Moots Slider Dropouts Review

Dropouts aren't usually something that warrant much attention. A rider simply wants them a) present, b) functional, and c) reliable. Most bikes accomplish this easily, as the derailleur provides chain tension. A dropout that doesn't need to provide chain tension is simple.

A dropout that can provide chain tension is more complicated, originally the "horizontal" or "track" dropout. However, once disc brakes, suspension, rackmounts, and a hub that needs to brace itself against the frame to prevent it's rotation are taken into account, the dropout needs to increase its delivery of features.

Looking at the answer, it seems excessively simple. The brakes, hub, and associated gizmos all need to be aligned relative to each other, and they need to move. So the dropout incorporates all of them, and the dropout is made to move. It took a while for this simplicity to take form - when I ordered my last ti mountain bike in 2003 I don't believe this offering existed.

Clever bike nuts who have seen my bike recently ask "but isn't it hard to take off the rear wheel?" It's actually not. First, the shifter cables are easily removed. The black box at the bottom is fastened to the hub by the large round thumbscrew bolt. You remove that bolt, and your rear wheel is completely free of the shifter cables - the entire black box is removed.

After that, it's simply time to undo the axle bolts. To be honest, I'm not sure why a beefy quick release wouldn't work, but it shipped with these bolts. The wheel just drops out. To put the wheel back in, you have to take care to align the part of the Rohloff that transfers torque to the dropout into the dropout (it's the black knob right above the brass shifting bolt in the picture above, it needs to slide into the extended portion of the dropout). Then put the shifter mechanism back onto the two guideposts to the left and right of the brass shifting bolt, and tighten up the thumb screw that I'm pointing to.

I had an Eccentric Bottom Bracket single speed for a while. Despite the fact that EBB's share my initials, I wasn't too keen on them. Limited range of adjustment, and so much force going through the BB seemed to indicate they'd slip over time. Also - screws digging into the side of a BB shell? What happens when the divots they make become worn in, but you ened it just a tiny bit tighter? The screw is supposed to magically dig in to the edge of the divot? Or let me guess - it slides into the divot over time, and can't therefore maintain the tension you set it at.

More words than ever need to be said about the dropout have been said. It's there, it's a good desing and it works. It's clever, it's design makes it easy for the rider to remove the rear wheel.