Boo RS-X Cyclocross Bike
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Boo cyclocross bikes have been racing UCI Professional ‘cross races since the inception of the company in 2009. Since then, the results have been more than impressive:
1st – Crusher in the Tushar, 2011
6th – Krosstoberfest UCI C2, 2010
15th – UCI World Championship 2015 (Men 17-18)
25th – USAC Elite National Championship, 2010
TEST REVIEWS: CYCLOCROSS MAGAZINE // CYCLOCROSS MAGAZINE #2 // BIKE RUMOR // BIKE RUMOR #2 // BICYCLING MAGAZINE // BICYCLING MAGAZINE #2 // VELONEWS // CYCLINGNEWS
Regional wins and podiums are too numerous to even count. The Boo RS-X has been featured in VeloNews, Bicycling Magazine, Road, Road Bike Action, Cyclocross Magazine, and many others. It has been heralded as unlike anything else that has ever been raced on the UCI circuit–a sublime ride that is both supple and responsive.
Our dendrocalamus strictus bamboo has a progressive Young’s Modulus curve, meaning it yields to trail roughness for improved handling and increased comfort, but transmits 100% of your power when giving it the stick. That means when the going gets rough, the RS-X shines. The bamboo’s rising stiffness rate allows it to dive into the stutter bumps and chewed up corners without losing traction, but maintain all-out power transfer when attacking or bridging up to the next group on the course.
The other remarkable aspect of the bamboo in our RS-X frame: it has soft lignin between the stiff fibers which damp vibrations that are normally transmitted through the frame to the rider, giving a much smoother feel to the roughest of courses. Throughout a 60-minute event, you’ll notice how easy it is to go full-gas from start to finish. The bike needn’t be driven with too much skill–it’s a forgiving ride that lets you concentrate on putting down the watts and not on staying upright.
Throughout the years of racing the UCI calendar, we have put our bikes through the harshest tests possible in the cycling world. We have had six different professional riders on the RS-X in the last three seasons alone, battling for the podium every time they have toed the line. We’ve broken wheels, handlebars, brakes, cranksets, pedals, saddles, seatposts, and even forks. We’ve blown through prototype dropouts, front derailleur mounts, early chainstays, and more. The RS-X has been through the ringer, and today’s Boo RS-X passes with flying colors.
We have engineered the RS-X with an absolute form-follows-function aesthetic. The fully-housed, internally-routed cables prevent *any* breach of the drivetrain and braking systems. The Press Fit 30 BB has the highest quality feel of today’s bottom brackets, and ensures creak-free performance from the stiffest and lightest BB30 cranksets as well as providing the flexible versatility to run a Shimano system.
The massive 49.6mm straight head tube on the Boo RS-X means maximum moment efficiency when interacting with the frame’s top and down tubes. The front-end tracking is astounding, no matter how rough the course. The RS-X can run any tapered steerer fork, although we match our frames with our own full-carbon tapered disc forks for optimal performance.
Speaking of disc, that’s all we make. That’s all we have made, in fact, for over two years…from the very beginning of the UCI rule implementation we have been slowing down faster and more precisely. The disc brake is no longer an option, it is a requirement.
The RS-X makes every other cyclocross bike feel either harsh, slow, unrefined, or some combination thereof. When you have dendrocalamus strictus underneath you, please make sure to wait up for your teammates…or just lap them!
FRAME ONLY: $3895
COMPLETE BUILDS: $5000-8000+
Contact us for a quote! We love talking bikes.
Chris –
I saved up and bought a Boo RS-X cross bike. It took me a while to gather the coin but I’m being totally honest when I say it was worth it. I am one who sees through bullshit and does not fall for marketing hoopla and thus my interest was more related to the actual craftsmanship and performance of the frame, the characteristics of the material, whether my lower back could benefit from the dampening abilities of both the materials and how they are optimized in the frame design, and how the thing rode in a test ride, which I had the chance to do before I committed to buying it.
In short, I’ll say that I absolutely love the bike! The ride quality is unlike anything I’ve ever encountered. It is really stiff and efficient but buttery smooth. I am railing shit on it that had me bouncing all over the place on my other cross bikes (aluminum and carbon frames). The bamboo absorbs a lot of chatter and keeps the rear wheel planted and the front end just feels more stable than other bikes I’ve ridden.
To put the price issue into perspective – a top end Specialized Crux frame and fork is the same price as a Boo frame and fork (3500 bucks) so it’s not any more expensive than a top end frameset from mass production manufacturers. I’ll admit however that this is a comparison of top end frames, which are by their very nature quite expensive. Still, the point is that with a Boo (and other premium hand built frames) you are buying craftsmanship and quality. The other factor to consider is warranty. Boo offers lifetime. Mass produced frames from the big companies come with basically no warranty.
I don’t mean to be long winded but just wanted to put out there that I took a year of detailed research, test riding and communicating with companies and frame builders before deciding on a Boo and for me personally I feel like I got a really good product. I’ve been really pleased so far and can safely say that I feel a real qualitative difference in the performance of my Boo compared to other bikes I’ve ridden and tried. My Boo kicks arse.
Jacob Lapenna –
I raced an RS-X in the 2014 Leadville 100 MTB race. I wouldn’t trust any other frame material under such abuse. The bike performed incredibly!
Travis –
Tore it up this last weekend at the Trek CX Cup. Unfortunately because I didn’t race last year I had to start DFL on both days. 64th or so. Managed 40th on Saturday and 32nd on Sunday.
Got a ton of asks about the Boos and even saw a woman riding one and winning on it!
People love seeing the Boos. Apparently my ass was being chased by a bunch of pandas all weekend or so I heard from the nearby hecklers but lucky for me I rode fast enough because I never saw them. Worst part was every corner I went around people were trying to scare me by yelling “Boo.” One guy in the race behind me even said “hey that guy is riding a wooden bike and beating us!”
In terms of handling, these things are rock solid. Stayed upright all weekend and kept the rubber down no matter how hard I pushed it. I’m exceeding my comfort level every lap I turn and it keeps locking up and carrying me through the corners. It’s incredible.
I was in a heated battle on Sunday on the final two corners before the finish and I had to rail the first corner between a rider and a pine tree so hard to bridge a gap that formed that I figured there was no way it would hold and it cornered like I was on rails. The guy I passed said “holy shit you go man!” And I caught the guy I was chasing and pipped him on the line. It was incredible. I would have never done that on my old bikes. No way it would have locked up like that.
You guys have something special here.
Travis –
Well wanted to give an update on my Boo testing at the Jeremy Powers Fascat cross camp this week. I’m gonna sound like a broken record of glowing feedback but I can’t help tell you guys how good of a thing you all have going here.
The Boo was rock solid. Got a ton of interest and was honestly the most comfortable ride I have ever had.
I have done this camp for four years in a row now and this was the first year I was not beaten to a pulp after riding all weekend. The remarkable part was this year was also the most aggressive and dynamic cross course tat the camp put together and it tested all the limits and to be sitting here writing this on a Monday morning and not feel an ounce of pain or soreness after what we did is unbelievable.
We even had mud and the bike handled so well under me that it gave me a new level of confidence cornering that I have never had. Really can’t say enough about how well this thing feels under me.
Ken –
I was out trail riding with my buddy Kyle (owner of Mr. Crampy’s Multisport). I was having some trouble with the front derailleur on my Blue Norcross EX so Kyle swapped bikes with me while he figured out what was wrong.
He quickly diagnosed and fixed my bike but told me to go ahead and give his Boo bicycle a spin. The difference going from the Blue to the Boo was dramatic.
The Boo felt much lighter (it isn’t), responded quicker and felt much more natural hitting some of the trail features. I was impressed.
Then we swapped back. Going back to the Blue I felt like someone had put sludge in my bottom bracket and that my tires were rolling through gunk. When we got back to the shop I started ordering my own Boo.
Burke Swindlehurst –
“I found the Boo RS-X frame completely defied my expectations for ride quality.
I was very pleasantly surprised at just how lively the bike is and, of course, it’s unique looks stop anyone who lays eyes on it in their tracks.
As a bonus, how cool is it to have a bike that not only make other riders jealous, but Panda’s too!”
–Burke Swindlehurst, retired professional of 10+ seasons, former Bissell Pro Cycling team director, and current promoter of Crusher in the Tushar