New Moots

I spent much of Wednesday evening unpacking my new Moots up at my parents house, only to have it snow and hail by the time it was ready to ride. It's a MootoX 29er, which features the YBB soft tail design, with S&S couplers for travelling, and a Rohloff hub for gears. To make this work, it uses a slider dropout design, so the rear wheel goes on and off as easily as on any other bike, and chain tensioning is simple. 29er (or 700c) tubeless rims are supplied by Notubes, thanks Stan for changing the way the world thinks about tire pressure, traction, and flats. I guess that says it isn't your off the shelf special.

What am I getting at with an "odd duck" like this? I like riding in all types of weather, and the goal is to also have a bike that's up to the task. Ti frames (and aluminum) are basically impervious to weather. But drivetrains are another issue - mud, snow, long grass, etc. can reduce the functionality of an external derailleur setup quickly. The Rohloff is less susceptible - the external drivetrain is essentially that of a singlespeed. The two shift cables are fully housed (there's no return spring, a cable pulls both ways), and the actual indexing of gears is internal to the hub. The YBB suspension design is technically "suspension", but soft tails need to be evaluated against what they're designed to do - this obviously isn't going to ride like my 4" Turner Flux. However, I expect it will provide some damping qualities on rough surface trails, additional climbing traction, and maintain a laterally stiff rear end, and be very low on the maintenance scale. And naturally, the S&S couplers are a product I recommend on ANY custom Ti bike order - they let you take your bike with you anywhere, they add insignificant amount of weight, and they never squeak. They are the holy grail of facilitating bicycle travel - I respect Bike Friday for getting people riding wherever they go, but seriously, why not ride an uber cool Ti road bike, cross bike, mountain bike instead? Plus, whenever people hear that I own a "travel bike" they picture the unconventional geometry of a Bike Friday. I don't question their utility, just their aesthetic.

I'll do a little writeup on it after I get a chance to ride it this weekend, but the first half hour ride in the sleet says it's built to do what I want it to do.