Mosaic RT-2 Small Batch gets more affordable US-made ti road bike quickly

Written by Cory Benson Mar 14, 2018 8:40 a.m. ET

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Mosaic Bespoke Bicycles is lowering the barrier to getting on a handcrafted titanium road bike. The new RT-2 small batch frame program will see them producing stock sizes of their core ti road bike, and offering it as a frameset or a in a single complete bike spec, bringing down both pricing and wait times.

Mosaic RT-2 small batch stock titanium road bike

The small batch frame concept aims to deliver the same high quality, made-in-Colorado titanium frames even quicker to buyers looking for a premium road bike, just at a lower price. Now with a lead time of three weeks (vs. six weeks for a full custom bike), Mosaic can deliver an RT-2 road frame welded from 3/2.5 straight gauge and paired to an ENVE Road 2.0 fork.

Mosaic builds the road bikes from size specific tubing, and offers a wide nine-size range from 48-62cm, still delivering an appropriate fit for the vast majority of riders. Between the years building custom frames and working with their retail partners, Mosaic says they’ve dialed in snappy handling, endurance geometry, and developed a performance spec that’s hard to argue with.

Tech details

The small batch RT-2 frames feature a straight 44mm headtube to use an InSet headset to work with the 1.25-1.125″ tapered steer of the Enve fork. The rim brake frame sticks with a trusted 68mm threaded bottom bracket, a 27.2mm seatpost, traditional external cable routing, and will clear a 28mm road tire.

Pricing & Availability

The frameset alone retails for $3,600 with frame, Chris King headset & ENVE fork.

Complete bikes in the small batch program are available in a single build with a new Shimano Ultegra R8000 groupset, Mavic Ksyrium Elite wheels, and 25mm Mavic tires. The complete RT-2 small batch build rounded out with a Fizik Cyrano R5 bar, stem & seatpost, and an Antares Versus saddle retails for $5,850.

Both stock framesets and the complete build are available now through Mosaic dealers with a three-week lead time. Still want custom? Check out some of their new options from NAHBS here.

mosaiccycles.com

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Cory Benson

4,154 articles

Cory Benson is the EU Tech Editor of Bikerumor.com.

Cory has been writing about mountain bikes, enduro, cyclocross, all-road, gravel bikes & bikepacking for over 25 years, even before the industry created some of these names. Prior to Bikerumor, Cory was a practicing Architect specializing in environmental sustainability, has designed bike shops & bike components, and worked as a bike shop mechanic.

Based in the Czech Republic for 15+ years, he is a technical mountain biker, adventurous gravel rider, and short & medium-haul bikepacker. Cory travels extensively across Europe riding bikes, meeting with key European product developers, industry experts & tastemakers for an in-depth review of what’s new, and what’s coming next.

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onrhodes

6 years ago

Nice approach, good start…….but…..for “only” about $400 more you can get full custom from several other competing brands like Independent Fabrications, Seven, etc. (minus the headset in most cases)

Crash Bandicoot

6 years ago

Reply to onrhodes

Actually in this build a Seven Axiom S custom geo with decent wheels and tires is $68 cheaper.

Robo

6 years ago

Will the small batch program be rolling out a disc and thru axel version anytime soon?

Kernel Flickitov

6 years ago

Hurry up fast food entry level ti with sub par aluminum Mavic junk is not the direction I expected Mosaic to go when I first met with them at 2013 NAHBS.

Seraph

6 years ago

How to ruin a classic titanium road bike: step 1) put Mavic wheels on it.

Chad - Mavic

6 years ago

Reply to Seraph

Hi Seraph, Chad from Mavic here. I’m curious to know why you would make this comment. Ksyrium wheels are some of the most reliable wheels available and now, with the current specs, are more than competitive (tubeless, wider and a new [impressive] rubber compound in our tire). I would assume that Mosaic spec’d alloy wheels because the customer buying this bike might already have a set (or two) of carbon wheels in their garage.

roadie

6 years ago

They seem to make great bikes, but price doesn’t seem quite right. Just got a full custom Eriksen frame for $3,400. That includes custom geometry.

Abe

6 years ago

Is it just me or does the title of this article read really funk-ily?

Crash Bandicoot

6 years ago

For 2 grand less you can get a canyon ultimate with a set of Mavic Cosmic Pro Carbons. I know they’re not the same segment but c’mon Mosaic no one likes to be nickel and dimed and there are about 100 other more appropriate wheelsets for a bike of this cost.

Velofreak

6 years ago

would have loved to read the weight of these 3600$ frames… I know ti is not lightest, and i know why the weight is not indicated, but it just makes it just a tiny bit more shady, more wanting to go for the canyon option… unfortuantely.

blah blah blah

6 years ago

straight gauge! seemless i doubt it, cheaper Chinese ti? yeah i’ll take the Canyon too

Robin

6 years ago

Reply to blah blah blah

Interesting comment given that you have virtually no facts to support your comment. There is zero reason at all to believe the frame isn’t seamless or that it’s made in China. It’s too bad people don’t think before they comment.

jbt

6 years ago

Mosaics are made from US seamless titanium. You pay for the name, the builder, the brand…whether or not it’s worth it depends upon your personal definition of value. In general custom and near custom bikes on a spec versus spec basis are terrible values. The same thought process can be applied to luxury cars. A Mercedes is a terrible value compared to a Toyota that also has four wheels, an engine and goes from point A to B. Yet people continue to buy Mercedes as well as Mosaics.

Crash Bandicoot

6 years ago

Reply to jbt

That’s not really a clear cut analogy custom frames can actually be a fantastic value in comparison with top end bikes from Specialized, Trek, Cannondale, etc. in many cases these frames can be had at the same or lower cost than those bikes but you can opt for standards, clearences, etc. that keep the bike relevant and useable for longer (thinking of those nifty paragon drop outs) I guess you can talk about brand equity/value but to most roadies an S Works Venge Vias or Trek madone has more cache than a custom frame, in fact I’m sure you could roll up to a crit on a Richard Sachs frame and half the people would think you were just on an old and cheap bike presuming it didn’t have a flashy paint job.

jbt

6 years ago

Reply to Crash Bandicoot

I agree with you. They can be a better value than the flavor du jour in the top end of stock bikes. Although, my larger point is that many bikes are simply not a good value when assessed on basic features. That being said I have 2 Mosaic RT-1’s and even though they are objectively not a good value (nor is my Spec Diverge for that matter), I bought them knowing that. And I’m actually getting a 3rd.

John

6 years ago

I’ll keep my Lyskey.

Crash Bandicoot

6 years ago

Reply to John

I was just going to ask how a Lynskey compared to something like a mosaic. They were offloading an R250 in my size for like 600 bucks and I still regret not pulling the trigger. The problem with mosaics for me is they’re very nice but not truly special like a Firefly I know the pricing is slightly different but it would be hard to drop that kind of coin for an also ran especially when you can get custom ti for less than these rack sized frames.

jeffs

6 years ago

It is interesting to see how builders evolve their pricing and sales strategy and I wish them well. Some of their painted frames really stand out vs natural Ti US bikes.