Jamis’ 2016 mountain bike have been trickling out since Sea Otter with their Dragon Slayer 650B+ hardtail and this summer’s Defcon enduro bike. The one thing missing was something with really, really wide rubber.
These days, just about everyone’s got a fat bike. To standout, the bike needs to have a schtick, whether it’s some audacious feature or a niche. The new Jamis Roughneck fat bike doesn’t jump out with any insane design cues, but it does tailor itself to some of the original fat bike conditions. It also gets a very nice fork with a rather unique construction method.
It’s made to perform in the snow, using the TRP Spike mechanical with cover plates. The Roughneck has an air formed frame and fork, which gives them more control over the tube manipulation. Where that was really put to good use is on the fork…
Air forming let them build a complete fork lower in one piece from dropout to dropout. That means no seam between the legs, which works just as well for bike shorts as it does for their new fork. The lowers are then welded to the steerer tube
It’s got a 69° head angle, and the fork has a 485mm axle-to-crown, which is same as a 100 Bluto with 25% sag.
It’s spec’d with Sun-Ringle Mulefut tubeless ready rims, and the frame fits up to 4.8 in the rear, and a 5.0 up front. It’ll ship with Kenda Juggernaut 26×4.5 tires.
Hub spacing is 15×150 up front and 12×197 in the rear. Bottom bracket width is 100mm.
Rack mounts polish off the frame’s features.
The Jamis Dakota 29er carbon race hardtail gets a complete makeover, coming in 20% lighter and 15% stiffer than last year’s model.
Geometry changed, too, working with a longer top tube so they could use shorter stems. The shape drops down with a brace for the seat tube to give it a low stand over height. Out back are 18mm shorter chainstays to come in at 438mm. It has a 70.5º head angle, which splits the difference between quick handling and high speed stability, coupled with a 73º seat angle to put the rider over the cranks.
Spec upgrades from 2015 for the top-level Dakota Team include a Rockshox SID 29 XX World Cup fork, Enduro bottom bracket and KMC X11SL DLC black chain. Compared to the “Pro” model below it, the Team bike gets a higher mod carbon frame, Stan’s NoTubes ZTR Crest wheels, SRAM XX1 group, and Ritchey WCS carbon cockpit.
The Dakota Pro gets GX1, Fox Float 32 Performance fork and DT Swiss X1900 Spline wheels. Below that’s the Dakota Comp with a Shimano Deore 2×10 group, Rockshox Recon Silver, WTB i9 TCS rims, and it keeps the Enduro BB.
