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Fargo Blows It!

by Errin on February 16, 2010

Well, I guess I’ve been lucky, because up until now, I haven’t had any flats on any of my bikes while out on the road. Today ended all of that though. I had the day off, but we had plans midday, so no big or long ride. So I took the Salsa Fargo out for the short ride up to see the Chiropractor. I hadn’t ridden it much lately, but I’d been missing it so I knew it would be a fun short ride.

I tried taking some pics of the beast from the cockpit. They didn’t come out too well.

Not too long after taking this pic, I heard a really loud pop. Damn it was loud. There was a family walking down the street and I think I saw the kids jump! Right away the bike slowed and I saw the front tire coming off the rim. Nice! Well, the fun ride up the street just became an adventure.

I was prepared for this, and right before I left I noticed that I had 2 tubes stashed on the bike. At the time I thought, why do I need two, but after looking at the tube, I sure was glad I did. I had ridden through some glass earlier, but this tube just exploded. I checked the tire and found no traces of glass. So I was nervous that the tubes that came with the Fargo were too small. If that was the case, then the rear could blow too.

I set to work changing the tube and in no time had the tire reinstalled. I then got to try out my pump for the first time. I’m using the Topeak Mountain Morph, but I’m jonesing for one of the Lezyne Pumps that BiPedFred just got. I’ll see if one of them shows up for my birthday. That’ll prove that someone, or anyone for that matter, reads this blog o’ mine. Anyways, the pump worked pretty good. Considering how much air these tires take I was pretty happy with it. I should’ve counted the strokes, but it’s not the amount of strokes that matter, but how plump it gets right?

I was able to get the tire pumped up to about 50psi and reinstalled the wheel. I was running the tire at 60psi before the pop, but the 50psi was nicer. The tire had a nice bounce to it, and cushioned the ride greatly. I think I will lower the pressures on both next time to see how it goes. Maybe 55psi. The tire is very thin so there is a lot flex when the tire pressure is lowered. My only concern is that the the chance of a puncture is increased.

After fixing the flat I continued on to the doc and then took a slightly longer ride home. This bike is so much fun to ride that I think I’ll ride her to work this week. I’ll have to convert her to commuter form though. Adding lights and panniers from the LHT. I’ll be sure to take some pics and share them.

Enjoy the ride!

—UPDATE!—

The new tube exploded today while at work! It scared the crap outta everybody, including myself. It didn’t help that we were sitting in the edit bay when it decided to go. I’ve got 2 tubes with me. One is a 700×52/47 and the other is a 29×1.9/2.3. I’m wondering of the 700c tubes are too thin for the big 2.1″ tires. Any thoughts?

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  • http://apertome.com/blog/ Apertome

    My guess is that the tubes are just getting pinched by the tire bead when installed or when inflated for the first time. That’ll cause ‘em to blow off like that. Not sure though, it could be that the rubber is thin, but I’ve used tubes in bigger tires than they’re designed for before, and never had a problem.

    You might also check your rim for sharp edges, make sure the rim strip is in place properly. Looks like that one exploded rim-side.

    Hope you get it figured out! I didn’t realize that you HAVE a Fargo. A LHT, a Casseroll, AND a Fargo? I’m jealous!

  • http://frontageroads.com Errin

    Well, the first time it happened, I had just ridden through some glass, not 5 mins before. So I thought that may have caused it. So I checked the inside and outside of the tire looking for anything sharp, but I found nothing. Also, it wasn’t a small puncture and slow leak, it was a big explosion. The tube that was failed yesterday, had been on the bike since I got it back in August. I had ridden it many times with no problems. I would think that a pinched tube wouldn’t last that long, but maybe it could?

    Yes, I do have all three. My name is Errin, and I’m a bike-a-holic. Check out the Bipedfred blog. He’s got the same problem, right down to the same combo of bikes. Small world huh?

  • http://apertome.com/blog/ Apertome

    You’re probably right … doubt a pinched tube would last that long. I was just trying to think of what might make it explode like that, and that was pretty much all that came to mind.

    I’m a bike-a-holic as well, and I have several bikes … but the LHT is by far the nicest.

  • http://frontageroads.com Errin

    I replaced the tube last night, and then did a 40 mile ride on it. I took the long way home through Venice. When I was replacing the tube I checked the rim thoroughly and did not find anything suspect. The only things that I noticed were the rim tape had a sharp edge on it on spot, and didn’t completely cover the spoke hole in another spot. So I put some cloth tape over those sections and hoped for the best.

    I didn’t have any problems on my ride, so I’m hoping that the sharp edge of the tape was the culprit. I bought some new rim tape and will replace the tape that came on the rim.

    Hope it works!

  • http://www.theadventuremonkey.com/blog Eric

    impressive blowout! on another note…
    what kind of water botle holders are those on the front forks?

  • http://frontageroads.com Errin

    They are just standard water bottle cages. Are you talking about the straps maybe? I cut a slit in them and attached them to the extra braze on above the bottle cage mounts. They keep the bottles from popping out. Here’s a pic.

  • http://www.theadventuremonkey.com/blog Eric

    I see…I need to do something for the Dirty Kanza in June

  • the jesus

    I stumbled upon your blog while looking for rack fit info for my new Fargo. Just picked up a ’10 with Woodchipper bars this week. I’m between the Tubus Logo and the Surly Nice Rear Rack, any opinions?

    I know Salsa will be coming out with a rear rack specific to the Fargo and Vaya in September, but if it’s delayed it puts me in a pinch. A friend and I have a trip planned mid Sept to ride the Great Allegheny Passage from Pittsburgh,PA to Washington, DC.

    I’m also glad to see I’m not the only bike addict. I have 6 rideable, and 1 restoration project in the basement currently.

    Tailwinds.

  • http://frontageroads.com Errin

    I have the Tubus Cargo on my Surly LHT. I had considered the Surly Nice Racks, but I felt that they were a little overbuilt. I like that they have options for mounting panniers (high or low), but the hardware needed to mount the rack itself to the bike is a bit much. I’ve been very happy with my Tubus Cargo, and I also have a Old Man Mountain Ultimate Lowrider for the front.

    For the Fargo, I’m using an Old Man Mountain Cold Springs rear rack and I have a Cold Springs Front Rack (not installed) as well. I like the platform on the OMM racks better than the Tubus platform. They may be slightly lighter as well. For my Fargo, I may be moving to frame packs instead of panniers in the future, but for commuting, the OMM rack works great.

    Hope that helps. Let me know if you have any more questions.

    How do you like your Fargo so far? I’m interested in those Woodchippers. I’d like to find someone near by that has a set to see what the difference is. I hope you have a great trip down the Great Allegheny Passage.

  • Ron

    I just stumbled across your site and came upon this post. I had the exact same thing happen to me on my fargo, three times. It never happened while riding, only after I was done. The tire would explode off of the rim and scare the hell out of anyone near it. I had a defective wtb vulpine. The bead was completely uneven around the tire and I think the tube would blow out in the area where the bead was not seated correctly. I imagine you have got yours all figured out by now.

  • http://frontageroads.com Errin

    Yep, that was the conclusion we came to as well. The bead on the front tire was slightly deformed. There was no way to tell if it happened from a random blowout and then was damaged, or if it was defective from the beggining. It blew out at least 3 times that I can remember. Thanks for reading!

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