I’ve been fighting this since the RSL was first unveiled a few years ago.
Until then Moots, like their contemporaries, had been running a consistent theme through their road bike line for a few years- threaded bottom brackets, standard head tubes, and the option of compact or standard (horizontal top tube) geometry. With the RSL that changed- tubes were systematically oversized, undersized, manipulated and chosen from different grades of titanium for their specific purpose. The bottom bracket was the then-new option of Press Fit 30, the seatpost size was increased to 30.9 and a specially tuned fork was designed to complete the package.
So how does that really make it different from the Compact I rode for a while? The Compact was custom and featured a super low-slung 8 cm bb drop and was laid out to be a very stable, smooth bike for long rides on rough pavement. By design that bike was meant to go in a straight line and only move under very deliberate input, and all of those traits made it great for the riding (never racing) I was doing around the rough pavement of Northern New England.
Where the Compact was almost plush and predictable the RSL is decidedly more of a race bike. The RSL ride is still titanium smooth but tighter-feeling and racier all around. I went with a stock geometry 55- I opted for the 1 1/8″ steerer and optional 1 cm of additional head tube height for no charge. Oh and a pump peg because frame pumps are bad ass.
Geometry wise it’s tough to comment because the Compact was custom so the fit and handling are decidedly different from stock, but that caveat aside the RSL feels much snappier and quicker up to speed. Under power- and especially out of the saddle- the bike responds much more readily to pedaling input to make it ride substantially lighter than its predecessor. That said I was shocked to see that with the identical build to the Compact (using all the same used parts, sigh) the complete bike weight was nearly identical. I didn’t trust my scale to be accurate enough so I did not weigh just the bare frames against each other.
Out on the road the RSL is real race bike and it took me few rides to get used to the dialed up handling from the relatively laconic Gran Fondo-style arrangement I had spent so much time on. I found myself climbing out of the saddle much more often and deliberately changing lines on high speed descents simply because I could.
As I keep stating the RSL is a race bike, and although it still offers some of the inherent titanium smoothness it definitely trades comfort for speed and pedaling efficiency. Those trade offs are well worth it, but know that this is the bike for fast group rides and races, not centuries and hour long lunch stops at ice cream stands.
It took a while, but I’m glad I stepped up to the RSL. It’s a fast, responsive bike that keeps Moots- and titanium in general- as a modern, relevant option for speed on the tarmac.
Beautiful. The blue is a nice touch.
Wow, that is great looking. Looking forward to the review.
[…] to its predecessor which only made the steering changes that much more obvious. Much like my road going RSL build earlier this spring I re-used all of the same build kit from my previous bike with the […]