Took delivery of my new bike on 3/3--just in time to ride the Solvang Century. It's my first actual road bike--I'm coming off of a Cannondale T2000 tourer. The difference is night and day!

I'm having way too much fun. Here's the specs:

Moots Vamoots (04) Titanium 59 cm
Look HSC 4 Fork
Easton EC 90 Carbon Road SeatPost
Easton EC 90 Handlebars Road Standard
Campy Record triple 10s175mm 30-42-53 crankset
Campy Record Bottom Bracket
Campy Record 10s Ergolevers w/ cableset
Campy Chorus 10spd13-26 cassette
Campy Record triple 10s front derailleur
Campy Record 10s longcage rear derailleur
Campy Eurus 700c Front clincher SILVER
Campy Eurus 700c Rear 9/10Spd SILVER
Campy C10 HD-L chain
Rubino Pro Black 700x23 clincher tires
Performance 48mm Presta 700x19/26 tubes
Easton EA 70 Road Stem 6 deg Black 110 mm
Gel Turbomatic4 saddle
Chris King Threadless Headset 1-1/8 Black Aluminum
Cinelli Solid Cork Black Cork
Campy Record Black calipers
Shimano M540 Pedals
King Titanium Water Bottle Cages

Very sweet indeed! What made you pick Moots over other ti manufacturers such as Litespeed, Merlin, Seven, etc? (They're all good choices, by the way.)

Thanks, HG!

It was a very tough choice, indeed (all of life's choices should be so tough, huh?). Once you decide that you're ready, willing, and able to spend $2k+ on a frame, you're not likely to get a bad bike. I figure: once you've got that out of the way, you can start to focus on "intangibles" like:

- reputation of the builder
- how comfortable were your interactions with the manufacturer on the phone
- do you like the LBS that rep's that line
- what sort of experiences have current riders had
- do you love the way the frame looks
- does it matter to you if you see yourself coming and going every time you ride a century

In my case, I had it down to Moots and Roark. Though Litespeed, Seven, and Merlin (and IF and many others) all make exceptional bikes, you could always find a few horror stories from among their owners (whether or not those were worth anything, I'll never know).

For whatever reason, I just never found a Moots owner who was dissatisfied with their bike. I dunno' if that really meant anything, but--as I say: you're entering a world of incredible bikes. You can almost throw darts to pick one.

The other one I liked until the very end, btw, was Roark, but at the end of the day, I had never seen one, didn't know anybody who'd ridden one, and was just a touch skittish about their 80 frame/year production (vs. Moots 800). Next time, maybe!

Those welds are mouth watering.

Sweet ride, I've got some serious jealousy going on right now. I left you a reply on my thread, but 150 shows is strong, you must have had some serious good times back then.

I saved up a lot of money once I didn't have GD tix to buy Thanks for the props on the bike. I feel very, very fortunate to have it. I'd love to take Jerry and the boys with me more frequently, but John Q. Law keep popping me for headphones . . . and one earpiece (the legal way) just won't cut it....

As to the shows: it was the best. 50 shows is huge. You get it . . . and that's all that matters. To quote "Might as Well:"

Never had such a good time
in my life before
I'd like to have it one time more
One good ride from start to end
I'd like to take that ride again

i've got 112 under me, mostly from '79 - '95 >> going to Ratdog in a few weeks.
great luck with the Moots. I just built up a Lightspeed Ultimate with similar components.

my buddy did solvang and swears that we both go out for next year's ride.

112 is beautiful. I always said that anybody who had seen one was somehow different from anybody who hadn't seen any I probably saw you!

That Ultimate is a sweet, sweet bike. See what I mean? How do you pick from among dozens of incredible frames?? Let me know if yours looks like either of the attached images. They were both on my short list for quite a while....

neil0502, you did the right thing. Your bike is absolutely stunning! Droolllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll.

The Litespeed on the left in post #8 should be a huge hit in the single speed / fixed gear forum!

After watching the movie "Sideways" last weekend, I've decided I'd really like to do the Solvang Century some time. It looks like a beautiful area.

I can't live on teh road without my Dead playing. I never actually saw the dead, as they were before my time (I'm 25), but I have hundreds of their shows on tape. Working on getting as many as possible on my ipod right now.

BTW..... SWEET ASS BIKE!!!!!

Neil -
Very good choice on the frame manufacturer and components - I just received my Moots Compact last week, and can't wait to get back out on it again.
I too looked at Roark - they were fairly local and I had seen some of their workmanship. I went with Moots for many of the same reasons you did, particularly since I didn't need a custom frame.
I have to say I breathed a huge sigh of relief for having gone with Moots, however, when I saw that Roark had recalled all their frames since January 1997 - 422 in all.
Apparently they were cracking around the chain stay bridge causing failure.

Cool. right from my backyard ....Steamboat, CO. I'm jealous. Now you need a Moots Smoothie for the dirt.

MootsRoadie: 1) WOW! I didn't hear about Roark's recall. What a tragedy for the owners . . . and for the company which, I thought, had a really bright future. Perhaps being a well-known military/aerospace contractor doesn't automatically transfer to making exceptional bikes....; 2) Congrats on your new Compact. Many, many happy miles to you! 3) I will wait patiently for you to post your pics (did you already?)

Bpohl: it was always about the music for me. Sure, the shows were an amazing thing to live, but it was still about the music . . . and the music . . . well, it never stopped! You are to be heartily congratulated for your astounding achievments (staggering weight loss and century rides). Weight is obviously a huge issue in this country. You came into it early and are, apparently, dealing with it early. More power to you!

You are a lucky man to live where you live.

The Smoothie may have to wait. I was issued a "Denial of Service" from my wallet for, um, quite a while!

Neil,
Pictures should be forthcoming - unfortunately, I am digital-camera-less and therefore need to make the necessary arrangements - especially since I currently have the same wallet issues as you. I will be posting on the Moots.com site soon, and will post a link on this site too.
By the way, living in San Diego can't be so bad.

Nice bike Neil.

You're sitting very far forward there mate. Without knowing all the facts I'd say you may need a layback post and a 10mm shorter stem. That'll shift your weight back off the front wheel, get you more centred, sitting on your sit bones and generating more power with the ol' glutes.

Give it a whirl, you might be suprised.

another moots in San Diego, i've never seen another moots in SD. i'm sure you'll love that bike as much as I love mine

Thylacine: Very in-ter-est-ing. I'll be back at the LBS in the next week or so. I'll talk to them about it. Many thanks for the tip!

Rockstar: So far, it's an incredible bike. If you want to retain some exclusivity, I'll ride inland on M-W-F-Su and stay coastal on Tu-Th-Sa. You can take the opposite schedule Otherwise, I'm sure we'll run into each other soon enough. Where'd you get yours anyway? I started out working with Ron Lacey (Rose Canyon), but wound up buying it at Beyond Bikes. They did right by me, but--and this goes to Thylacine's suggestion--I think they're really all about mtb's.

actually i prefer to do the coastal route on saturdays i purchased mine at sundance cycles in agoura hills, they specialize in high end stuff calfee, serotta, moots, ect. they gave me a very thorough fitting almost too thorough 2+ hours long, i feel very happy with the service they provided. oh and BTW i also rode my moots for the solvang century it was top notch

Neil,
Thanks for posting the pics of your AWESOME new ride, you have class man! Great selection of components too. There were 14 Moots roadies at the Moab Skinny Tire Fest at the beginning of March, as well as the 5 that Moots brought for demo.
Enjoy the riding AND the respect of those who will know what you have between your legs!! If you get to Oregon I'll take you out for a fast ride in the country.

good tip, I was considering this film (also almost checked out Giamatti in Amer Splendor, on my to rent list) but I hate wine

where is solvang, I know the pro tours teams folks train there, is it like napa, or sonoma county or whatever

whats majorca? thanks

sweet ride neil, congrats

Well, Ziggurat . . . first, many thanks. Second, however . . . read this (a copy of what I posted to rec.bicycles.misc on Friday evening:

Be careful out there, everybody!
------------------------------
Three weeks into Moots ownership. Maybe 300 miles on the odometer.
Riding south in Chula Vista with xxxxx.

I'm out front in the right lane (of a North-South street with two
lanes going each way and a left turn lane), in the Dreaded Door Zone.
This is not a heavily cycled part of town. I felt like everybody was
better off with me not taking the lane. In retrospect, that was a big
mistake.

I've learned (from decades of motorcycling) to be very vigilant in
watching parked cars for drivers who might unthinkingly open their
doors in your path, but between the early afternoon sun, the
sunglasses, and the deeply tinted rear window on the burgundy Toyota
pickup truck, I didn't see a head in this particular car. And he
didn't bother to look for me.

FLING! The door bursts wide open at the exact moment I enter its
radius . . . at about 18mph. CRASH! I'm down. The front wheel is
tacoed, my helmet is cracked, the right hand brifter is a tweaked,
scraped mess, and my clavicle area has taken the brunt of the edge of
his door.

Police are called. Ambulance is summoned. X-rays and CT's are taken.
All is relatively well.

But the Moots, I'm afraid, is now *far* from new. I've always known
that *things are just things*, but the novelty of this bike had
anything but worn off. It was too young. Our time together too
limited. Our journey not yet begun.

I don't know much about titanium welds and carbon fiber vis-a-vis how
they hold up to accidents. Neither do I know how much the force
sustained by the various bike parts was. All I know is my beautiful
new bike got all banged up today, and me with it. I also know that
xxxxx got to watch, and is a darned good guy to have along when
the worst happens.

Be careful out there, kids. Zoot has a lot of very apt epithets for
those car people. They don't think like we do, if at all.

Neil
Forlorn in San Diego