Bike Lust | 2 New Moots YBB Softails

You’d have to be a pretty hard hearted soul not to look at a Moots and go ‘oooh’. All that titanium cleanness, all that muted bling, all that rainbow detailing… no? Doesn’t do it for you? Well. Really. Please, go find some bike shaped objects elsewhere, because we really don’t think we know how else to continue this conversation.

For those of you with the same proclivities as us, we have two new Moots models for you to get your peepers round. Both come with the YBB ‘Why Be Beat’ pivotless suspension built in, but one is a drop bar bike, and one is a flat bar. Let’s start with the flat bar.

Mountaineer

• Price: from $7,994, complete bike

The new Mountaineer incorporates elements of the old Mountaineer with the old Mooto X YBB to deliver a bike that should be at home on the trail, between the XC race tapes,  or bike packing.

You can pair the frame with either a 120mm or 130mm fork, which will alter the head angle to 68° or 67°respectively.

The curved top tube might raise the odd eyebrow among prospective bag carriers, but there’s still a bunch of space inside the front triangle, plus two bottle cage mounts and an Anything Cage mount.

The YBB element is a small slider containing a steel spring give 1.25 inches of pivotless rear travel – which should be just enough to soften the ride, without losing acceleration or adding in a bunch of complex parts or weight.

Designed to take up to a 29×2.6in tyres, it brings the YBB of the 1980s to a frame with a very modern tyre standard.

There are two ‘Select Builds’ available, with reduced delivery times, or you can choose a bespoke build like this one.

Cable routing is external, although there is stealth dropper routing.
If the standard etched finish doesn’t take your fancy, you can upgrade to one of the many ‘Signature Series’ finishes.

Routt YBB

• Price: From $4,999 for a frameset

This is the kind of finish you can go for if you want to step up to an anodised finish, shown here on the new Routt YBB.

The Moots Routt YBB takes all the features of the Routt, but adds in 20mm of rear pivotless travel. The travel comes from the flex in the frame. The titanium frame. Ahh…

Moots keeps things super clean with some hi-tech 3D printing, enabling them to incorporate flat mount brakes

There’s room for a 700x45C tyre in there, as there is on the Routt 45. There are also hidden mudguard mounts, if you want to get all practical. We wonder, are titanium mudguards a thing… ooh, with anodising… imagine!

Even the bar tape is stroke-able. Possibly even lickable.

It’s designed to be run with a Moots carbon fork or a Lauf fork – so you can add a bit of comfort up front too if you like. Or, you can get a Routt without the YBB if you don’t want any spring beyond the natural flex of titanium.

Anodising inspired by the carpet in the hotel of The Shining, fact fans.

If you want your frame routed like this one for electronic shifting, it’ll add a little extra to the price. But then, it’s probably going to be a bike for the long term, so you may as well go dream build?

What’ll it be? A dream build drop bar? A soft tail YBB? Or something else all Mootsy and mmm….?

There are now a handful of UK stockists of Moots, so if you don’t fancy the trip over to Steamboat Springs, Colorado, you don’t have to.

Disclosure

Hannah’s travel and accommodation was provided by CrankTank/Impact Sun Valley.

Hannah Dobson

Managing Editor

I came to Singletrack having decided there must be more to life than meetings. I like all bikes, but especially unusual ones. More than bikes, I like what bikes do. I think that they link people and places; that cycling creates a connection between us and our environment; bikes create communities; deliver freedom; bring joy; and improve fitness. They're environmentally friendly and create friendly environments. I try to write about all these things in the hope that others might discover the joy of bikes too.

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