Using the Salsa Fargo as a MTB - Why it works so well (& Jones Plus bike design)

[Erik_A]

For those of us who love doing singletrack on the Fargo (and wonder why it works so well), I would recommend checking out Jeff Jones talking about his new Jones Plus bike design:

http://blog.jonesbikes.com/jones-plus-this-is-it/

Longer chainstays, shorter reach and lower BB drop than a typical MTB geometry (plus a rigid fork).  He actually has a lower BB than the Fargo's 70mm:
Jones Plus BB drop: EBB in top position – 76mm drop, EBB in bottom position – 88mm drop.

Great video with Jeff's design philosophy (while you watch him do a build):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytCndGtdZpg

This has caused me to want to try running a Jones Loop 710 bar on my Fargo (but with a 130mm stem).

[Erik_A]

I am 6'-4" (with a long upper/ body torso).  On the XL 2015 Fargo, I run a 120mm 0 deg. stem with the Woodchipper bars; as well as a setback Thomson seatpost (and it feels really short for me).  I think that the combo of the tall stack on the bike and the 60cm ETT make it feel short.  I keep wishing that I can sit further back on the seat (which is as far back as it goes) when riding in the hoods on the Woodchipper).

I know that with MTB's and wide bars, the wider you hands are on the bars the shorter your stem should be; so I am hoping that when I test out the Jones loop 710 bars with a 130mm Thomson stem that allows me to have a similar ride position as Jeff Jones describes for his Jones Plus.

From Jeff's blog:"The Jones Plus 24″ has less reach than a small Surly ECR (398mm) and the 25″ has less reach then the medium (416mm)."

The Jones Plus 25" has a 415cm reach + 110mm stem = 525mm
The Salsa Fargo has a 391mm reach = 130mm stem = 521mm

http://surlybikes.com/bikes/ecr/geometry
http://salsacycles.com/bikes/fargo/2016_fargo_x9
http://www.jonesbikes.com/jones-plus-xt-bb7-build-complete-bicycle-pre-order/

What stem do you run right now?   Jeff would probably tell you not to run the 130mm stem unless the Fargo has a really really short top tube for you.

I tried a Jones bar in 2014 and it didn't work for me at all.. I had a 100mm or 110mm stem on the bike I tried it on.   If i try it again I'm going to put something like a 50mm stem on with the Jones bar and probably move the saddle back 1cm.

[bakerjw]

I love the amount of available frame space. Much more than on my Karate Monkey.

[Erik_A]

Me too.  I am really surprised at the short reach on the Fargo.  The Salsa Fargo has a 391mm reach.  For a tall guy, this feels really short when you set this up as a cyclocross/ gravel grinder bike with drop bars.  I didn't really understand "reach" until after I bought the Fargo.

The Fargo seems most comfortable doing singletrack trails (for me).  I thought that it was just because, I am old (mid-40's); and more closely resembled the rigid steel mountain bikes that I rode during college in the early 1990's.  But after watching and reading Jeff Jones talk about the Jones Plus the Fargo geometry makes more sense.  I still wish that it had more reach though!

My solution is to make the Fargo a dedicated MTB with Jones Loop bars; and then build up a 60 cm Soma Wolverine (with 403mm reach) for my drop bar, gravel grinding setup.

[Smithhammer]

The Fargo is a mountain bike, by just about any definition of the term. It has 'mountain' geometry, it has adequate clearance for mtn tires, you can run a sus fork on it if you want to. It just happens to be a mountain bike built for a drop bar. Though this last fact seems to confuse a lot of people. I encourage Fargo owners all the time to take their bike out on some local singletrack and see what it can really do, because I think a lot of folks are surprised when they do. Too many seem to assume that just because it has a drop bar, it must only be a "touring" bike, or a "gravel" bike or whatever. The Fargo is a mountain bike, first and foremost. A lot of people just adapt it to other things, which is certainly one of its virtues. But if you never actually use it as a mountain bike on the kind of terrain that trail geometry, fatter tires and a purpose-built dirt drop bar are made for, then I think you miss out on the real "core" of what the bike is all about.