Originally Posted by
Gittus
Hi guys,
Just chasing some quick suggestions if you have any regarding a new rig.
Where I live I am quite limited on what is around in the adventure bike scene to buy but I have found a store than stock some Salsa Fargo’s + cutthroats, and various bombtracks (hooks, audax & beyonds) mainly.
Just wondering if you had any experience with any of these at all and could point me in any direction?
I am 27 and a roadie so very new to this game although I do plan on quitting my job as an electrician to spend a lot of time doing just that if I can find the right drop bar something that would suit both trails and road stretches.
I plan on doing some longer rides down the east coast of Australia, from the Gold Coast where I live to Melbourne then onto the ferry to Tasmania where I am from (roughly 2500ks) on the roads with a some trails thrown in for good measure to break up the monotonous tarmac.
Thanks heaps,
Ben.
Salsa Fargo leans pretty far into the non-paved of things, the rougher stuff, with the tire width and 1x. It has fender mounts, 3x water bottle cages, works with 700c aka 29er and 650b. All pluses. Decent if you're more interested in the off-pavement side of things, and perhaps willing to sacrifice pavement performance.
Cutthroat is targeted for a little less rough surface, a little more speed than the Fargo. 2x instead of 1x is more road suited IMO. Somebody said
Fargo is a Jeep, cutthroat is a Subaru Forrester.
Bombtrack audax looks similar to the Cutthroat to me. 650b though, which severely reduces tire availability. Mounts galore.
None of these are typical randonneuring bikes, since rando is historically pavement with occasional gravel.
Bombtrack hook is starting to look a bit more like a more balanced paved/path bike to me. I ride 90% pavement but like to take on the occasional dirt path, and I think this looks pretty great. This bike with two sets of wheels, one for pavement days and another for mixed/path days, seems pretty great.
The nice thing about all these bikes, IMO, is versatility. With tire and wheel choices, they cover a lot of range. To me the Fargo sacrifices too much on the pavement side.