Two years ago I got myself a Moots Routt RSL thanks in part to our pals at ACME Bicycle. I wanted a forever bike that could do anything. Since then, this Moots has been around the world with me and ridden everything from crisp tarmac in the French Alps to bumpy Roman-era paths in England to gnarly fire roads up Mount Tam in California. It has had so many different configurations that this one Moots has actually been multiple different bikes over the past two years – and it has handled all of them extremely well. I have now decided it deserves some significant upgrades, but not before celebrating this Routt RSL’s many different versions.

The original

The original set up was gravel-focused, with HED Belgiums and Pirelli Cinturato Gravel H tires. This set up saw a lot of road and dirt in NY, the UK, and California. I loved the blue accents and the properly matched ZIPP cockpit and seatpost. This setup was bombproof, and I had no reservations in beating it up on singletrack or heavy rain. While very fun, it certainly did not feel performant. This makes sense, as I had built this up with no consideration for weight, and with the intention of leaving room for upgrades in the future. Specifically, the combination of wheels, Rival crankset, and mid-tier cockpit/seatpost/saddle/pedals was pretty heavy. I didn’t quite realize this until I added a frame bag to it – which was great and I am a frame bag > bar bag person now – but that really put it over the line in terms of weight and performance. Fully loaded with frame bag, this set up was about 24 pounds! Once I realized this, it got my mind going about upgrades.

Original Moots set up. Photo by Scott Rettino

The ROADIE

“Cool Moots roadbike! Do you like it?” I got asked by a fellow bike commuter while stopped at a light in NYC. I stumbled to explain that it was actually a gravel bike with road wheels put on. (What makes a gravel bike vs a road bike anyway? I thought to myself, feeling a bit silly.) I had put a pair of HED Vanquish wheels with Pirelli Velo tubeless 26’ tires on, and it definitely looked like a roadie. The reality is that the Routt RSL converts very well to “road mode” as long as you are not bothered by the comical amount of space left within the sides of a fork made to handle 45’ tires. I can confirm that a Moots Routt RSL handles well enough to bomb descents in California, Spain, and France without any problems. At this point, I had made no changes other than wheels and pedals. Notably, this setup was more than an entire pound lighter than the original gravel set up. I noticed the difference.

The Not-climbing bike

Ok so not entirely a different bike but I made a bunch of changes this summer before going to France. My wife Emma and I were preparing for L’Etape du Tour (which was awesome, by the way), and I wanted to lighten the bike up for the Alps. I figured any weight improvements I could make would make a worthwhile difference when signing up for a ~14k ft day of climbing. So with the help of a few teammates, eBay, and our spare parts bin, I made some changes. Complete carbon cockpit, lighter road saddle, carbon seatpost, and a new Force cassette and chain. In total, this removed another pound from my bike weight. It was completely worth it, and I was very pleased with this bike all throughout our France trip. This opened up a new level of enjoyment for this bike, and I decided I wanted to continue to make it lighter and more performant. A bike like this deserves that, anyway.

Not quite Nbd but almost!

So I went all in on bike upgrades. When we initially build this bike in 2021, Rival AXS was the only thing I could get ahold of. This group set has been good to me, but the reality is that it’s extremely heavy at 7 pounds! I know electronic groups are heavier, but my specific issue was the Rival power meter crankset. It is actually so heavy that you can feel it when pedaling, especially when trying to go hard. I decided I wanted to swap out the whole thing. So I enlisted help from Jonathan at ACME Brooklyn. Together we reviewed many different options for upgrades focusing on weight and performance. Jonathan knows Moots incredibly well, and did a lot of good research for options that would fit on the Routt RSL’s “gravel wide” bottom bracket standard.

We landed on a version of SRAM’s famous “Mullet” 1x set up, with Force components and a carbon ROTOR crankset. Together with some Pathfinder 42’ 2Bliss tires and some Look X-Track Carbon TI pedals, it’s an entirely new bike! It honestly feels like New Bike Day even though it’s not. It still has that same, beautifully dampened titanium ride feel but now it is significantly snappier, more aggressive and so much lighter. All in, we took off about 3 pounds from the original build, with this set up weighting roughly 18.75 pounds! I could not be happier with these upgrades, and I am very excited for the latest chapter in this Moots’ life.

New build photos by Matthew Vandivort

ALVARO’S MOOTS ROUTT RSL SPECS (updated 2023)

New:

Hoods: SRAM Force eTap AXS D2 Hydro Disc
Rear Mech: SRAM Rear Derailleur XX1 Eagle AXS 12 Speed
Gearing: SRAM XG-1295 X01 Eagle, Cassette, 12 Speed, 10-52T
Cranks: ROTOR ALDHU Carbon, 165mm with Inspider Power Meter
Bottom Bracket: Chris King Threadfit 30 Bottom Bracket, Steel Bearings, Matte Turquoise
Stem: Enve carbon stem 120mm
Bars: Zipp Contour SL SS Carbon 44cm 31.8mm
Seatpost: FSA K-Force Light carbon seatpost, 27.2mm, 25mm setback
Pedals: Look X-Track Race Carbon-Ti
Wheels: HED Vanquish 4 Carbon Tubeless
Tires: S-Works Pathfinder 2Bliss Ready 700 x 42, Tan Sidewall
Saddle: PRO Stealth