MOOTS RSL, AC Style

Finito

More Moots!

Doing a bit of writing on Moots lately and that is not about to change as we have a few more coming in soon and all are pretty custom and trick. This article is on my personal Moots Compact that I purchased about 4 years ago. Since I have a few bikes that I've split my time on this has not had all the miles, but still over 20,000. It has been rebuilt about 5 different times as it served as my test bike for a while. I've used it to race and train on and it has spent two winters as a training bike. Now that I'm about to finish up the build on my Moots RSL I wanted to get this frame built back up to do a little comparing...



This is how I found the bike, sitting in the back of the garage for the past few months. It's been a pretty wet winter here and I think a titanium frame is about the only material that I'd let sit around in a damp garage without even cleaning it off before storing it. One of many major pluses with these bikes.



Drink mix and dirt...



Cleans up nice. Took about 5 minutes to get back to a bike that I could almost sell as new. Remember, titanium is one of the only frame materials that does not fatigue with time. If you like to keep your bikes for a while, this is really the best way to go...



From the front...



One of the few places that gives this away as a used bike. If I was so inclined I could sent this back to Moots and have them re-finish the frame and then you really would never know it had ever been used. Have done this with a few over 10 year old frames and it's amazing. The King headset will last almost as long as the frame!



Still faced and chased perfectly...



Putting on my equally old SRM. It's a gasp! WIRED version! Works great though and no reason to switch now. And man, do I miss the Campagnolo square taper bottom bracket. Still the smoothest bearing out there, ceramic or not. But yeah, we all just flexed these way too much and luckily have stiffer items now... (sarcasm)



Over a winter of riding grit gets everywhere. This is why you bring your bike in at least two times a year for an overhaul. Sucks when something small like this fails and you miss a ride or two...



Once again...



Wired version of the SRM. I actually really like this. Once installed you just forget about it, and if you do a clean routing job, don't even know it's there...



Found the rest of the components in various places around the garage, I mean Service Corse... This is a Campagnolo Centaur 10spd rear mech after much cleaning. Even though I love all the really top range stuff, this is a purpose driven training bike. I actually like it to be a bit heavier. It just makes it that much nicer when I jump on the new stuff!



Getting there. Blue Fizik tape, Continental 25c Gatorskins, Deda Zero 100, Campagnolo Record hubs, King stainless cages, Speedplay ti pedals... 18.01lbs w/ SRM and head unit...



The K-Edge chain watcher is starting to become standard equipment on our bikes, sucks to fall off the break w/ a dropped chain...



And the final product. How fitting that it's first time out was in the driving wind and rain. Felt at home in less than a second being back on this bike! Stay tuned for some comparisons btwn this compact and the RSL! As always give us a call at the shop with any questions!

Thanks for reading...

HOW TO: Building a Pro/Cat 1 race bike on a budget

Kris, our head tech is also a Cat 1 road racer and is heading off for the Tour of Gila next week. For the past year he has been lucky enough to race a hand built for him Pegoretti Marcelo. Even though he feels it was by far one of the best bikes he's ever ridden, it not the lightest. He used an SRM which didn't help and his bike in race trim was well over 18lbs. Usually not the biggest deal as it's the legs that really matter, but when racing against Lance Armstrong and Co. you need every little thing you can get. So, enter his new race bike, a few years old (but never ridden) BMC Team Astana replica Pro Machine. What follows is a little photo essay of how to build a race bike using whatever you can when you don't have a Pro Tour bike budget...



Kris at last years Tour of the Gila, making Horner smile in pain and Lance grimace during the crit. Some big names in that race. Same thing this year... Also, last year the Above Category Racing team had 5 full time racers while this year it's thinned out a bit to uhhh, one. Yep, Kris is going to take on the race as the sole representative for the shop.



Edge 45 front wheel and 65 in the rear. Thanks to Edge for the full sponsorship of the team last year. The wheels are strong enough to make it through all of last years thrashings and into this year. We also use Continental Sprinter tubulars as they are sticky, fast, pretty durable and much less expensive than the Compititions. Crucial when on a budget and replacing tires a lot during the season.



Edge also sponsored the team with forks and handlebars, so Kris re-used one on the front end of the BMC as the Edge product is pretty much the best made and adds a lot of front end stability. This frame is from a few years back before Easton beefed up it's EC90 SLX fork... Perfect match as well.



The Edge handlebar, usually we replace bars yearly and for sure after every crash, but these are pretty damn strong parts and Kris felt in good enough shape to last the rest of this year...



One of the few brand new parts, a white Deda Zero 100 SC stem. Kind of splurged here, but looks are sometimes worth spending a little extra on!



Another swap from stock, a zero set-back Thomson elite seat post to get the saddle in the right position for putting out some serious power...



Love the BMC squared off top tubes...



Becoming one of our favorites, the Hive REVL brake calipers. The TRP's Kris used last year were trashed, so a nice little upgrade was in order...



Can't really see it because I took a crappy photo, but this is a chorus front derailleur. 1g heavier than record so a no brainer...



But a heavily used and crashed on Campagnolo Record rear mech is being used. Also, for the 10spd Campagnolo we generally use Shimano Cassettes. Little less expensive to replace and since most neutral wheels use Shimano, wheel swaps are a little more painless.



K-Edge chain catcher is coming, you can see Kris has already dropped the chain a few times and in fact dropped out of the winning break w/ a few Bissell guys earlier this year due to a dropped chain...



And no, I have no idea why he's using a Dura-Ace crank! But he had one lying around and his SRM is Dura-Ace so why not. I do know Kris likes alloy cranks better and I agree, very nice looking. ummm, shiny... Oh, Speedplay pedals, a shop favorite as well.



What else?! King Ti Cages. Light as anything, stronger than most, handmade in Colorado...



The completed bike, not too shabby though in a little over the week it'll look a lot more battered after killing it on the roads in New Mexico. Good luck Kris!

New AC build; '09 Moots VaMoots

We have not been doing a very good job of posting our bike builds lately which is a shame as we've had some pretty amazing bikes go out in the past few months. So we'll do our best to rectify that starting now!
This is an '09 Moots VaMoots frames that we had on sale here (3 left, 2X57cm and one 52cm, so give us a call to get a great deal on an '09 frame) and is heading to the North East. Here is a picture tour on the build and if you have any questions on anything you see here feel free to give us a call! Enjoy...



We start with a 48cm VaMoots frame. No facing or chasing necessary as Moots does an incredible job with their finish work.



A closeup of the bottom bracket area. Cool thing about a Moots is that after 10 years of riding you can take everything off the frame clean it up and it will look pretty close if not the same as this.



The welders at Moots are pretty damn good. Here is the proof!



Starting the build. This frame will have a full Campagnolo Record 11spd group hung on it with the exception of this Super Record bottom bracket cups. Just a few dollars more than Record cups but a nicer black finish...



The bikes owner decided on a Red Chris King headset. The satin finish on all Moots frames takes well to any of the Chris King colors, so have a little fun...



Currently, our favorite handle bars. Deda has always been tops on our list, and their new Zero 100 is king. Unless you are looking for a really long reach or deep drop in your bars, these are the way to go. We have tried most of the new bars out right now and come back to these every time. The pewter finish goes great with the Moots as well.



Campagnolo chain rings on a Record 170mm compact crank. I do wish Campagnolo would make a 165mm version though.



Campagnolo 11spd Record cassette. 11X25, the standard cassette range for a compact crank...



Getting there. We take our time on all of our builds to ensure that everything is perfect. This is not a race so don't mistake speed for efficiency. We used Edge 45 clinchers and an Edge 1.0 45mm rake fork as well.



Again, our favorite bars...



And our favorite handlebar tape, Fizik. Not what you'll want if you like spongy, super soft tape, but if you ride without a death grip like you should, it's as comfortable as it needs to be. We use a lot of Deda tape as well, and is our second favorite for a little more softness...



In our opinion, the best saddle company out there right now is Fizik. Beautiful and excellent build quality. They make enough different shapes that on of their saddles should work for almost anyone. This is the Arione, the longest and narrowest of the road line...



The completed bike. 15.58lbs with only the cages missing. We're waiting for another shipment of King ti cages, and once on, will add very little weight. Again, 15.58 is very light for a straight forward METAL bike with clinchers. Everything here is super durable and treated right will last for a very long time.

Thanks for reading!

Spin Class Mechanicals

We decided to do this impromptu posting based on a bike that came in today for a few things. The bar tape was pretty messed up so we agreed to change it. Under the tape was some pretty bad corrosion and it is not the first time we have seen this. In fact the last one we dealt w/ was a broken aluminum bar that had so much corrosion on the INSIDE of the bar. This is due to one of the worst things you can do to a bike if you don't clean it after every session and that is spin classes. You sweat way more indoors than outdoors and it soaks your tape and over time looks like this. Sweat is highly corrosive and over time can damage the bars or stem or bolts or cables etc. until the worse happens which is a catastrophic breakage. Last time we saw this a month or so ago, the bars broke in two while descending, luckily he was o.k but could have been worse...
So, remember, clean your bike, change your bar tape, get tune-ups!



Nice


This was after I had already cleaned off the majority from this side...

Same thing happens to headsets, hubs, skewers, seat posts, pretty much any part of the bike.



Don't forget your clothing as well. One of the best products I've found is the Active Wear Cleanser from Assos. Not going to get into the technical details here but not all detergents out there clean your cycling clothing the way the need to be cleaned to ensure longevity of the garment. This does...

The last word, clean your bike or take it to the shop often to be cleaned, take care of your equipment including your clothing and it will take care of you and for longer. And just because you are indoors does not mean you don't need to clean as often, quite the opposite...

Thanks for reading!

Thursdays picture

This is high on the list of my favorite views while riding in the Bay Area. It's actually a pretty endless list that continues to grow every day which is why I consider this one of the top cycling destinations in the world, but more on that later.
This picture is in the Marin Headlands, on a road that heads down towards the base of the Golden Gate Bridge. I love this view because of the stark contrast between the quietness of nature and the bustle of the city, in this case, San Francisco. If you are riding in the headlands, you were just riding along the Pacific Ocean and then through a pretty secluded valley and then through a long tunnel that goes under HWY 101. You take a quick left after the tunnel and then start down a hill and after a couple hundred meters or so come up to this short tunnel, as you enter it this view comes up and you are reminded of where you are. The engineers who built this many years ago had to know what they were doing when they designed this...
Enjoy!

The Hive REVL brake calipers; worth the upgrade?

Welcome to our review of the Hive REVL brakes. First a little background on our philosophy on brake caliper 'upgrades'. In short, we never got into it. The lightweight brake craze just does not nor will it ever make that much sense to us. I can understand a few applications where it may make a little sense like a strict hill climb bike or just to have something a little different. But when it boils down to it, your brakes are for one thing, stopping you and your bike. So when we would think about upgrades we tended to focus more on durability, stopping power (but not too much stopping power), ease of adjustment and or installation. What we found is that there really was not anything out there that impressed us more than what came stock with the current component groups and mainly Campagnolo and Shimano. So, before the SRAM days we never really found ourselves 'upgrading' brakes at all.
The problem with the other companies in our view was that they were either too hard to install properly, or they came out of adjustment too easily, or they didn't have nice feel or modulation or even that they were TOO strong! So then came along SRAM and don't get us wrong, we really like their components but felt and still feel that the brake calipers are a weak point. We can make them work pretty well and the adjustments are nice but they just don't have the feel that a good Campagnolo or Shimano caliper has. So now all of a sudden we were looking for an alternative to the stock SRAM brakes. There are a few that we have tried and used and while they work fine they are not really all that much lighter.
That leads us to the Hive REVL brakes. We got our first pair a couple months ago and have been using them in all weather conditions and terrain variations since.

Installation


As easy as anything from Campagnolo, Shimano or SRAM. Kris swapped out my Chorus calipers and had the REVL's on in less than 10 minutes. We didn't have to swap cables as the arms are close to the same length which was the biggest time saver. The pads are fully adjustable and easy to do so. After set up, you only need a 5mm wrench to center the calipers. The brakes also have the option to use two different cams, one is a 1.4 gain the other 1.3 gain. The 1.3 is the standard for most levers made in the last 10 years or so while the 1.4 is for Shimano Dura-Ace 7900 and Ultegra 6700. You can mix and match if you like and try for a different feel but we stuck with the 1.3 gain cam for our Campagnolo levers. As for weight, they claim 230g for the set and on our scale came in at 235, pretty close. The swap from Campagnolo Chorus took 80g off our bike which by itself is not so amazing, but it adds up. Read about the ride and see if we think that it worth it...

Riding the brakes


Here's the deal, put a blindfold on and ride these and the Campagnolo brakes and perform some stopping drills, you will not feel a difference. This is a good thing and after the first descent they passed the test. We feel that Campagnolo brakes have some of the best modulation out there, maybe not the most overall stopping power, but that's not what we are looking for in a race bike. There is not enough traction in those skinny road tires to stop on a dime anyway so claims that one brake is more powerful than another is akin to some of these new over sized cranks being stiffer than the competition. Sure, that may be true, but really, who out there is actually flexing a Dura-Ace 7800 spindle for example. Same thing with brakes, you can only stop so fast!
So, modulation is awesome, the brakes are as powerful as anything else but what about durability?


We were lucky enough to have the opportunity (yay) to test these in all weather conditions. In fact the first ride was in a torrential downpour with plenty of dirt. We also used them on Aluminum and carbon rims and even got some dry rides in as well. On purpose we didn't clean them to see if the grit and grime would effect the way they stopped. Up to now the answer is no. They worked great in every condition and on every wheel we used. We did have to adjust them a few times at first but is super easy. Again, all that is needed is a 5mm allen wrench and 2 seconds.
In conclusion, we love these brakes. They are light, strong and have great modulation. They are easy to install and work great with all rim types. They are also durable and work well in adverse weather conditions. At $365 they are about the same as a pair of Campagnolo Record calipers, $65 more than SRAM Red and close to $100 less than a pair of Dura-Ace calipers. We recommend these for anyone looking to drop a bit of weight without sacrificing braking performance.

For more information and all the tech you can handle (and to see pictures of clean brakes!) click here and stop by the shop to see in person or to get your own pair...

Thanks for reading!