2019-05-01_Mountain_Bike_Rider

£2,999

Highseatmast,

combinedwith150mm

dropper,istootallfor

average height riders

Kaboltthru-axlesaves

weightbutyou’llneed

a tooltoremove the

front wheel

Verdict

LastyearweawardedtheEscarpe 29

VRXa 9 rating,butit’sslippedback

a pointthisyear.It’smoreexpensive,

therearefewersizesavailableand

thingshavemovedonelsewherein

termsofgeometryandhandling.

Alsoafterlastyear’stest,Vitussaid

it wouldbemakingchanges,butit

seemsthosetweakshaveonlybeen

tothecomponents,rather than

theframe.

TheVRXis stilla

greatbike,butif

Vituswantsto

regainitsTBOTY

crownit needsto

trimsomeheight

off the frame.

Vitus escarpe 29 Vrx

specification
Frame 6061
aluminium,
140mmtravel
ShockFox
FactoryDPX2
ForkFox 36
FactoryFitGrip2,
150mmtravel
WheelsDTSwiss
M1700,Maxxis
MinionDHF/DHRII
29x2.5/2.4intyres
DrivetrainShimano
XT800030tchainset,
ShimanoXTr-mech
andshifter
BrakesSRAM
GuideRE,
200/180mm
Components
NukeproofHorizon
800mmbar,Horizon
50mmstem,BrandX
Ascend150mmpost,
NukeproofHorizon
SLsaddle
SizesS,M,L, XL
Weight14.44g
(3 1. 8 3lb)
Contact
vitusbikes.com

Geometry
SizetestedL
Headangle66°
Seatangle69.4°
BBheight355mm
Chainstay450mm
Frontcentre790mm
Wheelbase
1,240mm
Downtube745mm
Toptube640mm
Reach 467mm

o

neyearago,theVitusEscarpe

29 VRXwasourtest-winning

bikeinthe29ercategoryof

thistest,butit wasn’tperfect,

whichis whyweonlyscoredit

a 9 outof10.It makesa returnagainthis

year,buthasVitusmadethechanges

wesuggested,oris it justthesamebike

witha freshlickofpaint?

We’llcutstraighttothechase—the

2019 Escarpe9 VRXis almostidentical

tothebikewetested 12 monthsago.It

stillhasa 150mmforkwith140mmof

traveloutback,prettymuchidentical

geometryand,at14.44kg,is 300g

lighteronthescales.It does,however,

geta coupleofcomponentupgrades.

Vitushasoptedfora ShimanoXT

drivetrainratherthanSRAMEagle,Fox

suspensioninsteadofRockShox,anda

better-qualitybarandstem.

Withalloftheupgrades,theprice

hasincreasedby£300,butyoustill

geta tonofbikeforyourmoney,and

there’sverylittlewe’dchangeinthe

specification.It evencamewithour

MaxxisMinionDHF/DHRII control

tyres already fitted as standard.

suspension

Vitushasswitchedfroma RockShox

LyrikforkandDeluxeshocktoFox

Factorysuspensiononthenewmodel.

TheFox 36 hasthesametravelas

theLyrikit replacesbutit feelsmore

supportive,whichtendstokeepthefront

uponsteeperdescentsandmitigates

someoftheeffectsofthehighbottom

bracket.Thetrade-offis thattheFox

forkdoesn’tisolateyoufromhigh-speed

chatteraswellastheLyrik.

TheEscarpe29’sV-Linksuspension

feelsstablewhenpedallinghardonthe

climbs,sotherearshock’scompression

leverwasrarelycalledfor.It’snotquite

asprogressiveastheYT,whichdoes

feellikeyouhavea bitmoretravelto

playwithandthat lets you ride this bike

alotharder.

components

Thebiggestchangetothecomponents

onthe 2019 Escarpe 29 VRXis that

Vitushasditchedthe12-speedSRAM

Eagleinfavourof11-speedShimanoXT

gearing.Witha 30tchainringpairedwith

a 11-46tcassette,there’slessrangethan

Eagle but we never felt under-geared

likeontheYT.Shiftingis smootherthan

theE-13cassettetooandtheXTclutch

justseemsa littlebitmoreeffectiveat

reducingchainnoise.

VitushasstuckwiththeSRAMGuide

REbrakesfromlastyear;thesearethe

cheapestintheGuiderange,butinour

opinionthey’realsothebest.It’sstill

rockingthetop-endDTSwissE1700

hoopsthough,andthesecamesetup

tubelessfromthefactory.

Thein-houseNukeproofbarand

stemhavebeenupgradedtothe

Horizonlevel,andwhilethestemis

muchsleekerandlighter,thealloy

handlebarstilllacksupsweep.

performance

Eventhoughlastyear’sEscarpe 29 VRX

hada tallseatmast,mbr’s average

height(5ft10in)testerscouldstillrideit

comfortably,butthisyearwestruggled

toreachthepedalsandthegroundwith

thepostatfullextension.Thisis due

toa combinationoftheBBbeing5mm

higherthanlastyearandtheposthaving

a tallercollar.Weranthepostabout

10mmbelowfullextensionwhenriding

flattrails,butwhenweraisedit fullyat

thebottomofa descent,weendedup

ontiptoes.

Withthetallseatmastwealsohadto

negotiatethesaddlebeingintheway

whendescendingbecause,evenfully

down,it’saninchhigherthananyother

bikeontest.

Thenthere’stheBBheight;it’sonly

5mmhigherthantheScott,butit’s

23mmhigherthantheStumpyEvo.A

highBBwouldnormallybeterminal,but

it’snotthatbadbecausetheEscarpe 29

VRXis solonginthewheelbaseandalso

extremelywellbalanced.It’sonlyon

reallysteepdescentsandroll-insthatwe

felta littleperchedoverthefront,and

whenwetriedtocorrectbypushingour

weight back, the seat just got in the way.

29in trail bikes

70 mbr M ay 2 019

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