Reader’s Rig: Carlos’s Tumbleweed Prospector

1 week ago 12

PROTECT YOUR DNA WITH QUANTUM TECHNOLOGY

Advertising by Adpathway

Our Reader’s Rig of the week comes from Carlos in California, who offers a look at the Tumbleweed Prospector he built to take on all-day, mixed-surface rides on tour and closer to home. Meet Carlos and find photos of his loaded bike out in the wild here…

Words and photos by Carlos Danel

Howdy! I’m Carlos. I live in the North Lake Tahoe area, where I maintain and repair chairlifts for a living, and I love bikes! Ever since I was a little kid growing up in the suburbs of Detroit, riding bikes was a gateway to freedom in the sheltered suburban life.

Riding is a passion that’s followed me throughout my entire life and evolved from BMX bikes, fixies, and road and mountain bikes. Currently, I’m obsessed with bikepacking, especially in rugged and remote places. I’ve been fortunate to live in a couple of really incredible areas (Flagstaff, Arizona, before North Tahoe) that allow for a lot of freedom to create routes that leave from the front door and out into vast areas of public land.

The bulk of my trips are in the two-to-four-day range (thanks to four-day work weeks!), but I dabbled in my first international trip to the Cordillera Blanca of Peru last summer for six weeks of pedaling in the thin air of the Andes, and I have been scheming up ways to do more big trips. Traveling by bike is, in my opinion, one of the best ways to fully experience all aspects of an area, and I truly believe the world would be a better place with more folks riding.

Frame/Fork: Tumbleweed Prospector
Rims: Tumbleweed
Hubs: SON28 dynamo (front) / Rohloff Speedhub (rear)
Tires: WTB Ranger 29 x 3.0″
Handlebars: Tumbleweed Persuader
Grips: Wolf Tooth Mega Fat Paw grips, Rogue Panda Bamboo Shoots (not pictured)
Headset: Cane Creek
Crankset: Shimano
Pedals: Shimano SPD
Brakes: Avid BB7
Shifter(s): Rohloff Twistshift
Saddle: Brooks Cambium C17 Cutout
Seatpost: Cane Creek Thudbuster
Stem: Random riser
Front bags: Ron’s Bikes Large Fab’s Chest
Frame bags: Rogue Panda
Rear bags: Mountain Laurel Designs drybag and Rockgeist Microwave Panniers
Accessory bags: Oveja Negra stem bags
Light: Sinewave Beacon front light
Other accessories: Second stem with cut-down bars to mount front bag

About my Tumbleweed Prospector, Burrito (little Burro). This bike quickly became my go-to for just about every ride. After building up two other rigs for bikepacking (a Salsa Journeyer and an Esker Japhy), I knew exactly the kind of bike I wanted to build, and the Prospector checked all the boxes.

Unloaded, it’s a bike that’s incredibly fun for all-day, mixed-surface exploration. You can also load it up with everything and the kitchen sink, and it still rides great and handles anything you throw at it. Add in the Rohloff, and shifting is always smooth and buttery, no matter how much muck and dust is caked on the drivetrain. It’s far from being a fast and sporty bike, but it’s just so comfortable and smooth that I find myself riding it over my hardtail or gravel bike for almost every ride.

You can follow along with Carlos on Instagram.

Send Us Your Bikepacking Rig

Use the form below to submit your bikepacking rig. We’ll choose one per week to feature in a Reader’s Rig Dispatch and on Instagram. To enter, email us your best photo of the bike (preferably at a 90° angle), your Instagram username (optional), and a short description of you and your rig. If your bike is selected, we’ll need a total of five photos and a little bit more info.