Living at 8,500′ my snow bike season is about half the year. On a recent trip to Steamboat I took a tour of the Moots Factory and that set the wheels in motion… After checking out the current offerings in 5″ fat bikes I went for the Moots Frosthammer. I am so psyched I did, this bike rides like a dream. It rides like a mountain bike except it manages to do it on 5 feet of snow. Simultaneously it is super stable climbing in the soft and descending like a razor even while spinning out the pedals. I can somehow even climb out of the saddle on the Frosthammer.
After 4 years with a Surly Pugsley Neckromancer the difference in these two bikes is kind of ridiculous. The Surly treated me well, but it was a bit outdated. It steered like a barge and weighed about the same. The Moots Frosthammer on the other hand rides like a mountain bike and with a very reasonable build weighs in at a svelte 29 lbs. Nothing carbon on the build and still using tubes.
I worked with Jim at Vecchios Boulder to build this beast up.
Jim dialed in the fit and got it built up to perfection.
The rear end has a 197mm through-axle and plenty of room for the Maxxis Minion FBR 4.8″ tire.
Curves all over the place.
The hanger is replaceable as part of the through axle. I went with Shimano XT 1×11 which has been shifting like a champ so far.
The cranks are Race Face Next SL with a 26T ring. Never managed to drop a chain yet.
Paul Component Love Levers on a Thomson Ti bar with a Thomson Stem for the front end.
Full housing throughout and a King headset .
The bike is built around 483mm Axle to Crown front fork. Which for now is the Salsa Bearpaw fork. Originally I was going to sell it once the carbon Bearpaw becomes available aftermarket… but hey it works.
I really like the swoopy top tube, it ads a ton of much needed standover when you are starting in soft snow. Also there is no toe-overlap which can be an issue with big boots and flat pedals.
The wheels are DT Swiss Big Ride 350 hubs laced to DT Swiss BR 710 81mm rims.
This bike is even better than I expected. So many times you hear of people expecting miracles from a custom frame only to be disappointed. Well that is not the case with the Moots Frosthammer. The handling is amazing and with it being a Ti frame it will last forever. If you are thinking about a Frosthammer, don’t hesitate this bike is everything you could want and more.
Moots says: http://moots.com/bike/frosthammer/
Snow floater extraordinaire— 4.8’’ tire capacity —
29+ compatibility — all season — snow or dirt