Setting the Stage - The Salsa Fargo Chronicles
Back then, riders were seeking a different experience - Photo from my personal archive
Salsa Cycles released the Fargo back in the fall of 2008. Yeah, 2008. That’s a long time ago. Before I get too old and crazy, I want to write down the story and how the development of a bike changed my life. I also don’t think this history is written anywhere about how this bike came to be, how this bike lead to the development of a new direction and how this bike influenced an industry. Can one bike do all of that? IMHO yes. While I do not intend to write this story chronologically, I think to kick this off, it is important to understand what the time and factors in which the Salsa Fargo, and later, the vision and tagline Adventure by Bike, came to be.
Disclaimer: Now, I want to put this out there that this is what I remember and just one viewpoint looking at this history. I am sure there are more facts, details and what not out there. This is simply a story from my viewpoint and from my memories. So let’s begin.
In the fall of 2007, I made my first trip to mainland China to visit bicycle manufacturers and suppliers. I was the Brand Manager for Salsa Cycles. I had the good fortune of traveling with someone whom would become a critical piece in the Salsa Cycles and Salsa Fargo story, Joseph Meiser. Joe was the Product Design Manager at that time. We were also traveling with both the owner of Quality Bicycle Products (QBP) and the leader of the QBP product portfolio.
Our mission was to learn about carbon fiber manufacturing and find a carbon supplier for a future all carbon, Salsa bike model. This drive to develop carbon models came from the top with a need to replace/recapture lost sales due to a break up with a carbon fiber bike brand that had been distributed by QBP. Salsa had dabbled a bit in carbon as a frame sub component, think seat stays on an aluminum bicycle or a carbon fork on a road bike. On paper, this change seemed logical and somewhat easy. The trip was eye opening in so many ways. All in all, as a learning trip, it was a huge success.
Headed to the airport. FWIW, this may not be the time to share your BIG idea!
It was also on this trip that I shared the direction I wanted to take Salsa. We had a hired driver that was taking us from our last supplier visit in China to the airport in Hong Kong. It was in this van ride that I shared for the very first time that I wanted to build a brand with “endurance and durability” as key values. Those words didn’t get much traction on that trip. Granted, they were spoken quite early on and well before I could define them or share a more complete vision. I’d also not recommend pitching this big idea in a car going from China to Hong Kong after a long trip and series of long days. Joe and I returned home and worked to find and hire an engineer to lead the carbon direction. Business as usual.
Now, does anyone remember what happened back in 2007 and lasted until 2009? The economy crashed. It was a doozy. Looking back now, I do not know if the Salsa Fargo, and later the rebranding of Salsa Cycles to Adventure by Bike would have happened had the economy not crashed. This crash taught a whole bunch of people and brands a lot of lessons. It was a time when bicycle parts and accessories related to commuting boomed. It showed me that brands with equity and value were still desired and people were willing to put $$ into brands and companies they trusted. It was a time when brands like Salsa, with little remaining equity in the brand struggled to find sales and growth. I was the leader at that time and I can tell you we struggled big time at the onset of the economic crash. It was a time to consider any current plans and update direction. But what direction would that be?
All while developing the carbon bicycle direction, Joe and I were doing the things we loved, riding bikes scheming rides, having mini adventures and dreaming of longer tours. I had young kids so my adventures were a little closer to home and involved exploration and discovery on country roads and paths. Joe was doing events like Trans Iowa and had his sites on the Tour Divide. I continued to try to build support internally and a community externally around the idea of adventure and discovery. I continued to pitch the idea of developing bikes for the outdoors, exploration and discovery. Develop products for big rides. Develop products for us and how we were using bicycles. I felt like externally, I was getting the signals I needed that this idea and direction had real potential. To be honest despite my enthusiasm, I wasn’t getting much support from the business leadership that made the financial decisions. To be fair, at least a few folks liked the idea I was presenting, but since it was a real challenge coming up with estimated size of market, sales potential and the dollar signs those kinda roles want to have, the idea came with uncertainty and potential for quite a bit of financial risk if approved.
Denali - 1996 - Shot on slide film. I know the image says 2012, that’s just when I scanned it from a very rough and degraded slide. That’s my Bontrager Race MTB that I brazed rack mounts on to go on this tour.
Even without the support needed, Joe and I continued to scheme and chat about an idea for a bicycle with drop bars and big tires for long distances and experiences. Experiences that had a possibility of failure. One day, Joe came into work and said “I drew our bike”. I kinda could not believe it as it was never written up as a project nor did we have support. There was never a design document. There was never an ROI calculation. Joe and I reviewed. I shared some thoughts I had related to shortcomings of my bike and gear for my Alaska to Utah bike tour back in the late 90’s. Joe made the changes to the drawings and we sent them off to have a few prototypes made from our steel supplier partner in Taiwan. No approved requests. Not on any existing product map. I just committed and did it. The waiting game began.
This is where my memory is little hazy. I don’t specifically remember the date or timeframe other than it was early to mid 2008, but we had reached a critical point in the carbon frame project. It was time to spend a sizable chunk of money and open carbon fiber tooling molds. It was this moment and this decision point that changed the course of this story. I was meeting with the owner of QBP about tooling costs. I was asking permission to spend this large amount of money to keep the carbon project moving forward. It was in this meeting that he shared that he simply didn’t want to spend the money for the carbon molds at this time of significant economic challenge. Honestly, with where things were going on at the time and the lack of true equity in the remaining Salsa Cycles brand, I think that was a smart decision.
After some discussion, I took this opportunity to suggest going in the direction I had been living, sharing and promoting. I don’t remember if it was in the same meeting as cancelling the carbon project or sometime after, but the owner of QBP finally spoke these words to me. “Go for it. I don’t think it’s going to work, but you are really passionate about it.” That was all I needed. Time to go all in and make it work.
* Salsa Cycles, Salsa Fargo and Adventure by Bike are registered trademarks of Quality Bicycle Products
