Moots has been hand-building titanium frames in Steamboat Springs, Colorado for over forty years. Every tube is hand-mitered, hand-welded, and inspected before it leaves the facility. The Scrambler is the most uncompromising thing they have built: it takes the geometry and handling of a drop-bar bicycle and pairs it with a 100mm RockShox SID SL suspension fork, Boost rear spacing, 29x2.4in tyre clearance, dropper post routing, and bikepacking mounts at every sensible point on the frame.
The result is not a gravel bike. Gravel bikes top out at 45mm tyres and run rigid forks; the Scrambler runs nearly double that tyre width and a fork designed for trail riding. It is not a hardtail mountain bike either, because the geometry is built around drop bars and long days in the saddle rather than technical descents. Moots uses their proprietary double-butted titanium tubing throughout, with UDH dropouts for drivetrain compatibility and English-threaded bottom bracket for serviceability. The complete build runs Shimano’s GRX/XT mullet drivetrain and a Chris King wheelset.
What this bike actually is: a lifetime frame for riding remote terrain that lies beyond where gravel bikes can go and where full-suspension mountain bikes are excessive. The riding position suits long distances. The tyre clearance handles loose and rocky ground. The suspension fork takes the edge off technical sections without adding the weight or complexity of a full rear end. And because it is titanium, it will outlast several sets of components.
At $9,499 for the complete build, it is priced like a serious performance object, which is what it is. The frame alone is $5,399 for those who want to spec it differently.
$9,499 — moots.com