Prospector
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.
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.
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.
Flagship Expedition Mountain Touring Bike
Frame and Fork Specifications
Frame Geometry
*Bottom bracket drop and chainstay length measured at the center of the bottom bracket shell.
**At the center of the top tube with a 27.5x2.8" tire measuring 730mm in diameter.
Complete Bike Standard Build
All bikes are custom built with flexibility to customize all parts. Parts subject to change based on availability.
Fork Options
We have three steel fork options for the Prospector. If you don't plan to run suspension, go with options one or two.
1. 135mm quick-release fork with rear disc spacing
The original fork that we offer with the Prospector uses the same spacing as the frame, allowing you to run two rear wheels on the bike, useful if you run the bike singlespeed and want to run two different gear ratios. Wide hub flanges produce an incredibly strong wheel with great spoke triangulation.
2. 150x15mm thru axle
The modern fatbike front hub standard. This will build you the strongest possible front wheel, and if you don't plan to run a suspension fork on your Prospector (95% of people don't), then this is your best option. Lots of hub options, wide hub flanges for great spoke triangulation, and super strong wheels.
3. 110x15mm Boost thru axle
Allows you to swap between rigid and suspension forks without needing to build a new front wheel. If the Prospector wasn't suspension-corrected, then we would probably just make the default option the 150x15mm fork, since it produces the strongest wheels for an expedition mountain touring bike like the Prospector.
Rohloff Internal Drivetrain
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.
We've been using Rohloff hubs on our tours for over a decade and on tens of thousands of miles through sand, mud, snow, and at elevations of up to 18,000 feet without issue.
Phil Wood Eccentric Bottom Bracket Insert
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.
The Prospector: Built to Explore, Made to Last
2019 Bikepacking Gear of the Year
2017 Bikepacking Awards: Gear of the Year
Tumbleweed Bikes: Tumbleweed Prospector Review, 8 Months in Asia
Tumbleweed Prospector Review: Wolf in Mule's Clothing
Daniel's Tumbleweed Prospector Rohloff Touring Bike
FAQs
Always feel free to reach out to us with any questions not answered here or on our full FAQs page.
4" is the widest tire that can fit with the symmetrical 135mm dropouts and 73mm bottom bracket (with a Rohloff). We 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.
Technically, it’s possible to run a belt drive on the Prospector, but you’d need to have a framebuilder add a split in the frame to accommodate it. Compared to a derailleur drivetrain, the simple singlespeed style setup of a Rohloff drivetrain requires almost no cleaning, just the occasional wipe off with a cloth and a little bit of chain lube.
We don’t recommend a belt drive for the type of riding the Prospector is designed for. Belts work, but they do nothing at all better than a chain drive.
- Belts last longer than chains, but the parts cost 10x what chain drive parts cost, which also means that it’s crazy expensive to change your gear ratio on a belt drive bike.
- Belt tension is finicky, while chain tension is forgiving.
- Belt alignment is critically important, while chain line is forgiving.
- Belts squeak and require lubrication just like chains, but belts use a silicone lubricant.
- Belts are not repairable, while chains are easily repaired on the side of the trail if necessary.
- Belts are not available in any bike shops, so you must always carry a spare while touring.
- Belts are delicate. If they’re twisted the wrong way while being stored, the fibers can break, and the belt can fail.
- Belts are not easily recyclable (if at all), while chains are made of steel and can be recycled.
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.