After the Interbike 2008 cavalcade of new bikes and parts, it was a bit calmer in Titaniumville this year. Moots released a new version of the Vamoots, a new road stem and a 10 year anniversary edition of the Mooto X YBB 29er.

Mooto X YBB
The limited edition Mooto X YBB 29er was created to celebrate the 10th birthday of Moots first foray into the 29er world. It has a cool looking decal package, and is decked out with a slew of white and red parts. Of course using Sram XX made it look pretty bling! Very rad looking for the usually understated Moots. Only 75 are being created, so run out to your dealer and order one!

Color Options
Moots added some colors to their stem faceplates, seat collars and cinch post saddle clamp. You can now get them in black, red, blue and gray. I am already destined to add some blue pieces to my Moots Mooto-XZ!

Next -> Vamoots RSL & RSL road stem

Interbike was a fun experience again, but it was very tiring. Long days followed by long nights writing up ride impressions and daily coverage of the show is exhausting. I rode as many bikes as I could at the Outdoor Demo, but there is only so much time in the day, to many people to visit and talk with, and it was in the 90’s and sunny, so heat exhaustion and hydration play another part of the entertainment. Indoors was this monstrous swatch of booths that is overwhelming, and it’s easy to get lost. One saving grace is that the exhibitors tend to keep the same booth area each year so it’s easier to find the next year. I tried to visit as many booths as I could and talk shop with each of the exhibitors but there are so many different exhibitors that it was impossible to take it all in.

The MTBR.com staff wanted me to come up with a list of my top highlights from the show. I did have a few celebrity types, I spoke to such as Phil Liggett, John Tomac, Tinker Juarez, Georgia Gould, Allison Dunlap and Greg Lemond but the products and the bikes and the exhibitors are the real highlights.

Commuting
There were electric bikes galore at the show along with more commuter and cruiser bikes than I have ever seen. The cream of the crop of those commuter bikes was the Moots Comooter.

Sure it was expensive and only a select few can enjoy it tasty treats, but it’s totally tricked out and is pretty much ready to commute as soon as it’s put together. No need to figure out a part selection, it’s already blinged!

(continued…)

I had a very nice personal tour of the Moots booth by Cathy Wiedemer. She walked me through the new Moots bikes and showed me a few of their new parts. Their new theme at Moots is “Why Ti”.

The biggest news is their commuter bike aptly named the Comooter. Call it a titanium townie! This is definitely a Robb Report kind of bike. It is meant for the upwardly mobile ‘BMW driving set’ person in the big city who wants to commute.The bike comes as a complete package, no framesets with this baby. It is decked out with Moots Ti bars, stem, seatpost and frame and has the always meticulous Moots welds. The drivetrain is the 14 speed Rohloff internally geared transmission, Schmidt generator hub powers a Schmidt front light and a Busch & Muller rear light, Hionjo aluminum fenders, tubular rear rack and Magura Louise disc brakes.
Sizes are 53.5, 55, 56.5 and 58.
MSRP $8750.00.

(continued…)

I have never tried a 96er, so I was interested to find out what all the fuss was about. The 96er gives you the big 29er wheel up front with all of it’s advantages and the fast accelerating 26er in the rear with it’s strengths. However, does it work?

(continued…)