The Moots Vamoots has long been their road race bike, using premium 6/4 titanium tubing to get the lightest frame they could. They introduced a disc brake version in 2013, and then updated it to create an RSL (Race SuperLight) model a few years later.
Now, they’ve made a Vamoots RCS version, which stands for Routt County Special. It opens things up to accommodate bigger tires and the needs of modern riders. Here’s what’s new…
2021 Moots Vamoots RCS details
Designed to cover a mix of surfaces, and ones rougher than the standard Vamoots road bike cared to roll over, the biggest change is wider stay shapes to fit 35mm tires. No, it’s not a gravel bike, it’s an all-road bike that also gets a new carbon fork to fit the same 700×35 tire.
New “fastback” seatstays meet cold-worked chainstays to make more room. Both end at new 3D printed titanium dropouts that hold both the thru axle and the rear brake.
Tubing is their own custom double butted titanium, with size-specific shaping and butting to give every frame size a consistent ride quality.
“The Vamoots RCS is a bike we’ve had in the back of our minds for some time now,” said Moots Marketing Manager Jon Cariveau. “We all go out and ride together at lunch, and the roads we typically ride are this mix of pretty smooth asphalt, chipseal county roads, pretty well maintained ranch roads. Over the years we’ve all sort of said ‘what if’, and now with the evolution of other bike technologies, we’re finally able to put all the pieces together and offer the Vamoots RCS, a bike that can handle just about anything, and one we’ve all been dreaming of for years.”
2021 Moots Vamoots RCS geometry & pricing
The other big change is the geometry. Compared to the Vamoots Disc RSL, the RCS has a dramatically slacker head angle, ranging from 1º to 2º slacker depending on frame size. Fork rake is 47mm across all sizes, where the RSL ranges from 43 to 50.
The seat angle is 0.25º steeper on the RCS, and bottom bracket drop is about 0.1mm lower on the RCS, likely to offset the taller, higher volume tires. Chainstay length is 5mm longer, too, for the same reasons…and for improved stability over rougher roads. Stack’s slightly taller, and reach is slightly shorter.
Pricing starts at $5,999 for a frameset with carbon fork, Chris King headset and internal Di2 cable routing. Complete 2x builds include a SRAM Force AXS ($10,723) and Red AXS ($11,983) groupsets. Like many brands right now, they’re a bit backlogged, but you can get in the queue with a $1,000 deposit.
And that camo finish? It’s called Hunter, and is the latest option in their line of custom anodizing upgrades.
Moots celebrates 40 years in business this year, with every bike getting a special head badge to celebrate. They recently launched a completely revised gravel bike lineup, too, including updated Routt 45, YBB and RSL models.
