes I needed to make sure the drivetrain was up to snuff. As I was checking that out I was reminded of how darn reliable, simple, and maintenance-free those Gevenalle shifters are. Now, of course, these are really just perches for old school bar end shifters. 

Mine are Shimano Ultegra 9 speed shifters. They probably will never wear out. Heck, they've been on this bike or my Black Mountain Cycles Monstercross bike for so long now that I cannot remember how old they are without checking the blog archives here. I do know that when I got these red (now faded to pink) anodized shifter perches the company was called Retroshift! So, that's been a while now. 

The other bit that I was thinking about with regard to the Fargo here was how my crank set is completely not on the cutting edge!  Nine speed, triple rings, and arms at 180mm long! I mean, you cannot get anymore "out of date" with what is hot now than this crankset. 

But there you go. This Fargo Gen I is a kind of a throw-back, kind of a 'classic which is being copied now' type of  bike all wrapped up in a durable "Fun Guy Green" powdercoat. It's a bike that I've been on during many an adventure. I sure hope that the Virtual Turkey Burn will be another fine chapter in this bicycle's annals. 

Yeah, so mechanically I am good to go. Now I have a route in mind and I just need to plot it out, see what weather I am going to get to deal with, and go from there. 

Stay tuned....