Moots Routt CRD Gravel Bike

Unleashing "Fast Gravel" with the Moots Routt CRD

You’ve probably heard the term “fast gravel” before, but you’ve probably never experienced it to the level the Moots Routt CRD can provide. With a racing bike’s soul, a gravel bike’s personality, and the magic carpet feel of titanium, this is an integrated gravel racing bike that will be comfortable enough for the super long gravel events like Unbound and snappy enough to take on SBT GRVL with alacrity.

Sometimes deciphering the various acronyms bike brands like to use is a bit of a chore, so to make it easier for you, the CRD in the name stands for Complete Race Design. They’ve used this unequivocal acronym for their Vamoots superbike, and it’s an indication of how fast they think you can be on the Routt CRD to have given it that same distinction. The focus has been on making the bike as light and responsive as possible while incorporating the type of comfort and durability a real hardcore gravel event would require.

The thing with gravel racing and even gravel training is that you are often on the bike for a lot longer than you would be racing and training on your road-specific bike for road racing events. If you have ambitions to do a race like Unbound, even the best riders can take over 10 hours for that, while a lot of us normal folk can add a couple more hours onto that. That’s a long time to be in the saddle no matter who you are. And if you are going to submit to that type of race and the training necessary to tackle it, then you are going to need to have a really comfortable bike. The high quality titanium that Moots employs for all their bikes will go a long way to absorbing the rough vibrations.

But if you are doing an Unbound or a SBT GRVL, you’ll also need to make sure you have the rubber room necessary to handle adverse conditions. That’s one place a lot of race-oriented gravel bikes slip up: they don’t leave enough room for wider tires. The Moots Routt CRD has been optimized for tires between 40 and 42c with plenty of room to fit wider tires if the conditions require. To keep the frame light, Moots turns to their RSL (Race Super Light) tubing, which is their lightest tubeset available. They have it internally butted to remove the possibility of excess weight while not compromising ride quality or overall durability.

Versatile T47 Bottom Bracket in the Moots Routt CRD

To enhance the rigidity of the bottom bracket area without limiting the selection of cranks, Moots is using the ever-popular T47 bottom bracket platform that offers stiffness and variety of choice. The 3D-printed dropouts that are UDH compatible and brake mount at the rear have been tweaked to accommodate the demands of ambitious gravel riding. Meanwhile, the front end has received the most attention with the addition of Moots’ own integrated cockpit design. The MOD (Moots Own Design) stem and handlebars tuck the wires neatly away at the top, and the Moots Gravel Fork accommodates fully internal brake hose housing, to give the Routt CRD a real racing bike look and feel. The developers still found the space to include hidden fender mounts for when you are riding in really foul weather.

Anyone looking to crush their gravel rides and races on a thoroughly modern titanium fast gravel bike, the Moots Routt CRD provides the holy trinity of speed, comfort, and capability. It’s a bike born in the hills of Steamboat Springs, Colorado, and unsurprisingly would kill it at SBT GRVL.

Also check Ibis Gravel & CX Bikes.