I am looking for a fatty and cant get past the Rose Bikes Tusker 1, even with a bluto and reverb delivered for £1320!!! What am I missing?

Tusker was a really weird movie

Buy it buy it buy it buy it

Some vee rubber tyres are rubbish, but then they make the floaters which are quite good and the hillbillies look similar.

I’ve only ridden a fatty so that limts the usefullness of this oppinion but:
1) Needs to be longer, I went for a large at 6ft, it rides perfectly, but means I can’t fit a dropper despite the standover the seat mast is 20″.
2) Needs front suspension. Fat tires soak up roots, but do absolutely nothing to soak up bigger hits or the kind of washboard/potholed trail you get at trail centers as the surface erodes.

The Tusker solves 2 of those problems (although unless your huge the large is mahoosive and the medium is no bigger than the Fatty) and I don’t know how the steeper HA and shorter fork offset would affect things, I imagine slightly more nimble but with a similar amount of low speed flop (which is negligible).

Thanks for the input,I can’t see myself retro fitting a Bluto and after having a dropper it would be daft not to add both at initial purchase,is there a better setup for the money?

Silverback Double/single scoop if you can find one.

Johnnystorm any ideas where to look? Have you tried one?

Well I took your advice 6079smithw, lets hope it’s a good ting!

this site is from the german forum,
but there are some nics pics of the tusker,

http://www.mtb-news.de/forum/t/the-tusker-1-und-2.745511/page-4

seems to be a very good kit for the price…

accu I have read that thread,I went for the Tusker 1 (1X10,shimano brakes and gearing)and added a Bluto and a Reverb,all in £1380. I couldn’t find another bike with the same spec for less so we will see in 6 weeks. 😯

@divenwob how did it work out?

6079smithw – Member
Buy it buy it buy it buy it

……..many pluses

I’m currently waiting for one. 8 weeks on backlog at the time of purchase. Currently 4 weeks in to that. Bloody annoying as the day before it said there was a 3 week lead time. Oh well… Given the price point and the customisation options I’m not going to cancel; it’s almost exactly how I want it out the box.

I’m going to attempt to make it 2×10, since I want the range, but I’m not sure how it’ll work out. cheekyget, how much clearance do you get between the chain and tyre in the lowest gear?

About 10mm…th lowest gear is a monster super torque gear…..I’ve only used it once doing a steep hill climb…the bike was just wheeling

Sorry just spotted this,
Mattjg it worked out fine have been out most weekends and have not touched my fs once!
Have fitted Ground Controls for the winter and I am thinking of going 32t front 11-42 rear to get a bit more legs on fire roads etc and tubeless, but overall I could not be happier.
Robware, when I asked about 2x Finlay (Rep) said no go so I will keep an eye on your progress. 😀

Hi
I wanted so badly to have Hammerschmidt also on my fatty that I’ve bougt The Tusker just because it has ISCG tab.It was a PITA to modify Hammer spindle,since there is no 100mm BB Hammerschmidt on the market.I’ve recently installed Bluto,not cheap but great improvement.There is now an 203 disc in front and reverb is the only pice missing.

Endurofly, well done! Do you have any pics?

I’m struggling..

http://mtb-forum.si/phpbb/download/file.php?id=9008&mode=view

What travel is on that Bluto?

I ordered mine with the standard 80mm (only option). I’d be interested to hear how it handles a longer travel.

It’s 120mm.I ordered my bike with rigid fork and then bought just Bluto few weeks ago in Germany.It handles Ok but instead of suggested 120 psi i pump only to 100.I’m in phase of testing now.I intend to mount two bottomless tokens to get fork more progressive.
Some good info here: http://forums.mtbr.com/fat-bikes/bluto-tuning-thread-921527.html
Bike handling is much better now with Bluto.
IMHO every fat bike off the pavement or compacted snow should have a front sus.
It’s only a mith that fatbike tires are good suspension by itself.

As an alternative, I’m presently very interested in a Cube Nutrail. Seems like a relative bargain.

Where are the lovely raw/silver Tuskers coming from? I can only find the drab grey ones on their website

I didn’t notice it.I got mine in August,at the time The Tusker 1 was raw/silver and 2 was drab grey.In configurator you have sign for frame(colour)options but then only one colour is avalable.

Someone said these are quite good (was it you johnnystorm?)

http://www.bikes.com/en/bikes/blizzard/2015

I know nothing however, the fatty thing having passed me by completely.

how do I find contact details for this Finlay guy? (Rose Rep). I want to be certain that no Raw frames remain, as I want one.

scratch that, googled Rose rep and have his number now..here goes..

EDIT: ‘phone switched off’ – wondering if on a road to nowhere here

Keep trying !! …..it’s well worth it
When I spoke to Finlay back in July he told me that there were no more tuskers this season .
Then he emailed me a week later to say it’s changed and there is a six week wait…so I ordered and my bike came 3 weeks later….remember Rose is a German company….they are very efficient !! And for the money you get a great spec bike…I love mine to bits…and if I could take it to bed…………….. 😳

cheeky – would you (or anyone else) care to give a mini review on the ride qualities and build quality for the frame/wheels? Does the reach come up a bit short, or feel roomy? would love to hear more of your thoughts.

I’ve been researching manically for a few days and have come to the conclusion that at the price its right up there for best entry Fat option. I really like the overall look too (never a bad thing), and the 150mm spec fork leaves Bluto option open for wheelset at a later date. Perfick.
If I can source Raw its a deal sealer.

Have emailed both Fin and Rose.

They’ve just got stock back in for Tuskers. After a 2 month wait mine’s finally making its way to me.

is that the Grey or Raw finish robware?

Also, I have massive calves that used to rub against the e-stays on an old Alpinestars cro-mega I briefly owned years ago. The seat stays on the Tusker certainly look wide, am I running risk of frame/calf interface here?

Also, does anyone know the difference between 2015/16 models?.. I can’t spot anything on my old browser.

It seems on 2nd attempt that I can still order a Raw.. so i’m hoping this means they are still producing them and just out of stock.. ?

I got mine in grey. I’m not a fan of the raw look.

I can’t comment on your calves.

I didn’t see any difference between 2015/16 Tusker 2, but Tusker 1 seems to have gone Sram 1×11.

I got my build done with all Shimano XT.

haha, sorry, my chunky leg comment wasn’t supposed to be directed straight to you.

I’ll see if I get an email response in next 24hrs, if not, I may see what happens if I try to order up a Raw.

Just found the following from a german website with the help of a quick google translation:

The frame with its design and framework feels slightly overbuilt. Just because there is a fatbike need not all be fat . The coarse seat stays also took the calf muscles during cycling . Production frames get curved struts that will minimize this problem.

That’s me out then 🙁

Really gutted as it has so many nice features for the price. Just not worth the risk with my chunky legs.
‘only man I’ve ever met with a post code for each calf’ – a complete stranger once said to me.

calling Cheekyget – I think we may be local to each other – mind if I sling my leg over your Tusker just to be double sure?

SlimJim have a look at slam 69 s New bike its a 170 mm back end so may have closer together seat stays its called a smokestone Henderson you can get loads of advice on the UK fatbike groups on Facebook if you use it just make a join request .I ride a felt double 70 which is s 197mm back end and the stays are quite slim so maybe an option.

Slimjim, I have a Tusker and dont generally have any contact, where are you?

I’m on the South Downs, can get up to north downs easily

Chrisylad, the Henderson looks really good, alas, I’m not on Facepoke. Where can I find more details?

cheeky – would you (or anyone else) care to give a mini review on the ride qualities and build quality for the frame/wheels? Does the reach come up a bit short, or feel roomy? would love to hear more of your thoughts.

The build quality IMO is excellent …..it’s got a nice chunky study feel to it…the internal cabling is a great touch, my Tusker 1 is all standard , I’m finding the 1X10 is perfect for all my needs , the XT hydulic brakes are super sharp ( much better than the OO )…. The wheels I’ve got no probs with ….I can’t fault them and as its my first fatty I can’t really comment what’s better….even the tyres are great , I’ve had no probs with lack of grip and I run these at 9 psi
The reach is perfect for me …but then I’m only a shrinky dink at 5’6″ ( frame size m) and to me it’s roomy…but I don’t feel it too big

What would I change?……nothing…well maybe the pedals….but then they didn’t come with the bike!!…ha ha ha

Slimjim I am south of Guildford if that is any help?

Great – that’s close enough, so you’re ok for me to try for size? Is you’re med or large?

Its a medium.