Salsa Fargo Custom Build!

I go over my new 2020 edition Salsa Fargo!
The bike has been fully customized to suit my needs for upcoming bike packing adventures.
Frame size: Small (I'm 5' 5" or 165cm)
The following parts were kept stock and the spec sheet can be found via salsacycles.com:
Frame
Fork
Headset
Brakes
Brake Rotors
Wheels
Tires
Cassette
Chain
Rear Derailleur
Crank Arms
BB
Mods I Made:
Jones Loop Bar
Ergon Grips
Supacaz Bar End Plugs
Avid Speed Dial Levers
Wolftooth Headset Spacers
Custom Stem Cap (Bryn Merrell- brynmerrell.com)
Aboslute Black Oval Chainring for Sram Dub Cranks in 34t
Crank Brothers Candy Pedals
Easton Carbon Seatpost 27.2
Salsa Liplock- Orange Anodized
Brooks Cambium C15 Carved All Weather Saddle
MucOff Anodized Tubeless Stems, Rim Tape, and Tubeless Sealant
Salsa Bartape for front of Handlebar
Widefoot Fork Mounted Cages (Black- Black Saddle Bike Shop, Madison)
Blackburn Cargo Cages (Fitchburg Cycles, Fitchburg)
Blackburn Elite Seatpost Bag (Fitchburg Cycles, Fitchburg)
Whiskey Carbon Bottle Cages (Downtube and Seattube)
Liv Carbon Bottle Cage (Underside of Downtube)
Not seen in video- Paul Gino Low Rider Light Mount
Additional gear that goes on the bike:
Revelate Designs Mag Tank
Revelate Designs Feed Bag
Blackburn Feedbag
Blackburn Outpost Elite Handlebar Bag
Garmin 530 Cycling Computer
Follow @spokehaven on IG and TikTok for the most up to date posts.
spokehaven.com for blogs as well as in depth write ups on bikes, products, and trips.
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PayPal: [e-mail]
Contact Cassandra at [e-mail] for questions, product inquiries, review requests, and more.

[@flowdaddybrad]

Beautiful bike. Love the color. Currently having a custom Fargo built for me. I am also using the Jones Bar. I am using a Rohloff and Gates belt drive as well. Can’t wait to give it a spin.

[@zenofthemoment]

Congrats on NBD!!! 🤘

[@rambodfard2339]

Hi C! Thank you so much for the shout-out! Your presence is missed at the LBS. The Ti Fargo played a lead role in many adventures in 2021 with hopefully many more in 2022. LMK if there is room for one more in one of your upcoming adventures. Happy Trails! R

[@devoidbmx1]

A guide to abbreviations used in this post: C LBS Ti LMK R C-Cassandra lbs- Local Bike Shop Ti - Titanium Lmk- let me know R- Raymond

[@mikeclements4548]

Nice bike - I have a very similar set up - the jones bars are amazing and make all the difference 👍

[@lweleven3423]

Some one that shares my opinion on brakes 🥳🥳🥳 I’m not alone, though I’m still a Tube person I can’t be convinced on tubeless , I may give it a try but I’ll Cary a tube for sure . nice bike

[@MarcS4R]

Nice Video, I have the Same Fargo. The only mods i. have done so far are some Rene Herse Fleecer Ridge tires, XTR SPD pedals and a Redshift suspension seat post. Other than that i have been riding it as often as I can, it's a blast to ride. I want to install the Paul Klamper Brakes and some white industries cranks next.

[@Roby-Bees]

Beatiful video! Thank you from 🇮🇹 😊

[@Spokehaven]

Thank you!

[@matriskie]

Hey, cool bike and video. One of the few videos of flatbar fargos! Thats how I want to build mine up, comfort oriented. Just wondering if I need to take the If I need to take into account the difference in handle bars in my size selection. I am 1m86. Doubting between fargo, cinello hobooteg, ritchey ascent (all dropbar?) And kona unitx, surly ogre. To many cool choices:p

[@bobhollister2851]

Fork note. They removed the threaded hole on the crown of the fork because people were using it for racks, and that hole was never reinforced for racks. The blank hole is for internal routed cables on dynamo hub lighting. When I got my 2020 frameset,the website still had their old carbon forks with the threaded hole. I called and asked if I had a faulty fork. It's an intentional design choice, and I do think it's a shame.

[@Spokehaven]

I would love to see them come out with a rack compatible carbon form option! I didn’t even think about the Dynamo routing 🤦🏻‍♀️

[@pgreenx]

Do you happen to know if this changes for 2021?

[@BiminiJerry]

Nice, detailed video. I have a 2018, and the firestarter fork of that model has a threaded hole on the crown... I sometimes attach a small nitto rack to it - but I'm careful to make sure that it is not heavily laden, and I use this attachment only to reduce rotational torque of the struts attached down below. I was cautioned about this, but I've not had any problems with it. I run a sonhub on front, powering a sinewave beacon, and a rohloff on the back... It's basically the only bike I ride... use it for nearly everything: commuting, touring/bikepacking/rando-style rides, fitness, etc. I'm curious to know if yours has lived up to your expectations after a year+?

[@davidwoodward9528]

Front hole is wiring route for a genny hub to the front light. (I also own a Fargo)

[@Spokehaven]

Yes! I realized after I posted the video what it was for haha.

[@allydidier791]

My friend has this bike and I’ve been looking at it for myself too. I like the larger tire clearance and extra mounting points! Do you happen to know if it is dropper post compatible? Also, did you cut the seat tube shorter?

[@Spokehaven]

No alterations done to the frame at all. I don’t seem to recall seeing routing in the seat tube for an internal dropper post I think you can still run one but it would have to be an external design. I generally find that anytime there’s a bike frame that still uses externally routed cables in general that they don’t have internal routing for dropper posts. You could always email Salsa directly though just to confirm with them.

[@allydidier791]

Yeah that makes sense. I’ll probably do that when the time comes! Thank you!

[@luiacuhe]

Hey Hello! Can you tell me what type of front light mount you use? Pura Vida!!!

[@miltonstewart1]

All I know is that 11-1 is better for performance.Your rear cassette will wear out quick. But you never need to worry about cross-changing.M

[@jotsingh8917]

Have this set-up. Any thought of adding a Rohloff Speedhub and Gates belt drive?

[@Spokehaven]

If I could afford to, I would look into it. I feel like it adds pretty substantial weight and I’m a bit of a weight weenie, but it would provide good peace of mind on long haul trips!

[@cjvilleneuve1566]

@@Spokehaven this kind of weight is not noticeable on a bike, unless you run for the fastest time on earth, then it make sens.....

[@jimheexal9881]

good bike

[@zenofthemoment]

According to Russ at Path Less Pedaled (see Cave of Bad Ideas series of videos), they had to run road/road or MTB/MTB shifter/der, but they were able to run a wide range drop bar 1x setup by swapping a long MTB der cage into a road der. All that to say, I thought Sram 1:1 actuation all played nicely together too, but it appears it actually doesn't. Go figure. 🤷‍♂️🤦‍♂️

[@bobhollister2851]

sram 1:1 actuation is a different generation I think that was 9 or 10 speed?

[@Mrpleex]

name of the handlebar? cheers

[@bobhollister2851]

If you can pull the cable fin off a doner gx or other 11 speed mtn der you can get the flat bar shifter to work with their road der set ups. I"m currently doing it on my fargo. DM me, i might be able to get a fin to you if you haven't already gotten your shifer situation sorted

[@bobhollister2851]

specifically your flat bar shifer is sram "x-actuation" and the der is "exact-actuation" these are diff pull ratios, as you acknowledged. Basically you're doing the inverse of what ratio technology is doing with their mullet setups. we are doing the anti-mullet

[@edtenberger]

Did you check if the hanger is bent. That may also cause bad shifting in the middle gears.

[@Spokehaven]

It wasn’t the issue, it was the actual shifter comparability and it’s been quite a long time. The issue has been addressed 😁

[@Spokehaven]

Update because I have updated the shifter to an Apex compatible shifter on the bike. Sram doesn’t make it easy to identify the compatibility or at least back when myself and my other mechanic friend were working on the bike we hadn’t seen that the shifter was going to be a be a no go until we did some deep dive online. The bike works and shifts flawlessly now and I’m loving it! Thanks to the few of you who reached out with some helpful tips on Fargo ownership and the mods you have made! I also know the fork whole is for wiring to a generator hub, which I hope rondo in the future. For now it’s been an awesome multipurpose machine that I plan on doing some more Bikepacking on once the weather stops spitting snow and rain at us!

[@miltonstewart1]

NICE video. Can I go riding with you?

[@cycling2005]

The shifter you have is definitely not compatible with that derailleur. The Sram derailleur pull ratio is exact actuation. The Sram shifter pull ratio is X actuation. Sram make a specific under bar Apex shifter for this derailleur model number SL-APX-A1. Its a specific Apex branded shifter for flat bar road/gravel bikes. The shifter you currently have only works with MTB derailleurs. Apex Derailleur's are poor quality and don't offer good shifts even with the correct shifter. If it was my bike I would keep the shifter and swap the Derailleur for an 11 Speed MTB one. All the 11 speed MTB models in the sram range will work with that shifter. Nice bike

[@Spokehaven]

I’ve not had any problems with the Apex shifting once I purchased the correct compatible shifter. I will likely upgrade to Shimano SLX or XT eventually once I wear out this drivetrain, but don’t feel the need to swap at the moment. 12speed would be nice! I go Shimano for my MtB’s because I like the crisper feel of their shifting for sure with SLX or XT, but for touring/commuting where I’m not shifting quite as much as I would be charging on trails, it’s all good for me and less $$$ I have to spend whole we wait for parts to become wholly available again.

[@jotsingh8917]

It is not deep red but Cabernet Sauvignon Red.

[@Spokehaven]

Thanks for clarifying bud!

[@miltonstewart1]

You are mad technical. I would dream for a girl like you. M