© Salsa Cycles 2009


Bikes Chili Con Crosso Dos Niner Mamasita Podio Pistola Fargo El Kaboing Big Mama El Mariachi Ala Carte La Cruz Casseroll Triple Casseroll Single Archive	Frames 26-inch El Kaboing Moto Rapido Ala Carte 29-inch Selma Fargo Big Mama Dos Niner El Mariachi Mamasita 700c Podio Pistola Chili Con Crosso La Cruz Casseroll Archive	Components Stems Handlebars Mountain Handlebars Road Rims Forks Skewers & Collars Chainrings Seatposts Brake Levers Grips & Bar Tape Accessories Archive	Clothing Jerseys Women's Jerseys Team Gear T-Shirts & Socks Accessorize Archive	Dealers US Dealers Int'l Dealers Catalog Download	Tech Design Notes Materials Set-Up Instructions Reviews Contact FAQs Warranty	Amigos Amigos Blog Amigo Bios Team Links Gallery Recipes

Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Happy Thanksgiving....And a few other things you should read about

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. Hope all of you have a good long weekend planned that involves riding, eating, fun, friends and family. Here at Salsa we are thankful for so many things. Thank you all for support over the years. 2008 has been a great year. You've helped us grow and learn. Hopefully, we've helped you have some fun and learn a bit too. Sincerely, thank you. Now, for those of you that are at work or for those of you that are in a food induced coma, read on as we've got some fun stuff inside.

First, comments on our blog. I want you to know we are working on this and will be restoring the ability to comment in the near future. We are working on a plan here. Look for more info soon. I assure you, we want to keep building our interactive community of Amigos. We just needed to make some changes to proceed.

Second, how about some custom Epic Design bags for the Fargo?

A while back, Joe Meiser and I were debating the merits of racks with panniers vs custom frame bags and packs. I was against it because I had toured with racks and panniers. I thought custom frame packs were only for those big long winter events because Kid Riemer has one on his Pug used for the Arrowhead. Joe finally convinced me. He also let me tack on an extra bag to his Epic Design order. Check out the initial set up.

I had never had a frame bag before. These things are sweet and custom designed for the Fargo. Eric at Epic has every size Fargo patterned out. We supplied some drawings with all the little braze ons and what not so the bags fit perfectly.

I chose to get the narrow bag. My knees have a tendency to bow inward, especially when I am tired and I hate rubbing or hitting anything on my bike. The good news here is that these bags are perfectly fit and after some loading and unloading, I'm having no trouble. For the true pack rats, you can buy one that flares out towards the front to pack more stuff into it.

Over the last few weeks I've been putting the miles in commuting and exploring on my Fargo. I've got everything I need and more inside and have zero weight on my body. The bike feels more balanced because the weight isn't hanging of the back. I have my little tool kit, pump and tubes in the lower zippered portion of the bag. I've also stuffed some extra stuff in there when needed. The upper zippered portion of the bag carries my clothes for the day, my camera, and some extra cold weather gear in case I get too cold. The cool news here are all the internal dividers can be removed and you can configure your bag and haul your stuff as you need it.

A couple of notes.

- Joe, thanks for convincing me to try this and for letting me tag onto your order.

- Using the frame bags does limit the use of water bottles. Sure you could drill through the bags and put an internal bottle, but that doesn't seem right to me. Or you could have a custom bag made to fit around some of the water bottles. Check out his blog link below to see what I mean. Also, the good news with the Fargo is that even with this bag, I have 3 bottle mounts available, 2 on the forks and 1 on the underside of the down tube.

- It is awesome to not have heavy racks and stuff hanging off my body. I'm stoked about the bags thus far. I just need to get a nice stuff sack seat bag to round out the package.

- I've struggled to get used to portaging the bike. With the bags on I can't quickly grab the top tube. I've tried. At first it was odd, but now I've gotten the hang of it and grab round the back of the seat tube instead of the the top tube. I can also rest the saddle on my shoulder, but this hurts a bit when the bike is heavy.

Now, here are the details if you want to order your own bags.

- Contact Eric at Epic Designs. Here is his blogspot website, his blog and his email: EPICDESIGNSALASKA at YAHOO dot COM.

- Prices depend on size (Think amount of fabric) and options. For detailed pricing, check the website and work with Eric. His frame bags typically range from $125 on up and his seatbags usually start at about $75. Again, these are custom bags so price goes up with options, fabric, extra straps, etc.

- Salsa has no affiliation or receives nothing for the bags that he is producing. We just think he builds some of the sweetest bags and think some other folks might like some custom bags for their Fargo adventure bikes.

Again, Eric has all the main frame drawings for every size Fargo. I'd suggest you look through his website, think about what you really want and then contact him. Oh....and remember, this is a one man show building custom bags. He's also a super adventurer (read his blog). Our bags took some time, but they are well worth it.

Posted by Butcher : 6:39 AM | permalink