Tag: Steamboat Springs

Review: 2012 Moots Mooto X YBB 29er Titanium Frame

Moots Mooto X YBB 29er – 2012 Model Year

Just over six months has past since writing a post regarding my 2011 Mooto X YBB bike build that ran last summer. That 2011 Moots should have been a keeper and still hanging in my garage, but shortly after the post went live, the 2012 model was announced. Year after year there really hasn’t been any major changes in Mooto X YBB model that would justify the replacement of a frame with less than 1,000 miles of riding. Unfortunately for me (or maybe fortunately for all dirt heads), the 2012 model is a bit different when compared to most other years. There are the obvious changes with the curved down tube and top tube on the 18 and 19-inch models, but it is the other changes that are not as obvious which makes the 2012 model the basis of a much different bike. There were fairly significant changes including the geometry that really made me wish that I had stalled my purchase. Then a chance arose to build a 2012 model and that opportunity was seized upon! Continue reading Review: 2012 Moots Mooto X YBB 29er Titanium Frame

2012 Moots MX Divide – Interbike Sneak Peek!

Typically if a bike company has a major product announcement, it will be reserved for an industry trade show like the upcoming 2011 Interbike in Las Vegas, but it appears that Moots of Steamboat Springs, Colorado has decided to let their ‘friends’ on Facebook have a sneak peek of what appears to be an exciting new design.

There are few details as of right now, but it appears that the new 2012 MX Divide is a complete redesign of their somewhat archaic current cross country bike, the Zirkel. The most significant difference with the new MX Divide is that Moots teamed up with the Sotto Group of Watsonville, California to design this new frame using a single pivot design and position the rear shock more inline with the travel of the rear triangle. Sotto Group is well known in the bicycle industry, plus they have the experience to design and test making them a perfect resource for this new design. Since the MX Divide is designed to be a cross country bike, the frame has 4-inches of rear travel and is designed to work with a 100mm (4-inch) suspension fork. The rear triangle uses a combination of titanium seat stays and aluminum chain stays with a carbon fiber swing link connecting the seat stays and rear Fox shock.

Along with the new frame design, the MX Divide features an inset 44mm oversized head tube and press fit BB30 bottom bracket which is becoming more standard on mountain bikes due to both items increasing the overall stiffness of a frame.

Another feature that will be appreciated by current Moots owners (such as this reporter) is the curved down tube. I had recently completed building a 2011 Mooto X YBB and personally had an issue with the adjusting knobs of the 2012 Fox F29 fork hitting the down tube. The new curved down tube alleviates this issue and will hopefully appear on other 2012 Moots frames.

This ground-up approach by Moots has produced what appears to be an exciting new bike that we hope to swing a leg over at Interbike to hit some trails. The 19-inch frame MX Divide shown in the photo reportedly weighs just 24.5 pounds which should make this one fast bike on the trails!

Moots Official Website