Thoughts On The 32"er Fargo

Note: The images shared in this article were provided as part of the Teravail tire and rim release.  Commentary is Guitar Ted's.

Titanium Fargo 32'er. Image courtesy of Teravail

 This announcement by Salsa Cycles is perhaps one of the worst kept secrets in the cycling industry, that I am aware of, for quite some time. Rumors and sightings of the 32"er Fargo prototypes have been circulating around the internet for months. 

Now that the bike is out in the open, what can we infer from its release? Technical specs will  be everywhere on the internet, undoubtedly, and will be debated. What I am interested in is what impact this may have regarding 29"ers and 32"ers going forward. 

Image courtesy of Teravail

With the tires this bike is being sold with, and with the option of using a Teravail Camrock or Cannonball, it seems as though QBP/Salsa/Teravail are all in on 32"ers, at least for the short term. 

Salsa Cycles, as reported in a recent "Bicycle Retailer and Industry News" report, is one of the top five brands at the retail level in the USA.With a steel Fargo 32"er and a titanium one, it would be apparent that Salsa is betting on robust sales of 32" wheeled Fargos, at least in the short term. Salsa certainly has the presence at the retail level to support larger numbers of bikes in 32" wheels. 

That same "BRAIN" article showed a big drop off for retail presence for many other brands. Of course, Trek is number one with Specialized right behind. Cannondale ranks up there as well as Giant. These are brands which typically are more conservative with newer ideas in niche areas of cycling. However; I would expect something from one or more of the Big Four brands sooner than later if Salsa sees brisk sales of Fargos with giant wheels. 

Image courtesy of Teravail

The Fargo was the original "Adventure by Bike" product and certainly this new Fargo will be aimed at taller folk for bike packing and gravel uses. The mountain bike DNA the Fargo has always had will make this a decent mild single track bike. I think 32" wheels and the Fargo is a good fit. But what about other bikes? 

Well, we will see. It all depends upon how the marketplace sees 32"ers. Will they be pigeonholed into XC MTB? Will the big wheels find a home in the bikepacking crowd? What about drop bar bikes for gravel? I think all of this will be offered up front, but what catches on is anyone's guess. 

In the end, you still won't be putting many medium sized people on these bikes and smaller folk won't even have the option. (Although Salsa is offering a small in the Fargo, surprisingly) In this scenario I see 29"ers still being the dominant wheel size. Then the question becomes "Will the industry support two different wheel sizes? If history is any indication, the answer has to be "No". For example, the 27.5"er wheels are still around, but they are being shed from the gravel side faster than a speeding bullet and are becoming rarer in MTB all the time. Same situation with the once ballyhooed "Plus-sized" wheels. 

My gut tells me the industry will not suffer two major wheel sizes for long. I could be wrong. But history says I'm probably right.  

UPDATE: Check out this VIDEO from Bikepacking.com where Neil Beltechenko reviews the new Titanium Fargo.  

In the video it is revealed that the Fargo 32 will only be frame/fork/through axles/head set/seat collar at first with the steel bike coming in the Fall of 2026. Standard Boost spacing , which is a bit of a surprise, and a size small!  Whisky Mtn carbon fork, (for now). Prices: $3,499.00 titanium and $1,799.00 steel.