At 7am I found this bike listed on facebook marketplace – for $800. Do I really need another bike? I just got the sweet Black Cielo. But… this looks like my size and… ya know… I can’t keep that Cielo up in the islands. The salt will kill the steel? I could get this and… keep it up there to ride?
I hem and haw but finally around 10am I message the guy: “I’m interested, can pay cash today, can you please put me in the line of buyer candidates?” He responds about 45 minutes later: “Everyone’s flaking so you’re next.”
I drive over and visit the bike, bring pedals and shoes and ride it around the parking lot and… ya know? Its pretty darn great. Like… omg is this love? I REALLY like it. Pay the guy and take it home.
It is 10 speed ultegra, paul cantis. Bars are 42 and I need wider so I swap them for a set of 46 wide bars. Play with seat a bunch, different stem and voila! Its perfect.
This bike really impressed on me the things builders can do for a bikes ride. This bike is very stiff in the back but smooth and floaty in the front, AND the steering feels very settled in corners, especially on dirt. Could be carbon fork, I’ve really no idea but this bike is a keeper.
Folks make a big deal about Moots and pay insane prices. Gotta say its welds are superb and the ride… if you ever get a chance give one a try. Its surprisingly nice.
Riding in the islands last summer I thought it felt sort of slow. Play with crank and gee… the bb seems sort of gritty. Remove crank and indeed the ultegra bb is totally rusted out. Crank spun easily when unweighted but press both sides with hands and it becomes gritty and difficult to turn.
Replaced with a chris king tf24 I found on ebay for $50 and its golden.
I rode this up Maxwell on Salt Spring Island and tried out the forest singletrack on the way down and while it was exciting not having a suspension fork the bike did surprisingly well.
My Bikes 