alfordjo

Hello all,

I am beginning research on the purchase of my dream bike. Moots.

A little about me:
52, 180-195 lbs depending on the time of year. Riding for almost 3 years.
Typical ride during the week - 15 miles with ~ 600' in elevation. (avg 18 mph)
Weekend ride - 50 miles with 3k'. (avg 15.5 mph)
3-4 times per year will ride 80-100 miles with 6k in elevation.
(would love to do the Triple Bypass, just not sure I am ready for it yet.)
No racing or even desire to race.
80% of my rides are solo.
100% of my rides so far have been on the road. I am not adverse to gravel, but just have not ridden on it yet.

Current bike - Madone, Ultegra 50/34 and 11-28. (Purchase used 3 years ago.)

Why a new bike?
I want a Moots.
I really love climbing even though I am not good at it - I need different gearing to do the rides I want. (I know HTFU.)
Nothing wrong with my Trek, just want to treat myself.

A few questions:
1 - I think I want to get Disc brakes for two reasons:
a - I am not that great of a descender and probably will not get much better (bad experience a few years ago with a motorcycle and a deer) I ride my brakes a lot.
b - With the Moots being a "lifetime" frame, will I be able to eventually replace rim brakes in the future if I want / need to?

2 - I am looking for an endurance bike. Will one of the Moots cross models work for that also? Routt or Psychlo or should I stick with the Vamoots / Vamoots RSL / Vamoots DR?
I dread speaking to the local Moots dealer about this since I fear they might just try to sell me what they have in stock instead of what would work best for me.

Thanks for your time.

Jonathan

General Geoff

If you have a local Moots dealer, TALK TO THEM! You're ready to drop almost $10k on a bicycle, they better damn well help you get precisely what you want.

As for it being a lifetime frame, yes the frame will probably last longer than you. The better question is whether the frame will be equipped with the correct dropouts/brackets/attachment points for as-yet-unknown future bicycle technology. Could it be adapted/updated for this? Maybe. These are questions you should ask the Moots dealer, since you're fortunate enough to have one nearby.

TrojanHorse

Eh? You said you want a bike with disks. Disk frames are wider to accommodate the disks, so you can't go from a rim brake setup to disks without some major (probably undoable) surgery. You probably could go the other way but disk frames probably lack the drilled out brake mount for rim brakes.

There haven't been a lot of technology changes that make an old frame unsuitable for new gear (going from 7-spd to 8 changed the spacing in the rear triangle a skosh, 11 spd required new hubs and now disks / through axles are gumming things up again) so make sure you get what you want the first time.

I'd never discourage anybody from wanting to buy a new bike but you've ridden for 3 years on one bike only. Try a couple different bikes out for extended periods before deciding what your forever bike is supposed to look like.

alfordjo

Thanks for the response.

I think I want disc brakes....worried if I go rim, the whole market changes..I am stuck.

But, maybe rim is the way to go and just stay with rim.

Thanks - Jonathan

alfordjo

Thanks General - I guess I need to be more trusting.

Jonathan

TrojanHorse

I get it! I just got a new bike in January and stuck with rim brakes... not because I don't like disks (never tried them) but I have a ton of spares and even a couple other bikes and everything is interchangeable for me this way.

One plus with disks is that you can get no-name carbon rims and not worry about rim brakes delaminating them.

St33lWh33ls

Couple suggestions.

Consider buying used.
I have a Vamoots CR and a Psychlo X, both purchased as used frames. The savings can be considerable if you don’t mind the typical cable rub and tattered decals which are easily replaced. Buy someone else’s “forever bike” and save some money. Moots bikes are well built and if the finish rubs bother you send it to them for a fresh bead blast and decals and still come out ahead. Look at the archived catalogs on the Moots website for frame specifics.

If you want a do it all bike I would suggest the Psychlo X and two wheel sets. Depending on year you can have disc or rim brakes. I have cantilever brakes on mine and it stops just fine, YMMV. Be aware they will not weld disc tabs on all frames if you send the bike back to Moots for an upgrade. The Routt models are nice but will cost you more and they come up for sale less than the long available Psychlo X. Benefit of the Routt is it will take wider tires, my older Psychlo X is good for 35 max and Continental GP 4000 run about 33mm wide on Belgium plus rims.

Hope this helps, Good Luck!

RonH

Have you looked at Lynskey? Their bikes are ti like the Moots bikes. They're the folks who owned Litespeed and Merlin back in the 1990s and early 2000s. All their bikes are hand made in Chattanooga.
They just had a HUGE sale and are currently having another promotion/sale.
https://lynskeyperformance.com

I picked up a Lynskey Helix Pro during the sale. Got another couple of weeks to wait until it arrives.

General Geoff

Can vouch for Lynskey's excellent quality. Have a couple hundred miles on a new 2018 Cooper CX I got earlier this month and it's been fantastic.

alfordjo

Thanks for the suggestions. I have looked for used, but not been able to find a price I am comfortable with (I was calculating in the cost of a fresh bed blast.)

Thanks again,

Jonathan

alfordjo

I have looked at Lynskey. Very nice bikes. Since I live in Colorado, I kind of want to explore the Moots option first to see if I can make it work before widening my search.

thanks,

Jonathan

cyclist2000

I would think that the disc brake bikes still have these the holes drilled so fenders can be placed on the bike. But I really don't know I don't have any bikes with disc brakes.

fietsbob

as I expect Moots builds to suit customer order ..Ask Them.. One man's brake mount is another person's mudguard mount.


you need me to find their phone number for you?

GailT

A used 2017 Moots Psychlo-X RSL Disc 60cm was just listed on Craigslist in Steamboat. No connection to the seller, but I remembered your thread when I saw the ad.

Siu Blue Wind

Used is a good idea if you don't have a custom fit.

I flew to Colorado to be on a fit bike for two hours. They checked different ways I sit on the bike, the position of my feet (turned in our out) when pedaling in different positions, my walking gait, the length of my bones, the shape of my back when down in the drops, all kinds of things. Then they calculated things out, had a discussion with me about their findings and had the blue prints for the frame drawn out. They sent them to Moots for them to verify it and sent them BACK to me for verification before sending it BACK to Moots for the build. Took 12 weeks for the frame to be made. During that time, I was able to pick out the components. Granted, I didn't get the top components I wanted but I rather spend the money on the frame first because I can always get the components later.

So if you don't want custom (and some of those used ones are indeed custom) make sure the bike really feels good.

Mine disappears under me when I ride it. It's as if I'm being propelled by air. Seriously. It fits THAT good.

To me, it was worth it.

ttusomeone

Sorry to bring up a thread that's a little dated, but I'm curious if you ended up ordering a Moots. I'm about to pull the trigger on a Routt RSL.

alfordjo

I have not ...yet....other priorities came up. Probably will wait until the spring.

cyclist2000

If they are making the frame for you, why not get a disc brake compatible frame and have them put a brake bridge on the the frame and normally the fork has the caliper brake hole for fenders. Unless you are using V-brakes or cantilever brakes, then you will have brake bosses on the frame and fork (this is really ugly)

Soma make a frame that was disc and cantilever compatible, it was the Soma Saga DC frames, it has been retired now.

You should make it belt compatible and rohloff compatible and DI2 compatible.

Marcus_Ti

Well...Di2 and Rohloff don't work together. Granted you could get the frame made for Paragon slider drops like my Carver....Hopefully Shimano does a refresh of Alfine, STAT, to make their IGH hub suck less....gear spacing oddities, 135mm bolt axle only, and IIRC the Di2 actuator is a pain on while mount/unmount.

Sully151

Rock71

Here's a pretty good Moots review https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q...0&&FORM=VRDGAR

ttusomeone

Yeah, I've had it for about a week now. I love it! I haven't had a chance to take it on a gravel ride yet, but riding it on the road with my road wheels on there is a blast.

I decided for the Routt RSL instead of the 45 mainly because I figured if I was riding somewhere that needed 45c tires, I would just ride my mtb. For gravel races or anything else, I would be running something in the 38-40 range regardless - and I wanted a RSL version - so that's why I went with the Routt RSL.

Chandne

Stick with the Moots idea, without a doubt. That is a lifetime frame and go with discs if you like discs. I prefer discs though I have both types. I was about to order one but I suddenly lost my job when we were shut down by the buyer company suddenly. Long boring story but I'll likely order one this coming Spring too. I'd like to go to the factory and get measured initially....then pick it up later and do my first ride there.

alfordjo

I ended up finding a 2000 Vamoots frame that worked perfectly for me. Built up a month or so ago. Have 500 miles on it and love every mile!

Nessism

Beautiful bike. Fork almost looks like it's installed backwards but apparently that's just the look of that particular fork.
Enjoy!