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Moots County Line Splits the Difference Between Road and Gravel With 42mm Tire Clearance
The new Moots County Line is Steamboat Springs answer for riders who spend most of their time on pavement but dont turn around when the road turns to dirt. I know, its splitting hairs, and weve heard this pitch before, but damn, this bike looks so good that it doesnt matter. Its designed around a 38mm tire, clears up to 42mm, uses road gearing, and keeps relatively short 425mm chainstays.(All Photos/Moots)Moots calls it an all-road bike, and the new County Line replaces the Vamoots 33 in the lineup. The standard version uses straight-gauge 3/2.5 titanium tubing, while a lighter double-butted County Line RSL is coming in early 2027.Its a Moots Thats Not Quite a Routt, Not Quite a VamootsMoots already covers both ends of this range. The Routt has followed modern gravel toward bigger rubber and rougher terrain, and now centers on a 50mm tire. The Vamoots remains a dedicated road bike.The County Line lands between them.Moots designed it around the mixed-surface riding near its Steamboat Springs home, but the idea is familiar: a fast bike for pavement and smooth dirt roads. The kinda where you spend plenty of time on pavement before detouring onto fast county-road gravel and eventually returning to asphalt.For Moots, the goal is to keep the familiar feel and efficiency of a road bike while adding enough tire volume and stability for loose surfaces and rough pavement. Plus, it needs to bring that Moots energy, that classic look with a supreme road feel. This isnt a gravel bike with slick tires. Its a road-oriented titanium bike thats much less picky about what counts as a road.Designed Around a 38mm TireThe County Line is designed around a 38c tire, with clearance for up to 42c. 38mm is becoming a popular size, and were seeing lots of performance all-road tires pushing up to this limit. Speaking of which, the bikes come with Vittoria Corsa Pro Control 38c tires, which says a lot about where Moots expects this bike to live. These arent chunky gravel tires trying to make a road bike survive off-road. Theyre fast, high-volume road tires with enough cushion and grip for hard-packed dirt and broken pavement. Moots says the larger tire platform adds grip and comfort without bringing along the weight and volume of a full modern gravel setup. That makes the County Line a pretty different proposition from the Routt.If your rides regularly involve rocky doubletrack and deep gravel, the Routt still makes more sense. If gravel means well-maintained dirt roads between stretches of pavement, the County Line is aimed directly at that use.Road Gearing StaysMoots didnt use the extra tire clearance as an excuse to go full gravel with the drivetrain. The County Line uses a 45mm road chainline and supports both 1x and 2x configurations. Maximum chainring size is 50T for 1x or 52/36T for 2x, though Moots complete 2x bikes are specd with SRAM 48/35T cranksets.Thats paired with a BSA 68mm threaded bottom bracket, flat-mount brakes, 160mm front and rear rotors, and a UDH derailleur hanger. It fully supports front-derailleur setups, and electronic routing comes standard. Moots does not offer internally routed mechanical shifting.New Carbon All-Road Fork and Integrated Front EndThe County Line gets a new Moots carbon all-road fork with a D-shaped steerer.Brake hoses run internally through the Moots titanium stem and down through the fork, cleaning up the front end without abandoning the titanium stem that fits the rest of the bike so well. The updated fork measures 382mm axle-to-crown and comes in 45mm and 52mm offsets, depending on frame size.Moots uses the different offsets to keep steering feel balanced across the eight-size range. The smaller 48, 50, and 52cm bikes use the 52mm offset, while sizes 54 through 62 move to 45mm.More Stable Than a Road Bike, Without Gravel-Bike LengthThe geometry moves slightly toward gravel, but Moots didnt stretch the County Line into a long, lazy bike. Every size uses 425mm chainstays, short by current gravel standards, which should keep the rear lively.Head angles range from 70 degrees on the smallest 48cm frame to 72.75 degrees on the 60 and 62cm bikes. Seat angles move the other way, starting at 74.75 degrees on the 48 and gradually settling to 73.5 degrees on the largest sizes.The idea is more stability and confidence than a traditional road race bike, without the stretched wheelbase and slower handling that often come with a modern gravel chassis.Straight-Gauge Titanium Standard, RSL Coming in 2027The standard County Line uses straight-gauge 3/2.5 titanium tubing. Moots describes that as the more forgiving version and expects it to be the right choice for most riders.Then theres the County Line RSL. Starting in early 2027, buyers can upgrade the same platform to Moots ride-tuned, double-butted RSL tubing. The RSL frame uses less material where it isnt needed, dropping weight while giving the bike a quicker, more direct feel under power.Rather than maintaining two separate all-road platforms, Moots is treating RSL as a premium frame upgrade.Same bike, different tubing.That should make the decision pretty straightforward: standard County Line for the classic Moots ride, RSL if weight and sharper response matter more. Moots hasnt published a frame weight for either version yet.Fenders, Racks, and a Third BottleThe County Line may lean toward the road side, but Moots didnt strip away all the practical stuff. Standard frames get fender mounts, optional upper rack mounts, and room for a third bottle underneath the downtube.The RSL gives some of that up to keep things lighter. Moots lists the standard bike with fender mounts, while the RSL does without them.Both frames use a standard 27.2mm seatpost, and it supports electronic dropper posts if someone really wants to push the County Line farther into dirt territory.Moots County Line Complete BuildsMoots is offering four complete builds at launch, split between SRAM Force and Red and between 1x and 2x.The Force 1x gets SRAM Force XPLR E1 13-speed with a 44T chainring and 10-46T cassette. It rolls on HED Vanquish 45 rims with DT Swiss 350 hubs and Vittoria Corsa Pro Control 38c tires.Builds include a Zipp SL 80 Race handlebar, Moots titanium stem, Moots Ti Cinch seatpost, Chris King Inset 7 headset, Chris King TF30 bottom bracket, and custom WTB Gravelier Ti saddle.The Red 1x follows the same basic formula but moves to SRAM Red XPLR and Chris King R45D hubs.The 2x builds switch to SRAMs road drivetrains with 48/35T cranksets and 10-36T cassettes.All four complete bikes use the Moots Carbon Allroad fork, Zipp SL 80 Race handlebar, Moots titanium stem and seatpost, HED Vanquish 45 rims, and 38c Vittoria Corsa Pro Control tires.Moots County Line PricingThe standard County Line is available to order starting now, so go get yourself that Halloween present you know you deserve. County Line Frameset: $5,499County Line Force 1x: $9,999County Line Force 2x: $10,599County Line Red 1x: $12,499County Line Red 2x: $12,999Moots.com
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