Fargo and Away

Yeah, it’s cheesy to name your bike, but I’m over 50 and being cheesy just kinda comes with the territory now.

I named my bike Ruby. I love the name. If we had a daughter she probably would have been named Ruby, but we didn’t have a daughter, so I named my bike.

Ruby is a Salsa Fargo Titanium drop bar mountain bike. Salsa invented this bike specifically for long-haul bikepacking over gravel and dirt roads. Since I knew I wanted to bikepack, this was a natural choice for me.

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Fargos are famous out west for their do anything-ness. Want to ride a 100 miles on road? Put smooth tires on it, settle into the handlebar drops, and go. Want to throw on 50 pounds of camping gear and ride through the wilderness for days or weeks? The frame has loads of gear mounting points and the forks can handle wide tires. The remarkably light titanium frame will never rust, is super strong, and looks amazing.

Once I settled on the Fargo, I began picking out components. If you aren’t a gear head you can stop reading now, as this is about to get real bike nerdy.

The first thing I chose after the frame were the Salsa Cowchipper handle bars. They feel familiar for a road cyclist (like me) but flare out more on the ends to give the rider more control on technical terrain.

Next, having fallen head over heals for the SRAM eTap AXS system on my road bike, I decided to use a similar set up for the Fargo. One of the beautiful things about AXS is you can use their road bike shift levers (the “business”) up front with the mountain bike derailleur (the “party”) in the back — a mullet drivetrain!

I opted to splurge on an XX1 10-52T (!) cassette paired with a 34T chain ring, which gives me plenty of range for long steep climbs and good enough range to speed on the flats. Ruby red Crank Brothers Double Shot pedals on the XX1 crank arms give me a super stable platform for riding, whether wearing flats or clipped in.

For wheels I went with Industry Nine Trail 29ers for their lighter weight and durability, with I9 Hydra Complete Freehubs. The 32 spoke design should hold up well even with all my gear strapped to the bike. They also look, roll, and sound sweet!

I mounted Rene Hearse Fleecer Ridge rubber onto the I9s, set up to run tubeless both for comfort and puncture resistance. Fleecer Ridge tires are named after an iconic steep climb on the GDMBR, and they have a good reputation for balancing speed/quiet on smooth surfaces with durability on gravel.

I went with an Ergon saddle on a Cane Creek eeSilk + suspension seat post to better protect my bits, and added a Redshift ShockStop suspension steam up front to quiet the chatter I’ll feel on washboard trails out west.

Overall I am thrilled with how the bike came out, and it’s proving itself capable already on most anything thrown at it, with the exception of more technical trails where the lack of a full suspension system and the relaxed geometry makes riding less than enjoyable. On smoother gravel, however, this bike finds its comfort zone and is a pure joy.

In an upcoming post. I’ll share how I outfitted the bike with bikepacking bags.