Last week I had the good fortune to spend some time in Boise, Idaho. The purpose for my visit was to visit Daniel, Margot, Dan and Walt at Tumbleweed Bicycle Company. Full disclosure up front, I feel very fortunate to be doing some paid, behind the scenes project work for them. Understand that no one asked me to do this and I am not getting paid in any way to write this. I simply wanted to share some words & pics. That’s what I do here on ImagineGnat.
I met Daniel a long time ago at an event hosted by my previous employer. He had just finished a long tour in a foreign land on a Rohloff equipped fat bike. I thought he was crazy (in a good way!) and liked his viewpoint on experiencing the world by bicycle. Little did I know that a few years after I met him, he’d have developed his own bike designed specifically for the challenge and needs of off road/off grid touring optimized for a somewhat under the radar Rohloff hub with internal gears. That’s Daniel above holding the very first Prospector. Fast forward to a few years ago I purchased a Tumbleweed Stargazer. (I wrote about that here) . Fast forward to today I am quite smitten with this brand, the people and the products that they design and deliver.
Daniel, Margot and the crew have developed a stand out small business and bike brand. I went into this visit knowing just a little bit about their history and the development of Tumbleweed Bicycle Company. Upon leaving, I am even more enamored with what this small brand is doing in lovely Boise, Idaho. I also left excited for the future.
Given I am doing some work for them, I am not going to talk much more about them and simply encourage folks to find out for themselves. Go check them out if you are looking for a complete bicycle or components that are true, expedition/off grid, touring worthy. You won’t be disappointed.
Lastly, I came home focused on scheming a way into building a Prospector for myself. The only question other than how to spec and build my own custom version of the Prospector is what color; Sage (green) or Midnight (blue)? Leave me a comment to let me know which color you think I should build!
ImagineGnat 
I too and am mulling over a custom Prospector build. I’ve settled on the decisions to go with the Midnight Blue with the 150x15mm fork (for now).
I plan on using bike as this a regular commuter so for the simplicity of no longer having to worry about managing battery charges, I’m going to add on some front and rear dynamo lighting as well as some front and rear mini pannier racks for hauling my work stuff and some grocery-getting on the way home too.
I also plan on taking it out on some single track and gravel day-riding with the local bike club so I’ll be adding a dropper post to help when navigating some more technical terrain.
Lastly, knowing I’ll be eventually going on some bikepacking trips on this rig and the total weight could get pretty beefy at times, I’m going with the Paul Klamper (mechanical) disc brakes for increased stopping performance.
Looking forward to hearing [seeing] more about your Prospector build!
Thanks for the comment. Wow. Nice build. I am still mulling over the build. I am going to purchase both the boost front fork and the wide/fat front fork. In the end it will be Rohloff equipped for sure but I don’t have the cash to build it that way from the start. I may take my reliable 1X system from my current S&S travel bike so I can get fit sorted and some rides in on it yet this fall/early winter.
Also when you are done building it send me pics! I wanna see your rig.
I just finalized the build yesterday, it should be ready in about 3 weeks. Here’s the highlights:
Headset: Chris King Inset 7
Crankset: Shimano Black Super Boost
Chainring: Tumbleweed Black, 32t
Bottom Bracket: RaceFace BSA
Front Hub: Schmidt SON28 Dynamo
Rear Hub: Rohloff SPEEDHUB
Quick Release: PAUL QR
Rims: Tumbleweed Alloy 27.5x40mm
Spokes: Sapim Race Black 2.0/1.8 w/Brass nipples
Brake Levers: PAUL Love Levers Black, 2.5
Brake Calipers: PAUL Klampers Black and orange, long pull
Tires: Maxxis Rekon 27.5×2.8″
Grips: Ergon GP1 BioKork
Stem: Zoom (will upgrade to Thomson once I figure out the fit)
Handlebar: Tumbleweed Persuader Black Alloy
Seatpost: Thomson Elite internal
Saddle: Brooks B17 Special
Seatpost collar: Thomson
Racks: Tumbleweed Mini Pannier (front and rear)
Fenders: SKS B75
Lightning: Sinewave Beacon 2 (front), SON taillight (rear)
I plan on sharing pics and various expeditions on a subreddit I just started up for Tumbleweed Bike Fans: https://www.reddit.com/r/TumbleweedBikeFans/
This is inspired by a similar community that exists around Surly Bikes and I’m trying to start some similar for fans of Tumbleweed bikes.
Oh man……That’s a stellar build. One of which inspires me. I talked to Daniel at Tumblweed last week. Still scheming mine. Let me know what you think once you get it all set! Congrats.