New bike

[BlackHatGuy]

Finally got my new do-pretty-much-everything, go-pretty-much-anywhere bike. Very psyched, big smile.

Moots Routt 45, HED Belgium rims, Moots Ti stem and seat post, TRP disc brakes and front carbon fork, Zipp carbon handlebar. Ultegra group. Fizik Tundra saddle. Challenge Almanzo tires with latex tubes. Comes in at just under 21 pounds. Can't wait to get it on a real ride (tomorrow morning!). My pics don't do it justice. Now to get some bikepacking bags!

[W I S N E R !]

Beautiful.

I just sold my road bike and MTB and bought a cyclocross bike. I've been riding a good deal of trail and I'm finding it's plenty capable. Yet I can still do a 30 mile road commute and keep my speed….Indeed the "do all" bike.

I'm jealous of your disc brakes though, I'm running cantilever still….

[BlackHatGuy]

Thanks.

The disc brakes are my first, really. I had them on my 29er, but I never really rode that (a poorly thought-out purchase among many…). I'm looking forward to giving them a good test.

[Steven Paris]

Nice, Doug!

[Jordo _99]

Doug,
I'm ridiculously jealous of that bike. What's your overall opinion of Moots and Ti as frame material? If you've ridden carbon and higher-end steel frames, how does it compare (obviously geometry can skew this a bit)?

I've been wanting to get a Ti frame for a while now and I was going to get a 6/4 Ti frame on my cross build but found a good deal on a PlatOX frameset

[BlackHatGuy]

Jordo,

I already love this bike. Craftsmanship is incredible – so it's a beautiful looking bike, even at very close inspection. It's also the first bike that I had built to my specs from a fitting, so it fits incredibly well.

I've taken two rides on it so far this past weekend. One was strictly road, the other was dirt/gravel/rutted with a smidgeon of paved thrown in. It handled both extremely well. The road riding felt as smooth as any ride I ever did on either the Madone or the Cervelo carbon bikes (never had a high end steel frame). Since I'm running 33s instead of the 23s/25s I run on the other two, it's certainly a softer ride on bumps and potholes.

The dirt/gravel/rutted I couldn't even attempt, of course, on the other bikes. The bike felt solid, though I was wishing I had some 38s on when I went through some really soft sand! But I never felt like I was getting overly jarred on some very rough road and the bike handled really well – this from someone who has done very little of that kind of riding.

In short, it's everything I was hoping for when I decided to go for such an expensive bike. But as a long-time lover of bicycles, it, so far, is very much worth the cost.

Hope that helps.

[John Mc]

All I can say is "Wow". That is one sweet bike! Out of my price range for now, but one of these days……

[Jordo _99]

Doug,

That's great to hear! I've heard very few (and almost always minor) complaints about Ti and only great things regarding Moots so I'm not too surprised with your raving review.

I'm glad to see you love it so much. If I ever find myself looking to replace one of my steel frames I'll definitely give Moots a serious look.

I agree completely with the bit on a bike being expensive but worth it if you enjoy it and use it. I had to do some math (bike cost / hours I'd use it = $/hr) and compare that to things like a movie ticket to convince my wife (GF at the time) that I wasn't nuts.

…I estimated that over 5 years my bike would cost me about $3/hr including maintenance and upkeep and considering all the physical/mental health benefits that come from the exercise…I don't think that helped justify my sanity but it did help her understand the purchase.

[Author]

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