Gearing for Days: a SRAM Eagle Equipped TBD Moots Psychlo X RSL
It’s been an eye opening experience spending the 2019 road season riding and racing Moots bikes. Without hesitation I can say that the Moots Vamoots RSL is the best road bike I have ever ridden and I think the Moots Routt RSL may be the best single bike on the market today - I’m not sure any other bike I have owned or test ridden comes close to doing everything that I have done with the Routt RSL, from road racing to gravel to singletrack/CX all in a single, beautiful, made in the USA frameset.
That said, there is more to Moots than the Vamoots and the Routt. The Psychlo X RSL cyclocross bike is low volume in comparison to those two mainstay framesets, but it features all of the same beautiful craftsmanship and durability in a cyclocross specific design. When I placed an order for one, I knew precisely what finish I wanted. Whereas Clark went with a beautiful gold ano on his Psychlo X RSL, I wanted something a bit more subdued and was immediately drawn to this dark bronze that Moots calls ‘Root Beer’:
What I didn’t know that I wanted, until Colin at ACME Bicycle Co. recommended it, was the absurdly massive gearing range that comes with SRAM Eagle XX1. Paired with a 1x SRAM Force eTap AXS chainring, the 38x50 max gearing means this bike is truly prepared for even the steepest singletrack gradients (this bike will admittedly see way more use on the trails than at CX races). And as it turns out, the gold highlights from the Eagle cassette go perfectly with both the brown ano and the custom gold hubs on the i9 wheelset.
While the build tallies to an absurd price point, it is also a bike that, thanks to the aforementioned durability, should last a lifetime and I could not be more pleased with the finished product. I love the look of the bike and am quickly coming around on the benefit of having absolutely massive gearing available while riding single track. A nagging hip injury has kept me from riding the bike as much as I would like over the past few weeks, but as soon as I am healthy I cannot wait to log long days on the trails with this rig.
As usual, if you are NYC based and want to build a Moots of your own, or just want a high-quality bike fit, give our friends at ACME Bicycle Co. a ring or drop them a message via their website.
The full TBD x Moots Psychlo X RSL ‘Root Beer’ Build
Groupset: SRAM Force AXS 1x HRD with Quarq, SRAM XX1 Eagle rear deraileur and cassette
Gearing: 38 chainring, 10-50 cassette
Cockpit: Zipp SL-70 bars and stem
Wheels: i9 laced with PDX tubeless tires
Saddle: Ergon SR Pro
Build and fit: ACME Bicycle Co
The full TBD x Moots Psychlo X RSL ‘Root Beer’ Gallery
A New York City based cyclist and sometimes photographer. Part adventure rider, part crit racer, and fully obsessed with an English bulldog named Winifred.
Instagram: @photorhetoric
E-mail: matthew@tobedetermined.cc
