So what do I really value when it comes to choosing the right bike? Like in years past where I bought bikes to fit a mold that I believed I fit into (i.e. I want to be a climber, ergo I will purchase a light bike), I felt I should buy a bike to match my new sentiment (i.e. - I want to maximize fun, ergo I will buy a fun bike). In my eyes, the Moots does this for me, and it does it perfectly. I ride a shit ton more, and I find myself looking at it more. It’s hard to describe, but with the Moots I feel more connected with the road. I feel the vibrations of the road and rail corners with greater confidence. I go faster, and when I glance down through my legs while I’m pedaling; I smile. I love this bike because it fits me. It fits my body, it fits my reason for riding, and it fits my aesthetic. It’s a rider’s bike. I can thrash it and it comes out unfazed. I can race it, and it keeps me where I want to be. And when I fire up TrainingPeaks and see that I have an hour recovery spin, I actually do it.

Riding my Moots makes me feel a new fidelity. It is like spandex that I can actually fit in comfortably, confidently, and continually (and spandex stretches, but we all know that it still has its limitations). It makes me realize that cycling was never just an old friend, but oddly more like a socially acceptable paramour. I feel no jealousy of other riders; no nostalgia for bikes past. I look forward to enjoying new rides on old roads and new rides on new roads alike for a long time to come. No one feels cheated. It’s the investment that I didn’t make until my 30s because I needed my 20s to figure it out. I mean, aren’t relationships better when you’re in one with one you actually love? And also, is there really always money in the banana stand?





Tom’s Moots Vamoots RSL, a Daghan Perker Gallery