I got thinking about the bike and wondered what it was I liked so much about it. Short of selling a sewing machine worth that much or more, I really can't justify the bike.

I started thinking about what I liked about the bike and I'm guessing it was the handlebars and the seat post. The seat post is a Thudbuster and the handlebars are Salsa's Woodchipper ones. I also loved the shifter set up.

I called up my LBS, asked about the bike and then asked about the components of it. Would they fit on my existing mountain bike and make it a half street/half mountain like the Fargo? If it's just those parts, I wouldn't need a new bike.

He said the handlebars wouldn't work with the shifters I have now. They don't have a clamp and you'd never get the set around the bar. The shifters like the Fargo were 400 bucks. You click once on the paddle or you push all the way over with the paddle instead of having to use both the brake and the paddle to shift. I asked if that would work on my Madone and he said yes and I could use the Woodchipper bars on it as well. Just not sure how much money I want to put on the bike if I'm not sure what I want.

He said he'd order me the Thudbuster and go from there. He thought it was a pretty cool idea and had never seen one.

He wasn't sure he could order the bike from Salsa, but was happy to service one if I did buy it.

I'm still going to try out the 17 inch Fargo w/o the Thudbuster when he calls up and says it's ready to make a comparison.