Prospector
Rohloff
The Prospector was designed specifically around the 14 speed Rohloff internally geared drivetrain, a fully sealed transmission with a wide 526% gear range that has been proven to be reliable in the harshest of environments, with many reaching more than 100,000 miles.
Phil Wood
The Prospector is built around a 73mm eccentric bottom bracket made for us by Phil Wood, to allow for easy chain tension adjustments and provide up to 1/2" of bottom bracket height adjustment to enable various wheel/tire combinations.
Flagship expedition mountain touring bike
The Prospector is our world-class mountain touring bike, and the bike we launched our brand with. We’ve personally tested it on rugged, fully loaded expeditions across the globe, and it’s been trusted by our customers to undertake the most challenging routes possible.
The Prospector features a rugged heat-treated custom chromoly tubeset, a suspension-corrected steel fork, the supremely reliable 14-speed Rohloff internally geared hub (the gold standard for long-distance touring in remote locations for nearly 30 years), an eccentric bottom bracket to tension the chain and allow various rim and tire combinations, and tremendous mud clearance.
In the face of ever-changing bicycle part standards and the integration of exotic materials, we built the Prospector to last and buck the trend of short product cycles and throw-away upgrade culture. We believe that the most important features of a reliable expedition bike are a comfortable fit, a tough frame and fork, strong wheels, reliable and serviceable components, and as much tire and mud clearance as possible.
The Prospector is built for:
- Riders who want a capable and reliable bike ready to be ridden hard, even when the conditions are harsh
- Riders who want flat or swept-back handlebars
- Riders who value the reliability of the Rohloff drivetrain and want a bike that integrates seamlessly with it
The Prospector has several features that separate it from other expedition bikes. We use the best chromoly tubeset available for the application. It's oversized, fully heat-treated, multi-butted with gussets integrated into the butting profile, and it's custom-drawn just for the Prospector.
A 73mm Phil Wood eccentric bottom bracket insert (with BSA threading for any standard threaded cups) offers half an inch of bottom bracket height adjustability, custom Tumbleweed dropouts that integrate seamlessly with the Rohloff hub, and a custom hollow chainstay yoke maximizes every millimeter of mud and tire clearance to round out a complete package that can take you anywhere in the world with confidence.
Reviews
BIKEPACKING.COM: 2019 BIKEPACKING GEAR OF THE YEAR
BIKEPACKING.COM: 2017 BIKEPACKING AWARDS: GEAR OF THE YEAR
THE RADAVIST:: TUMBLEWEED BIKES: TUMBLEWEED PROSPECTOR REVIEW, 8 MONTHS IN ASIA
BIKEPACKING.COM: TUMBLEWEED PROSPECTOR REVIEW: WOLF IN MULE'S CLOTHING
THE RADAVIST:: DANIEL'S TUMBLEWEED PROSPECTOR ROHLOFF TOURING BIKE
| Frame Material | Chainstay width is 140mm, crank arms must have 144mm inner width, 24mm spindle recommended |
| Rack/Fender Compatibility | Rack and fender compatible, three bottle mounts on frame triangle |
| Fork | Unicrown Chromoly steel with 135mm quick release, 110x15mm thru axle (thru axle included) or 150x15mm thru axle (thru axle included), upper and lower rack mounts, fender mounts, triple bottle cage mounts on fork legs, internal dynamo wire routing |
| Max Tire Clearance | 26x4.0", 27.5x2.8-3.8˝ and 29 x 2.1-3.0˝, individual tire and rim combos affect tire clearance |
| Headtube | 44mm I.D. |
| Headset | Recommend EC44 lower cup. ZS44 upper cup. |
| Bottom Bracket | 73mm, threaded English (1.37˝ x 24t) Phil Wood Eccentric Insert. M8 cupped point set screws (8mm x 1.25 thread pitch) |
| Rear Axle | 135mm quick release |
| Seatpost Diameter | 31.6mm |
| Dropper Seatpost Compatibility | Internally routed for dropper post |
| Seat Clamp (included) | 35mm |
| Drivetrain Compatibility | Rohloff or 1x derailleur drivetrain recommended |
| Brake Compatibility | 51mm I.S. disc caliper mounts, 180mm max rotor size, minimum 160mm rotor |
| Fork Axle to Crown | 483mm |
| Fork Steer Tube Length | 300mm |
| Rear dropouts | Vertical with integrated non-driveside Rohloff OEM slot and replaceable derailleur hanger, 135mm quick release or bolt-on hub spacing compatibility; features threaded M5 and M6 eyelets for fenders and racks |
| Chainring clearance | 1X Boost, 1X Super Boost |
| Crank clearance | Chainstay width is 140mm, crank arms must have 144mm inner width, 24mm spindle recommended |
| Frame Geometry | Small | Medium | Large | Extra Large |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Effective Top Tube Length | 600mm | 620mm | 640mm | 660mm |
| Seat Tube Length | 15" | 17" | 19" | 21.5" |
| Head Tube Angle | 69.5° | 69.5° | 69.5° | 69.5° |
| Seat Tube Angle | 73° | 73° | 73° | 73° |
| Bottom Bracket Drop* | 58.5mm | 58.5mm | 58.5mm | 58.5mm |
| Chainstay Length* | 456mm | 456mm | 456mm | 456mm |
| Head Tube Length | 110mm | 130mm | 145mm | 160mm |
| Fork Length | 482mm | 482mm | 482mm | 482mm |
| Wheelbase | 1128mm | 1149mm | 1170mm | 1191mm |
| Fork Offset | 53mm | 53mm | 53mm | 53mm |
| Stack | 608mm | 626mm | 640mm | 655mm |
| Reach | 414mm | 419mm | 444mm | 461mm |
| Standover** | 772mm | 806mm | 837mm | 871mm |
| Recommended Rider Height | 5'2"-5'7" | 5'6"-5'10" | 5'10"-6'2" | 6'1"-6'7" |
| Recommended Rider Saddle Height | 63-69cm | 68-73cm | 74-81cm | 80-88cm |
** At center of top tube with a 27.5x2.8" tire measuring 730mm in diameter.
Tumbleweed Prospector Standard Build
(Parts subject to change based on availability)
| Part | Description | |
|---|---|---|
| Frame | Prospector | Desert Sage or Midnight Blue |
| Fork | Steel Unicrown | 110x15mm, 150x15mm or 135mm QR |
| Headset | Cane Creek 40 | ZS upper, EC lower, 30mm Crown Race |
| Crankset | Shimano | Black Super Boost |
| Chainring | Wolf Tooth | Black, 32t Direct Mount |
| Bottom Bracket | RaceFace | BSA Threaded |
| Front Hub | DT Swiss 350 | Black 32 hole |
| Rear Hub | Rohloff SPEEDHUB | Black, 32 hole, Quick release 16t cog |
| Quick Release | Shimano | Black |
| Rims | Tumbleweed | Black 27.5" 40mm Internal Width |
| Spokes | Sapim Race | Black 2.0/1.8 w/Brass nipples |
| Brake Levers | Avid FR5 | Black |
| Brake Calipers | Avid BB7 | Black |
| Cables and Housing | Jagwire Pro Compressionless | Stainless Cables, Black Housing |
| Disc Brake Rotor Adaptors | Tektro | 20mm front and rear |
| Front Rotor | SRAM Centerline | 180mm 6 bolt |
| Rear Rotor | Rohloff | 180mm 4 bolt |
| Shifter | Rohloff | OEM grip shifter |
| Tires | Maxxis Rekon | 27.5x2.8" |
| Chain | SRAM | PC971 |
| Grips | Ergon GP1 | Black, Rohloff Shifter Compatible |
| Stem | Zoom | Black 31.8mm 4 bolt |
| Handlebar | Tumbleweed Persuader | Black Alloy |
| Seatpost | Kalloy | Black, 31.6mm Diameter, 410mm Length |
| Saddle | WTB Rocket Wide | Black, Steel Rails |
| Tubeless Parts | Tubeless Sealant, Valves and Tape | |
| Headset Spacers | Black, Aluminum |
FAQ
4" is the widest tire than can fit with the symmetrical 135mm dropouts and 73mm bottom bracket (with a Rohloff). We definitely maximized every millimeter of tire clearance with those constraints, and 4" is as wide as it goes. The bike also fits 27.5+ and 29+, so you have a ton of options depending on where you want to ride.
The Prospector is optimized for a wide flat bar. We do not recommend putting bars onto our frames that do not account for the frame geometry, which in each case is optimized for a specific type of bar. If you prefer a drop bar, we recommend our Stargazer model.
There are no plans at this time. The Pinion gearbox requires a completely proprietary frame due to the unique gearbox mount. We believe that, for touring, the Rohloff offers more benefits, since you can swap wheels out for a derailleur drivetrain in the case of parts failure.
Additionally, with the Pinion drivetrain, you’re still reliant on a freehub mechanism in the rear wheel, which is a common point of failure. All the Pinion bikes we’ve tried have excessive slop in the pedal engagement, sometimes as much as a quarter turn of the pedals, which makes technical climbing really challenging.
Yes, go for one with 100mm-120mm of travel and around 51mm of offset.
You can review the relevant frame/fork specs and warranty anytime.
Tumbleweed bikes don’t arrive assembled. We recommend having your bike reassembled by a professional mechanic at a reputable bike shop. It will be very straightforward for a shop to assemble.
We build complete bikes in the order that the build specs are finalized. Our standard build with the parts list as shown is $4,950 USD. We use this as a starting point for your build, and since we custom assemble each bike from the frame up, including hand-building all of our wheels, there is a wide range of changes you can make to our standard spec.
Once you place your order, we put your name on the frame/fork and reach out to start confirming the final spec for your bike. Once we have finalized the build spec, we send over an invoice for the final balance due if there are any upgrades from the standard spec.
Once the final invoice is paid, your build sheet goes into our build queue, and we begin ordering any necessary parts for your bike. Our goal is to have your bike completed and ready to ship within 4-6 weeks from the time you pay your final invoice. However, there can sometimes be unforeseen delays if a component is out of stock from the manufacturer, etc.
We build your wheels, completely assemble your bike, test ride it multiple times, and double-check all adjustments before packing it for shipment. When you receive your bike, we recommend taking it to a professional mechanic for reassembly. It will be very straightforward for a shop to assemble.