Thoughts on 2011 Salsa Fargo Complete bike build?

[bikerdan]

I've been anxiously looking forward to being able to order a 2011 Salsa Fargo, akin to this:

   http://bipedfred.com/2010/01/16/salsa-fargo-i-know-why-youre-here/

Anyways, the 2011's are on their website now:

   http://salsacycles.com/bikes/fargo/

And the complete bike builds are now with SRAM 10-speed APEX with 27/40T front and 12-36T rear.  Interestingly not a triple on the front, and only 40T up there.  I plan to use the bike for lots of stuff, including road trips and am afraid this might be a little slow. The 2010's had Shimano XT 26/36/48T front and 11-34T rear.

Thoughts?  Opinions on other parts of this build?

-Dan

[whittierider]

27-40T front and 12-36T rear.  Interestingly not a triple on the front, and only 40T up there.  I plan to use the bike for lots of stuff, including road trips and am afraid this might be a little slow. [...]
Thoughts?

Perhaps; but if you're a spinner, you'll be able to spin it at least into the high 30's of mph if not 40, and if wind or hill have you going that fast, you won't save appreciable time by getting it up another 10-15mph for the short time those runs last.  I've spun my 52/12 into the mid 50's but I haven't tried it with a big load.  I don't think I would want to.  I myself wouldn't use a 40/12 below 28mph, although I will say that one time our son and I were riding down the California coast and were going up a pretty decent grade with a great tailwind, we were going 28mph, and he said, "We are climbing, aren't we??"  I said, "Yeah, isn't this great?!"  We didn't have a big load though.

[RussSeaton]

And the complete bike builds are now with SRAM 10-speed APEX with 27/40T front and 12-36T rear.

40x12 at 100 rpm will get you 28.7mph.  Unless you are going down hill you likely won't be going that fast.  And if going down hill, rest and coast.  The 27x36 low gear is 21.8 gear inches.  Very low.  Apex also comes in a 11-32 cassette.  So you could probably have the shop you buy the bike from make the change for you.  High gear of 40x11 gets you 31.4mph at 100 rpm.  Low gear goes to 24.5 gear inches.  Still very low.

The website says the crankset is FSA Comet.  But when I looked on the FSA site all I saw was a mountian bike triple for Comet.  In 42-32-22 with 104/64mm bcd.  So not sure what the Fargo uses for a crankset.  If its the FSA Comet then they only use the middle and inner positions.  So you could put a 44 or 42 ring in the 104mm bcd spot instead of the 40 ring.  That would get you quite a bit higher gearing.

[bikerdan]

Thanks guys, great input.  I think I was just initially taken back by the fact that it wasn't a triple -- after seeing the actual figuring, it looks like a pretty good combo!  Now, if they would just start making the darn things ...

Thanks for your help!

-Dan

[GCharles]

I agree, I am anxiously awaiting their shipping dates.  My LBS called Salsa and they said December, but no idea of when in December.

[CyclesafeSr]

27/36 gets you 21.8 gi, but 22/36 gets you 17.7 gi.  Not everyone will be happy off the asphalt, fully loaded, with the former.

It looks like Salsa is marketing the Fargo to the bike packer sub segment of cycle tourers.  These guys don't carry much stuff.   

[Moondoggy]

The current trend is 2x10 in both Shimano and SRAM's Mt bike component groups

[DaveB]

27/36 gets you 21.8 gi, but 22/36 gets you 17.7 gi.  Not everyone will be happy off the asphalt, fully loaded, with the former.

It looks like Salsa is marketing the Fargo to the bike packer sub segment of cycle tourers.  These guys don't carry much stuff. 

There is no way a double can have the overall range of a triple unless it leaves huge gaps in the gearing.  An 11x34 10-speed cassette will have a lot of big gaps between adjacent cogs that something like a 12x27 easily avoids and mated with a suitable triple the closer spaced cassette not only has an adequate overall range but better intermediate gear spacing. 

[EnduroDoug]

Just ordered my wife the 2010 Fargo once we confirmed via test ride that a size small won't be too big for her with the big wheels. She was really excited about how stable the bike felt during the test ride.

Decided to order just the frame (and very glad they changed the paint job so we don't have matching bikes) for a couple of reasons. For starters, we're going to flat trekking bars with SRAM grip shifts and SRAM rear-deraileur. May still be having wheels built with dyno hub and, regardless, want to invest in stronger wheels right off the start. And I want that XT triple chainring.

Secondly, I want to build the bike myself to continue sharpening my own self-reliance. I'll have the shop install the headset, but ordering the parts one by one from online discounters and building the bike slowly over the winter should really help me get to know the bike and be able to repair it when the time comes.

Lastly, we're in a down-sizing phase and ordering the parts individually allows us to pay as we go with the money we get from selling things we no longer use or want.

Just a few things to consider when deciding to buy a complete bike or build up your own.