Outerbike | Proudfoot Proudfat: Sailing Smoothly All Across Colorado

Jon and Erin Acuff, previous SoCal residents of Corona Del Mar, moved to Golden Colorado to pursue the ultimate dream job: making custom bikes. As an aerospace veteran, Jon brought his expertise to designing and building steel hardtail, full-suspension, and gravel bike frames. The full range was available to demo at this year’s Outerbike in Crested Butte, Colorado, and I seized the opportunity to ride the Proudfoot full-steel full-suspension MTB, complete with a pair of 26 x 4.00 Schwalbe Jumbo Jims on Dirt Components carbon Thumper wheels.

Rocks? Who cares! Ruts? What are those!? The Proudfoot Proudfat turns every trail into a smooth, flowing luxury ride.

I took the ski lift up into the Mount Crested Butte trails, and rode through some forest trails and into some downhill sections through the mountain. The fat tires and steel full suspension frame absorbed everything, making for a ride-feel of extreme smoothness. The path to a steel rear suspension wasn’t as smooth as you might assume.

The Proudfat frame features a number of considerations to accommodate the rear triangle. The down tube and seat tube connect to the bottom bracket, but a second cylinder sits right above the bottom bracket in line with the seat tube that acts as a pivot point for the rear suspension. The chainstays then curve up and around to that pivot point, creating the huge tire clearance. The rear triangle closed at the top to the RockShox Monarch that bolted to the down tube. The bike had excellent power transfer, strong braking ability, and coasted easily through turns. Rocks? Who cares? Ruts? What are those? The Proudfoot Proudfat turns every trail into a smooth, flowing luxury ride.