I’m a sucker for steel bikes, so when I saw a turquoise, steel, full suspension hanging from a stand at Sea Otter, I had to check it out. The bike is from Proudfoot, a new company out of Golden, CO. Husband and wife team, John and Erin Acuff, run Proudfoot. Erin handles the marketing and John, a mechanical engineer with experience in the aerospace industry, designs the bikes.
Proudfoot has five bikes in their catalog: a cross bike, a hardtail, a fat hardtail, a full suspension fat, and a full suspension plus/29er.
The Prime
It was the 120mm travel Prime that caught my eye at the show. This particular example had plus rubber on it, but there is plenty of clearance for 29″ wheels and tires. The Prime uses a simple, single pivot suspension design, with an elevated chainstay. Proudfoot uses straight tubing to build the rear triangle, which John says keeps the structure very stiff. Cleverly, the pivot itself uses the top half of a headset–one for each side of the bike. Durability and ease of maintenance are priorities for Proudfoot. John told me their bikes will last for 10 years or more.
A Prime frame costs $2,750, but Proudfoot also offers three complete builds: the Adventure at $5,050; the Performance for $5,745; and the Race at $6,510.
