Our weekly Reader’s Rig comes from retired physics teacher Peter Kalajian, who shares the comfortable and practical Salsa Fargo build that he’s fully kitted out in handmade bags. See more about Peter and his Fargo here…

Words and photos by Peter Kalajian

I’m Peter, a retired physics teacher and mariner who has been biking since my earliest memories. I have toured, raced road bikes, mountain biked, and am now exploring Maine by bikepacking around as much as possible. I like to ride from my back door on adventures throughout the sparsely settled part of Maine and camp by the side of the myriad of ponds and lakes that abound in our region.

Salsa Fargo

I bought the bike second hand from a couple out in Idaho. I rode it around for a couple of weeks with the drop bars that come stock on the Fargo, but decided they weren’t for me since I’ve been primarily mountain biking for the last decade. The Jones bars really made the bike fit me perfectly, and now I can ride up or down just about any terrain you can throw at me.

  • Salsa Fargo
  • Salsa Fargo

I made all the bags myself from mostly my own designs. I did copy the Bedrock Bags Tapeats bag, and the designer noticed them in a post that showed off my bike in one of the forums! The trunk bag holds all of my food, and easily detaches from the bike so I can hang it or bring it to the cook site. The panniers are pretty narrow, so they don’t interfere with hike-a-bikes, but allow me to carry up to five days of food coupled with the trunk bag. Most of the bags are made of X-Pac, but the handlebar bag is made of this cool hybrid Dyneema fabric that allowed me to fully tape the seams so it is completely waterproof, something that’s difficult to do with X-Pac. The handlebar bag sits in a harness that I made out of sheets of ABS plastic. It has been a great setup.

  • Salsa Fargo
  • Salsa Fargo
  • Frame/Fork Salsa Fargo
  • Rims Stans Arch mkIII
  • Hubs Hope Pro 4
  • Tires Terravail Sparwood
  • Handlebars Jones Loop
  • Headset Cane Creek
  • Crankset Sram GX
  • Pedals Spank Spoon
  • Cassette Suntour 11-46
  • Derailleur SRAM GX
  • Brakes Avid BB7
  • Shifter(s) SRAM GX (2×10)
  • Saddle Brooks B17
  • Seatpost Redshift
  • Stem Redshift
  • Front bags Homemade
  • Frame bags Homemade
  • Rear bags Homemade
  • Accessory bags Homemade
  • Other accessories Wolf B-RAD bottle shifter
Salsa Fargo

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