Bike-Packing Frameset Research

Salsa Fargo Frameset - $725 retail

 Another option for Trail Bike Packing is just getting a frameset. Of late, the real popular set up for Stagecoach 400 type routes is the Salsa Fargo with drop bars and lots of braze-ons for extras. I think the disk brakes are the way to go. Frameset is overpriced due to the recent popularity. I guess Rando route over trails would be about 75% dirt and 25% hard surface road travel. These type of frames are also used now in real long routes like the Tour Divide! Maybe you don't need a suspension fork on the front with real big 2.5' tires up there?

Another option is the Surly Ogre. Pacific Cycles is the local big dealer for Surly. Chuck doesn't give many deals on frames there. He knows what he is doing and has lots of ideas. Nytro is a dealer for Surly also. They don't stock any. Did get a discounted price for the medium frameset from Joe. Still a little higher than I expected. I don't like the canti posts. I still have a nice perfect Surly Cross Check front fork that will take bigger tires, but no disk brake tabs, only canti's.

Surly Ogre Frameset- $525 retail

Keeping my options open for a cheap entry. You can almost buy a complete MTB bike with disks for the same as these framesets. These are just as heavy after a build up. It all comes down to the wheels. Big cost and big upgrade to tubeless.

-randorides