F Moser Gravel

Getting into the F Moser beyond the components and the numbers. What makes this bike unique is that it is essentially two bikes in one.

That’s right, it can be an electric bike or not. It comes with a regular rear wheel as well. Complete wheel at that… cassette, tire, rotor. Just plug and play, well unplug and play technically. 

It’s a pretty quick process to remove the battery and swap the wheels, easily done before a ride or even at a trailhead. Once the e-system is removed, you drop the weight to about 20 lbs, maybe a little less. 

Now, why is this cool, or rather, what is the point? 

Well, for me, I think it’s pretty clever. I happen to live in an area that is rather complicated in its electric bike regulations, and where you can and can not ride one.

If I was in the market looking for an ebike, especially in the $5k plus range It would sure help me in my area to be able to buy one bike instead of two and be able to enjoy riding it on all of the local areas instead of exclusively having to go only to certain areas. 

It’s a great way to ensure you’re capitalizing on getting the maximum amount of miles out of one bike.

The ultra lightweight F Moser gravel has a full carbon frame, fork and seatpost weighing in at about 29 pounds.

It uses the FSA HM1 250w rear hub motor and has an internally mounted 250Wh battery. Again this can very quickly and easily be removed from the frame. A 250Wh range extender is also available for those big rides.

The F Moser Gravel has a SRAM Rival AXS 12-speed drivetrain using a 40T chainring and a 10-44T cassette. This will also use the Rival disc brakes. The wheels are FSA Vision AGX wrapped with Vittoria Terreno Dry 700x35c tires. The cockpit is a comfortable FSA A-Wing Pro AGX alloy bar with an FSA Gossamer stem. Atop their proprietary aero carbon seatpost is a Selle Italia Model X Comfort Superflow saddle.

There are both a SRAM Force and SRAM Apex groupset options available as well, which will see very minor component changes across the models beyond the groupset.

The geometry for our size Large gives us a Reach of 389.7mm and a Stack of 590.19mm. Chain stays are 422mm for Small and Medium, and 425mm for Large and X-Large. Head Tube angles are 70.5° on a Small up to 72° for XL, with a Large at 71.5°. Seat Tube angles start at 74° (S) and work their way up to 72.5° (XL), with the Large at 73°.

There is mounting options for a front derailleur if desiring to upgrade to a 2x drivetrain. The cable routing is all internally routed and nicely kept, I have not noticed any internal cable rattle.

The F Moser Gravel is a premium carbon gravel bike. The Carbon frame/ fork, although stiff, is smooth rolling and absorbs a lot of road chatter. Of course, we know not all gravel roads are the same, but the threshold for stability, comfort and control exceeded my expectations, blazing its way much further into very aggressive rocky terrain than I had expected. Where I noticed it the most was on high speed descents on fire roads, I didn’t feel as though I was chattering across the path and could keep my line where I wanted to and still be able to make those rapid adjustments to avoid trail hazards.

The SRAM Rival AXS groupset takes out all the questions on drivetrain performance; it shifts smoothly and is responsive. If you’re a Shimano person, there is a little learning curve, but I find myself liking the SRAM AXS shifters. The fit and feel is nice and comfortable. I do like the large paddles, and on a 1x setup, knowing that the left shifter goes one way and the right shifter brings it back. This is all configurable in the app if you want to customize it. 

We ride so many different bikes and slowly you find your personal happy place on fit, and due to that, I would make some changes to the cockpit specifically to get my perfect fit, but as it sits it didn’t hold me back and if anything it favored a more conservative fit which is a better side to error on.

The only real issue I have with it is the proprietary seatpost. This just eliminates ever being able to run a different seat post with this bike. As you know, I’ve grown quite fond of the Redshift Shockstop, which, sadly, I won’t be able to put on here. This isn’t a deal breaker with all of the other pros of this build, but if you wanted a dropper or just a different seatpost, it’s not gonna happen. 

On the Road?

Yes it’s a gravel bike, but this is a great place to start.

Many of us like to ride from the house to our local trails, and how it is on the road matters. The power is noticeable on the tarmac, it gets up to speed quickly and you find yourself using much lower pedal assist modes as you don’t need the full power to get this thing rolling and maintaining that speed.

On the Gravel?

It’s a lightweight bike, obviously, with the FSA HM1, you feel the weight out back. But you have the Assist to boost up.

Climbing some of these local fire roads, there’s a lot of elevation to be had in a short distance. For fun, you put it in the highest mode and just race uphill, but in a more long-term fashion, using maybe the middle pedal assist, you won’t be huffing and puffing, and it really continues to show how much the pedal assist makes a difference for tackling those climbs.

Single Track?

Not all of you will be looking to tackle single-track MTB trails, especially on 35c tires. But it handles well and has a playful enough geometry to allow you to stay the course. There isn’t a reason to be wary of flowy singletrack green trails by any means.

What’s The General Takeaway?

The FSA HM1 drive unit is plenty powerful and I think makes absolute sense for a lightweight platform like this. Add an extra 20 pounds to the overall bike weight and I’d definitely be less enthused. The drive unit is extremely quiet. I’ve only ridden a couple bikes with this system so far and both of them have been nearly silent. Out on the road, you can’t hear it at all over the wind noise in your ears. Punching up gravel roads at max power, you can start to hear it… just barely over the tires that is.

Comfort is there with room to get even more. From short blips around town to long days in the saddle, it is very comfortable. Which I think says a lot. Things like saddle, stem length, bars… these are all contact points that I typically need to change out rather quickly on a bike. Not here though. It’s a great spec that does not demand any changes.

What sort of range can you expect?

Well it will be different for everyone, but here are some general numbers to help share insight as to what it offered for me. On a size large, at 6′ tall and about 185 pounds, I have consistently gotten 50-55 miles using Level 2 PAS (blue light), averaging ~19.2 mph. I would say an highly impressive range out of a 250Wh battery and 250W motor. I think it says a lot about the weight and efficiency of this bike.

PAS Modes and APP

There are 5 levels of Pedal Assist, Green, Blue, Pink, Yellow, and Red (Boost). The Green, or ECO, is a Neutral PAS mode, this means the drive unit is off. So when I say pedalling at the Level 2 (blue) mode, this could also be considered the first “active” PAS mode. Unfortunately, as of right now, the FSA E-System app does not allow for any custom tuning of the PAS modes, however, I found the modes to be well set for the power you are looking for.

The controller on the top tube is more than an on/off and changing between PAS modes. While riding, a flash of light will occur every 2 seconds, this indicates the state of charge (battery percentage estimation). Green flash for 75-100% battery, Blue flash for 50-75%, Yellow flash for 25-50% and the dreaded Red flash for less than 25% battery remaining.

The FSA HM1 can pair to Garmins eBike remote, which allows for not only switching PAS modes, but also navigating a Garmin EDGE all from the same controller. A neat feature, allbiet, not something I found myself using and favored a cleaner cockpit without the remote.

Two bikes in one, I mean, we’re off to a good start. At $6500 a full carbon frame/fork, the SRAM Rival AXS groupset… It’s lightweight and the FSA HM1 gets along with this platform.

It will carry a little weight in the rear than a mid-drive electric gravel bike, but you wouldn’t be able to drop the motor on that bike would you?

As I said before, it’s smooth on the chatter, and I think running tubeless and maybe larger volume tires would really make it feel more stable and even more smooth on rough roads. It’s a gravel bike first, it does share the same geo as the E-Road so you know that it will not be as aggressive on the more technical tracks out in the woods, but that isn’t much of a limitation to getting out and exploring.

All in all, super solid build with a respectable price point for quality and component spec. Definitely a cool offering in the electric gravel and electric road segment of bikes and they’re doing something that really no one else is by setting you up with a regular wheel at the same time.

Price: $6590
Sizes: Small, Medium, Large, X-Large
Weight: 29lbs
Website: fmoserbikes.com