A Salsa Fargo for me...

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RonK
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Re: A Salsa Fargo for me...

Postby RonK » Sat Nov 26, 2016 12:06 pm

Well, perhaps I've exhausted my karma.

After fitting the tyres I left the bike outside in case of any sealant leaks, so when I got home it had been sitting in the sun all afternoon.

I decided to check the pressures to see how well they were holding. I've been running the Cazaderos at 50 psi which Guitar Ted felt was the sweet spot - despite the warning on the Stan's rims not to inflate MTB tyres harder than 40 psi.

Both tyres still had around 40 psi in them - pretty much as I had left then overnight. So I increased the pressure to the usual 50 psi ready for an early morning ride and went back inside.

Moments later there was a loud bang and I looked outside to see the front tyre had blown off the rim. The casing felt very soft, probably from sitting in the hot sun.

It only took a few minutes to refit and reinflate to 40 psi and it's been holding ok.

But it's got me thinking that I should have fitted the tubeless-ready Mezcals instead.

I'll see how they go on the road.
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Re: A Salsa Fargo for me...

Postby eldavo » Sat Nov 26, 2016 1:33 pm

Before I had handled tubeless ready tyres, I hadn't found bead seats as tight as them, and thought of things like ProCore for locking the bead. I since found advice that's more applicable to narrow rims.

Once I found what tubeless rims and tubeless tyres took to break the bead with wide rims, my mind was at peace that I wouldn't have the bead unseat pushing a 29x3 at offroad 12psi+ pressures.

So I think if you change to those other tubeless tyres, you'll not have any explosion anxiety.

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Re: A Salsa Fargo for me...

Postby RonK » Tue Nov 29, 2016 10:05 am

I've clocked quite a few kilometers on the Fargo now and it's going well.

Even my ghetto tubeless tyres are behaving since I've adopted the recommended inflation pressure.

The one niggle is the handlebar - I just don't take to the woodchipper bar. For one thing they are inconveniently wide. But the main issue is that when the tops are at my preferred angle, the drops are not. And it's difficult to place the levers exactly where I like them.

I've been thinking about this for a while now so yesterday made up my mind and ordered a cowchipper.
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Re: A Salsa Fargo for me...

Postby baabaa » Tue Nov 29, 2016 11:02 am

I understand your issues with the WC but have you tried them on dirt, with your hands at the bar ends (maybe one finger on the end of the brake lever)? To me this is what they are all about and it changes the way you ride, but if you like riding on the hoods, nope. Have not tried cowchippers but have 46 cm bell laps which work pretty well for on the hoods and bar top riding.

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Re: A Salsa Fargo for me...

Postby RonK » Tue Nov 29, 2016 6:07 pm

There is no point in having a drop bar that restricts me to riding only on the drops.

The tops, hoods and drops all need to be useable, (that is the reason for having a drop bar), but this cannot be achieved with the woodchoppers bend.

Otherwise a Jones H Bar would be a far better choice.
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Re: A Salsa Fargo for me...

Postby Wingnut » Thu Dec 01, 2016 10:00 pm

RonK wrote:Image
Image
Looks like you have set your shifters in a position similar to a road bike rather than angling/aligning them inwards with the drops as I believe intended by the design of the handlebars. It makes the move of the hands from the drops to the levers a bit more smooth rather than the way they are positioned here...but it's all personal and still won't help with the issues of feel on the tops of the bars...

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Re: A Salsa Fargo for me...

Postby RonK » Thu Dec 01, 2016 11:27 pm

The Woodchipper may work well for mountain biking, but it's not so good for gravel grinding. I have to say I'm in full agreement with Guitar Ted's comment that the:

"Woodchipper is basically a flawed design due to the radius that Salsa chose to use for the drops. It is the one feature that makes the Woodchipper difficult to set up where all positions and brake lever placement are useable by most people."

This why.

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Re: A Salsa Fargo for me...

Postby rifraf » Fri Dec 02, 2016 2:46 pm

RonK wrote:Well, perhaps I've exhausted my karma.

I've been running the Cazaderos at 50 psi which Guitar Ted felt was the sweet spot - despite the warning on the Stan's rims not to inflate MTB tyres harder than 40 psi.



It only took a few minutes to refit and reinflate to 40 psi and it's been holding ok.

But it's got me thinking that I should have fitted the tubeless-ready Mezcals instead.

.
Good luck with the new pressures.

I think you'll be fine at 35 to 40 psi.

I lowered mine to this amount after seeing lots of anecdotal evidence of rim damage of high volume (2'+) tired wheels at 50psi.

Lots of riders seem to claim to ride on much lower so I think you'll be good to go.
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Re: A Salsa Fargo for me...

Postby RonK » Sun Dec 18, 2016 12:48 pm

It's been several rides now since I replaced the woodchipper bars with cowchippers.

The cowchipper bend allowed the levers to be mounted in a position that is comfortable from either the tops or the drops while keeping the drops at a rational angle.

So far the result has been more an satisfying.
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Re: A Salsa Fargo for me...

Postby rifraf » Sun Dec 18, 2016 2:45 pm

Get that RX100 earning its keep and see if you can supply a before and after.

I thought that green bar-tape a nice finishing touch and great accompaniment to the looks and comments of envy within the thread. :D
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Re: A Salsa Fargo for me...

Postby RonK » Sun Dec 18, 2016 6:56 pm

Hehe - I will take another pic when I get a chance, but I don't think the camera will reveal much.

The shape of is not really all that different and the green tape remains.
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Re: A Salsa Fargo for me...

Postby RonK » Sat Dec 24, 2016 3:38 pm

Seems my ghetto tubeless Soma Cazadero mount is a success. In fact they actually hold pressure better now than when they were tubed.

After blowing the bead off the rim initially exceeding the recommended inflation pressure, I topped up with some additional sealant, and there have been no further issues inflated to 40 psi.

They still feel quite hard at that pressure and can probably be deflated some more. Will experiment with 30/35 and see how that goes.
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Re: A Salsa Fargo for me...

Postby rifraf » Sat Dec 31, 2016 3:49 pm

Now there is nothing like being truely late to the party and its sheer irony that your already sorted with your fabulous Fargo, but I came across a website today that you might have found interesting about 2 years back.

https://www.vakantiefietser.nl/en/the-h ... orx-bikes/

Which is a Dutch company that sells the Idworx bikes you talked about.

Yes I know your done with your Rohloff experiment and don't wish to have one under your roof again, but remembering how difficult it was to find one of these bikes online that might ship internationally, I thought from a point of interest, you might like to know it, if not then, is now at least possible.

You can now at least tell others of the site should they express any interest.

I did try to fine one of the threads where the bikes were discussed but I've never had much success with this sites search function since that big change of web host that happened some time ago.

Your too prolific a poster over the years to want to go searching manually through all your posts in search of the appropriate thread. :D

I see they are one of the minority brands that has taken to the frame mounted pinion gearbox
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Re: A Salsa Fargo for me...

Postby eldavo » Sat Dec 31, 2016 3:53 pm

FYI on site search, if you have key terms to narrow it down, go to google and add this suffix to your search query

Code: Select all

site:bicycles.net.au

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Re: A Salsa Fargo for me...

Postby RonK » Sat Dec 31, 2016 5:21 pm

Hmmm, you must doubt my researching capabilities Aidan :)

Years ago I had various negations with The Holiday Biker about an idworx bike, but they came to nothing because Planet X in the UK started selling Van Nicholas at much better prices.

But you are right - I'm done with Rohloff and wouldn't recommend one to anybody.
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Re: A Salsa Fargo for me...

Postby rifraf » Sat Dec 31, 2016 5:43 pm

RonK wrote:Hmmm, you must doubt my researching capabilities Aidan :)

Years ago I had various negations with The Holiday Biker about an idworx bike, but they came to nothing because Planet X in the UK started selling Van Nicholas at much better prices.
Not at all.

I merely stumbled across the site today and remembering extremely vaguely you being the only person who'd ever mentioned the brand to me and you having some difficulties with your initial squiz to find someone who catered to international buyers, I thought I'd mention it.

You may indeed have shared your brand research ending upon finding the Van Nic, but I don't have the memory of my youth and despite looking, I had little joy using idworx or rohler in the search engine to remind myself where you'd left it and your interest.

Its my research capabilities these days that I have issue with, and not yours.

I was at the time tempted to look myself, due to being impressed with Idworx apparent attention to detail but think finding sites with English was the bugbear that saw me look for easier pickings.

No suggestion on my part that you swap out your Fargo, merely wondered if you'd be interested in seeing the site.

Likewise, I believe it was you who originally made me aware of Back Country Cuisine, but again the search engine, or my abilities, failed me and I gave up and merely made my own thread about finding a deal, not sure if its a good one or not, from the Ozbargain site.
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Re: A Salsa Fargo for me...

Postby RonK » Sat Dec 31, 2016 5:54 pm

When the site was upgraded the search indexes were never fully rebuilt successfully.

The only way to find older posts is to use advanced Google search and specify the site. As mentioned above by Davo.

Enter this in the Google search box: idworx site:http://www.bicycles.net.au/forums

Or this: Vakantiefietser site:http://www.bicycles.net.au/forums

Oh and I've moved on from Back Country too. I saw your other post - those a great prices, it's a pity I don't like the food.

Top of my list now for touring food is Strive Food

Here is my original post explaining why I didn't buy an idworx. Has anyone bought a bike in Europe before?
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Re: A Salsa Fargo for me...

Postby rifraf » Sat Dec 31, 2016 6:44 pm

RonK wrote:When the site was upgraded the search indexes were never fully rebuilt successfully.

The only way to find older posts is to use advanced Google search and specify the site. As mentioned above by Davo.

Enter this in the Google search box: idworx site:http://www.bicycles.net.au/forums

Or this: Vakantiefietser site:http://www.bicycles.net.au/forums

Oh and I've moved on from Back Country too. I saw your other post - those a great prices, it's a pity I don't like the food.

Top of my list now for touring food is Strive Food

Here is my original post explaining why I didn't buy an idworx. Has anyone bought a bike in Europe before?
Thanks for the search tips and links. :)
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Re: A Salsa Fargo for me...

Postby RonK » Mon Jan 02, 2017 7:31 pm

During my Xmas break I set out on a mini tour I've been planning for some time. Unfortunately my departure coincided with the arrival in SEQ of the heat wave that has had the rest of the country sweltering. Combined with SEQ humidity it was a killer so after the hard climbing in the heat on the first day I decided to postpone the rest of the ride until the cooler months.

But it was a very useful shakeout of the bike and the bikepacking bags. You can read more about it here.

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Re: A Salsa Fargo for me...

Postby RonK » Sun Jan 15, 2017 11:38 am

Mugglechops wrote:I hope your C17 lasts longer than mine did.
Not much. Apart from the fading and the fraying of the canvas cover, the top is pulling away from the rivets in a similar way to yours.

It's not quite two years old and still under warranty. I could claim a replacement from Brooks but is there any point?

I'm thinking I'll just replace it with a WTB Rocket Team or Pro.

Has anyone else had a Rocket under them. :)
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Re: A Salsa Fargo for me...

Postby singlespeedscott » Mon Jan 16, 2017 5:31 pm

I use to use the rocket in the mtb before moving to a Brooks Pro and then Brooks Colt.

The Rocket is definitely the comfiest plastic saddle I have used and was good for a few 24hr races.

I always had my suspicions that the C family of Brooks saddles would have a dubious lifespan. Rubber never seemed the right choice for a saddle subject to sweat and uv rays.
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Re: A Salsa Fargo for me...

Postby rifraf » Mon Jan 16, 2017 7:08 pm

RonK wrote:[
It's not quite two years old and still under warranty. I could claim a replacement from Brooks but is there any point?
On the chance that they honour the warranty, I think there is a good point.

It gives you a brand new spare saddle.

You can either add it to a bike you might sell to enhance it, simply sell it by itself to put the funds towards the new saddle or simply gives you the option to gift it to a friend or family member.

The sell for funds toward the new saddle option would appeal to me, but YMMV.

Also little wrong with having a saddle in the spares box in case of catastrophic failure from a crash. :idea:

I keep a new B17 in my parts box should my Flyer ever give trouble. :)
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Re: A Salsa Fargo for me...

Postby Mugglechops » Wed Jan 18, 2017 5:33 pm

RonK wrote:
Mugglechops wrote:I hope your C17 lasts longer than mine did.
Not much. Apart from the fading and the fraying of the canvas cover, the top is pulling away from the rivets in a similar way to yours.

It's not quite two years old and still under warranty. I could claim a replacement from Brooks but is there any point?

I'm thinking I'll just replace it with a WTB Rocket Team or Pro.

Has anyone else had a Rocket under them. :)
I am going to give it one more chance and if it dies again I think I will try a Charge Spoon.

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Re: A Salsa Fargo for me...

Postby RonK » Wed Jan 18, 2017 8:08 pm

Mugglechops wrote:I am going to give it one more chance and if it dies again I think I will try a Charge Spoon.
Yeah, along with the WTB Rocket, the Charge Spoon is mentioned quite often when searching for comfortable saddles. Another frequent hit is the Specialized Phenom.
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Re: A Salsa Fargo for me...

Postby baabaa » Thu Jan 19, 2017 7:22 pm

Prefer a flat-ish saddle so I can move about and find a range of perches on the whole thing, found the bumps and valleys on the rocket a bit lumpy for me.
Ergons seem to work (for me) and dont mind a wide range of setbacks.
Ron, do you run a quick release seat post clamp? These are a cheap little upgrade and help when you hit the rough stuff. Bit odd they don't come with salsa off road capable frames and bikes.

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