I’ve only been bikepacking for about two years now, but to say I’m hooked would be putting it mildly. During that time I’ve done these adventures on everything from road bikes to fat bikes. When I first saw the Salsa Fargo, complete with 27.5+ tires, I have to admit that the combination of high-volume plus tires and drop bars had me scratching my head. But after loading the __bike down with three days’ worth of camping gear and supplies, it all started to make sense.
Who it’s For
Bushwhackers, bikepackers, and anyone spending hours in the saddle exploring back roads and singletrack.
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What We Liked
Although the Fargo’s steel frame and carbon Salsa Firestarter fork are rigid, the high-volume 27.5+ (three-inch wide) Schwalbe Rocket Ron tires offer a fairly plush ride and superb traction. When loaded, the Fargo excelled over rough, rocky dirt roads and floated over sandy sections that would cause a skinnier tire to knife. The bike takes singletrack in stride as long as it’s not too steep or technical—then a regular flat-bar mountain bike with a suspension fork becomes a better choice. And on smoother dirt roads, the Fargo’s plus tires aren’t as efficient or fast-feeling as standard 29er mountain tires. Fortunately, the Fargo fits both normal-width 29er tires and wheels, but also 29+ mountain bike tires. Its fork is suspension-corrected in length too, so riders could add a 100mm-travel fork. Updates for 2017 include shorter chainstays and splittable Alternator V.1.5 dropouts for belt drive compatibility.
The Fargo’s frame has a shorter top tube length to match the longer reach (compared to a a flat bar) of the Salsa Woodchipper 2 drop bars. The 26-degree flare of the drops gives them a feel somewhere in between that of a regular drop bar and a mountain bike bar with a lot of sweep—it feels nothing like a traditional drop bar unless you’re on the hoods or the flat portion, and offers more control and leverage. There are also multiple hand positions, which I really appreciated on long days in the saddle.
Watch Out For...
Salsa does not recommend the 29+ upgrade on its extra small size frame due to toe overlap.
The Takeaway
The Fargo is a well-thought-out bike: Plus tires give the rigid frame a smooth ride while adding traction and flotation on primitive, seldom-used routes—often the best kind for true adventures—and the versatile Woodchipper 2 bars offered plenty of hand positions for long days in the saddle.
- Equipped with 27.5+ tires but can be set up with 29 or 29+
- Steel frame and suspension-corrected length rigid carbon fork
- Five bottle cage mounts
- SRAM Rival 1x drivetrain and disc brakes
- Bled drive compatible thanks to split-able V1.5 Alternator dropouts
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