Home > Bike Types > Cyclocross

EB16: New Moots Baxter monstercross pairs MTB geo with drop bar speed, Psychlo-X RSL updated

Written by Tyler Benedict
17 Comments
Support us! Bikerumor may earn a small commission from affiliate links in this article. Learn More

2017 Moots Baxter monster cross drop bar mountain bike for adventure off road touring

What do you get when you mash up a Mooto X 29er hardtail with the newer Routt 45 gravel bike? The new Moots Baxter, a modified mountain bike with a lower BB and drop bar capability that might just be what that NAHBS prototype turned into.

Designed as an adventure touring bike or a fast back country racer (think Tour Divide), the Baxter takes their mountain bike frame and tweaks it to be a little more stable at high speed and more comfortable in a lower, performance position. Check out the details below, plus pics of the latest Psychlo-X RSL ‘cross bike…

2017-Moots-Baxter-adventure-drop-bar-mountain-bike07b

2017 Moots Baxter monster cross drop bar mountain bike for adventure off road touring

2017 Moots Baxter monster cross drop bar mountain bike for adventure off road touring

Starting with a 44mm headtube that’ll fit virtually any fork, the geo is based around a suspension-corrected rigid fork or a 100mm suspension fork.

2017 Moots Baxter monster cross drop bar mountain bike for adventure off road touring

Tire clearance maxes out at 29×2.25, with a recommended size of 29×2.0. It sticks with standard 12×142 rear thru axle spacing.

2017 Moots Baxter monster cross drop bar mountain bike for adventure off road touring

Because its more of a mountain bike than ‘cross or gravel bike, they stuck with their post mount rear brake design.

2017 Moots Baxter monster cross drop bar mountain bike for adventure off road touring

Other features include size specific tubing, threaded bottom bracket and mounts for three water bottles.

2017 Moots Baxter monster cross drop bar mountain bike for adventure off road touring

2017-Moots-Baxter-adventure-drop-bar-mountain-bike-geometry-chart

It’ll come in five standard sizes (XS, S, M, L, XL) as well as custom. Like any Moots, you can add features like rack and fender mounts, electronic shifting ports, etc., to suit your needs. Base price is $3,450 for the frame.

2017-moots-psychlo-x-rsl-cyclocross-bike-updates01

2017-moots-psychlo-x-rsl-cyclocross-bike-updates02

Starting now, the Moots Psychlo-X RSL makes the switch to the flat mount standard, handled by their 3D printed titanium dropouts. These dropouts were first used on the Vamoots Disc RSL, beefed up here for the rigors of ‘cross. Expect to see more of this in the future.

2017-moots-psychlo-x-rsl-cyclocross-bike-updates03

This frame also showed off their new, third logo treatment option – polished titanium.

Moots.com
Tyler Benedict
11,295 articles

Tyler Benedict is the Founder of Bikerumor.com, where he’s been writing about the latest bikes, components, and cycling technology for almost two decades. Prior to that, Tyler launched and built multiple sports nutrition brands and consumer goods companies, mostly as an excuse to travel and ride in new places.

Based in North Carolina, Tyler also loves the Vanlife & family adventure travel and is always on the lookout for the next shiny new part and off-grid adventure.

Subscribe
Notify of
guest


This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

17 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
STS
STS
8 years ago

Nice bike but I don’t get why they stick with their wishbone seat stay design. On a YBB frame there is no alternative but on a rigid frame, especially for the bigger sizes it looks bad and certainly is less stiff laterally without adding any vertical elasticity.
Does anyone know whether Moots offer “normal” seat stays leading up all the way to the seat tube as a custom option?

0
Reply
myke2241
myke2241
8 years ago
Reply to  STS

The first Moots I actually liked. Still would never buy one. Nice bike tho

0
Reply
Robin
Robin
8 years ago
Reply to  myke2241

It’s possible that Moots would, too.

0
Reply
rauce
rauce
8 years ago
Reply to  STS

Less stiff laterally? What? Seatstays are loaded pretty much entirely through compression. As long as the seatstays exist to complete the rear triangle they have a negligible effect on the stiffness of the drivetrain and certainly no effect on the torsional stiffness of the front triangle. Wishbone or not is pretty much just a style choice.

0
Reply
Heffe
Heffe
8 years ago

I bet Kent Eriksen or Jim Kish could make you a bike with your preferred seat stays.

0
Reply
atlbikeshop
atlbikeshop
8 years ago

One of the best looking Moots I have seen in a long time! Great build.

0
Reply
Ripnshread
Ripnshread
8 years ago

Just need an early 90’s Tomac with the long hair and confetti pink/lime/baby blue coordinated outfit and 7Up Jersey to ride it.

0
Reply
Pichy
Pichy
8 years ago
Reply to  Ripnshread

Couldn’t agree more!. Plus I don’t get what make adventure bikes different from a MTB hardtail with drop bars and skinny tires. For instance a Cannondale Slate and a F-Si have almost the same exact geometry numbers. Marketing bs

0
Reply
Huck
Huck
8 years ago
Reply to  Pichy

The reach is dramatically shorter.

0
Reply
Mr. P
Mr. P
8 years ago
Reply to  Pichy

Reach for flat bars and reach for drop bars should be very different.

0
Reply
Mr Pink
Mr Pink
8 years ago

It is a mountain bike with drop bars on it…it’s not a monstercross bike. Moots doesn’t call it monstercross either. Skip the mtbr forum and check out Matt Chester’s old bikes to see what monstercross is all about.

Drop bar mountain bikes are as old as mountain biking btw. Cunningham, Bridgestone, WTB, GT, Specialized, and others all have made them back in the 80s. 😉

0
Reply
FatMonstercross'er
FatMonstercross'er
8 years ago
Reply to  Mr Pink

Monstercross. Definitely Monstercross. Is there a trademark or patent on Monstercross? Baxter Monstercross, that’s nice. I’m going to build a FatMonsterCross just so people can complain about what I’ve named it.

0
Reply
Chris
Chris
8 years ago
Reply to  Mr Pink

Yup. I owned a 1987 Bridgestone MB-1 which came stock with drop bars. For most trail riding I still prefer drops. For super technical terrain I can see switching to flat bars but personally when terrain gets that gnarly I go cyclocross style and just run over the obstacle – usually a lot faster than trying to crawl over stuff at a walking pace. 😉

0
Reply
Ol'shel'
Ol'shel'
8 years ago
Reply to  Mr Pink

Because when I think Monstrous, I picture tires that are 3mm larger than allowed by the UCI…

0
Reply
Caspar
Caspar
8 years ago

Why not just use a shortervstem on a mtb frame, then youd have the long stable wheelbase “needed” for touring and end up with the same sadle to bar measurement.Look at Konas Sutra ltd.

0
Reply
Ol'shel'
Ol'shel'
8 years ago
Reply to  Caspar

You typically run into fit issues when you try to put 29er tires on CX or drop bars on MTB. CX TTs are shorter because the bar reach is so high. 29er will typically have massive toe overlap on CX geometry.

Put a drop bar on MTB and your hands are now 2-3″ ahead of where you want them for riding off-road. A shorter stem can correct that, but puts the bar in contact with your thighs on steep climbs.

Do your research before spending your money. Make sure you try one that actually fits you.

0
Reply
br
br
8 years ago
Reply to  Caspar

The steering becomes a lot twitchier, since ~42cm road bars are usually paired to stems that are >90mm. Can become a problem on rough descents.

0
Reply

Subscribe Now

Sign up to receive BikeRumor content direct to your inbox.