Vitus, Chain Reaction's in-house, direct sales brand have been around for a few years now. In the past we'd forgive you for not having paid much attention to them, with their range consisting mainly of well-priced road bikes and lower end XC hardtails. Yet in the last couple of years that has changed and they have started making bikes that are not only good value, but that look like a lot of fun too.
The Sommet is the flagship for their full-suspension bikes, sitting between the 130mm Escarpe and their downhill race weapon, the Domineer. After a couple of years of racing, riding and testing to be sure that it is the bike they want to make and ride, it is the first bike in their range to receive a full plastic makeover. When we visited Chain Reaction's headquarters in Ballyclare, Northern Ireland, we were some of the first journalists to see the bike up close and take it for a pedal.
Vitus Sommet Carbon• Intended use: trail / enduro
• Travel: 155mm
• 27.5" wheels
• Horst link suspension with floating shock mount
• 65.5° head angle
• 435mm chainstays
• 12 x 142mm rear spacing
• Weight – 12.67kg /27.93lbs (for CRX model)
• Sizes S, M, L, XL
• Price: £2,849.99 - £4,199.99
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Vitus Bikes
The obvious question for many when they see the name Chain Reaction behind the bike is: What is the difference between this and a Nukeproof? The short answer is that while both brands are based in the same building, Nukeproof has a more all-out focus on performance, where Vitus bikes are pitched at being slightly more accessible and, through the direct sales model, having a much greater focus on value for money. Although, if you compare the geometry of Nukeproof's current Mega and the Vitus Sommet, it's undeniable that there are similarities, and Vitus admit that much of what they learn through Nukeproof can be seen on the Vitus bikes, simply because they want to make the best bike possible. With the people behind both brands racing and riding a lot, they felt it was unthinkable to deliberately not make one brand or the other as good as it could be in the name of brand separation. With the pricing on the Sommet, it is clear that they are aiming straight for YT Industries' all-conquering Capra - offering very comparable specs at the same pricepoints.
Vitus are not shy with their stated intentions for the Sommet - it is an enduro bike, designed to excel both on the race course and on the kind of steep, technical trails that can be found up and down Ireland and Northern Ireland. If there were any question of that focus, Killian Callaghan (Greg's Callaghan's cousin), shut them all down at the recent Enduro World Series in Wicklow, Ireland, grabbing the under-21 win on the aluminum version of this bike. For a bike aimed at being slightly milder than its Nukeproof stablemate, it is still towards the progressive end of things if you cast an eye over the wider market for bikes at around this travel.
The Sommet ticks all the boxes on the "long, low, slack" list that forms the core of what is frequently referred to as modern geometry. Starting at the front of the bike, you find a relaxed 65.5 degree head angle, paired with a suitably steep 74.5 degree effective seat angle. Chainstays are a fairly conservative 435mm, with Vitus refusing to jump on the short chainstays bandwagon, as you need that extra stability racing at higher speeds. Bottom bracket drop is a relatively low 10mm. Looking onto the all-important reach numbers - the large sized frame sport a 451mm reach, with the seattube length low enough for a 5'9" rider with a 30" inseam to comfortably get on with the bike (Vitus' website recommends 5'11", with a 32" in-seam for the large frame, but this is overly conservative if you are looking for a roomier ride). In fact, these numbers form a more aggressive package than many US brands are offering right now - it lines up as a bigger, longer bike than a Santa Cruz Nomad.
GeometryDetailsLooking at the specs of the top CRX and the slightly more affordable CR model, it is clear that Vitus have done their homework. It is a SRAM-heavy affair, with both bikes sporting a Pike up front, Monarch Plus shock, a SRAM 1x11 drivetrain with Raceface cranks and Guide brakes. The main difference is that the CRX's components have a few more letters in their names, carbon in the cranks and the lower spec version gets a Brand X 125mm dropper post rather than a Reverb. The finishing kit is a similar story, with short stems and 780mm wide bars from Nukeproof - but with the carbon version on the higher spec model. Getting down to the wheels, the higher spec version comes with Mavic's Crossmax XLs, while the lower spec version gets a very serviceable set of WTB i23s mounted on Novatec hubs. In truth, both bikes are pretty much ready to show up to your local enduro races straight from the box - the only question is whether the 1kg weight saving of the CRX is worth the additional £1,300 or so for you.
Riding the SommetWe only had time for a short, 20km lap on the Sommet, taking in some of the incredible off-piste trails at Rostrevor, an hour south of Vitus HQ. Yet in that time a few things became apparent - it is a pretty easy bike to live with. Initial setup for the shock is a little bit fussy - the suspension design incorporates 66mm of rearward travel in the axle path, so you need to get your sag setting at 30% or less for the bike to use its travel properly.
After that, it is a very easy bike to just go and ride. On the brutal fire road drag climb out of the carpark it pedalled well enough, even with the shock wide open, although when you get onto trail climbs you do remember you are on a longer travel bike, not a nimble tail whippet. As soon as the trail pointed downwards, the bike was just composed. The finishing kit puts you in a very comfortable place to ride hard and very quickly there was no need to think about the bike any more, you could focus completely on the trail ahead. Off the back of Rostrevor things can get steep and wild fairly quickly, yet no matter how wild it got, the Sommet remained a cool customer. Of course, a 20km loop does not a review make, but on first impressions, the Sommet is a well-thought-out package that would suit riders of all abilities.
The lowest spec carbon Capra is £2741.94 posted.
The Capra has a few better parts, but the same cranks, suspension, brakes, so the Vitus is definitely competitive with that.
The CRX and CR are already discounted 10% on CRC before release for sale, to £3800 (CR is £2565), add in a 10% British Cycling code (10 mins and ~£20 to join) brings the CRX down to £3420 (CR to £2309).
Some things are cheaper in the US, and that must be true of Yeti, because I could save more than £1500 on the CRX which is spec and weight comparable to Yeti. That would pay for two weeks in Whistler I imagine.
Moreover it's the CR at £2309 that's the real bargain: around £400/£500 cheaper than the entry CF Capra/Strive/Spectral, that's a week in Morzine (on a tight budget, maybe just). Plus it would be delivered in days, and I know how good CRC are with returns/warranty etc. Can't allow for all currency fluctuations, but in the UK at least this is a bargain if you're after a carbon bike.
Anyone able to explain or show with some cool visuals? Haha
www.pinkbike.com/photo/13291669
On another note.... great looking bike I am very confident in saying that I bet it's a great bike to go rip trail on!!
Hell no. Most bikes these days are pretty good! A beginner can buy with confidence, knowing they'll get a sweet ride that's obsolete in 2 years time.
It's not about feeling good you got a good bike when spending more than 2000.00 they probably already know it's a good bike...it's about not being sure you got the best bike in that category. For a lot of people if they aren't convinced it's the best thing since sliced bread they dont want it.... or sometimes they just want the bike if it comes in a certain colour... Frick... haha
Seriously - the stand out designs from two or three years ago are still great, competitive bikes today. Think Process (current lineup has the same geometry as in 2014), Transition bikes (2015), Nomad, Enduro, etc. Yees, there's change, yes, there's improvement - but the bikes don't get worse over time. That's the thing people always get confused about. Computers and smartphones get worse over time, because the software they all run keeps getting more and more demanding. A three year old iphone is a dob, doing the same things (opening web pages, running apps) more slowly than when it was new - and you can't upgrade the damn thing. That's obsolescence. A three year old bike, as long as you maintain all the moving bits, still performs just a well as it did when it was new. Yes, newer bikes are better - but that doesn't make the old bike worse than it was. That doesn't mean it's obsolete, it just means it's been superseded. And quite a bit of the performance advantage of new bikes comes from newer components - which you can upgrade if you like.
Now when it comes to new standards, that's a bit of a different story. It's one thing to keep your older bike performing up to its old level by replacing components over time as they fail - you'll probably find stuff for a while yet (you can still buy rather nice 135mm QR hubs for example, and you can still get all the old standby tires in 26"). It's the new stuff that's then not made to those standards anymore - meaning if there's a new version of a fork coming out you really want, you many not be able to get that in 26".
I rode last saturday with some very competent riders. On my old mk2 Nomad, with a push link, a -2 degree headset and a set of older totems... I even had those very old design tyres on... the 60a minion.
Somehow this antiquated machine cleaned more of the climbs, rode the descents the quickest! On Sunday it cleaned more of the climbs, rode considerably more of the flat technical stuff in the mountains and managed an "impossible" descent... whilst the brand new, high end 160mm bike with custom valved fork on it was pushed... that new bike was just too long, too slack, bars too wide, wrong leverage curve etc for the mountains. Oh... and the new tyres just didn't have the correct tread pattern.
Now.... the mountains have not changed in the last few years, and that nomad could ride them a few years ago with its old kit. (Not minions back then, just happened to have them on, would rather have had high rollers on), I was glad that because someone had changed the must have wheel size, tyres, geometry etc that the nomad didn't notice, as it was playing on my mind for ages leading up to these rides. So please.... nobody tell my nomad that she is obsolete and no longer capable of what she used to do regularly, coz once she finds out I fear that she won't be able to ride these mountain trails anymore, and I will have to replace her with a slacker, longer, bigger wheeled bike which will be upsetting as she has been fine so far.....
Dear Nomad...
I still love you in the mountains. You are still pants compared to a trail bike in the local woods though. Xxx
Lots of Love
Mountain biker who can see the wood for the trees.
Your point to geometry is interesting, though. Yes, it's all about long/low/slack these days. But the shorter wheelbase of the older bikes opens some doors. So you're talking about technical climbing - yep, that's one of those areas. I'm not a terribly skilled rider - the longer front center on what's considered modern geometry is great for me, as I don't need to work so damn hard to get my fore/aft balance right, the bike just makes that so much easier. Instant confidence booster, and instant fun enhancement. That doesn't make my new bike a better bike than my old bike (which was a bit steeper and shorter) - but it does make it a better bike for my specific needs.
Also, their customer service was amazing. Has some shifting issues that eventually were tracked down to the drop out being machined out of tolerance. At first i thought i had made a big mistake buying a consumer direct bike because i thought i wouldn't get the same customer service as i would at an LBS but i was totally wrong. Experience was even better. They helped me diagnose the issue and had a new set of seat stays to me within a week.
Vitus for the win!
Also, if you've ever dealt with CRC customer service you'd have every confidence in it if something did go wrong.
I'm going to steer away from the "amazing bike for the money" comment. Its just an amazing bike, regardless of price.
Kona have got it right. Longer and lower please.
A 170mm reverb can have 400mm showing out the top of the seat tube + the 483mm for size large + 165mm for crank length giving the average inseam of a 233cm tall man (7 foot 8" bloke) which I would imagine would be moving up to an extra large frame maybe? Even a 150mm dropper can go up to a 7'4" persons inseam on a large frame.
ha --- Vitus. ya don't say --
that's a French road bike I used to sell about 15 years ago. they had a badass carbon road frame (with a very gay looking paint splash that killed the look of the bike).
Personally im well and truely over the whole carbon 160mm travel enduro crap. Has anyone taken a hardtail with some good geo and good forks/brakes for a spin? Almost just as capable! Do we really need all this flash rubbish..........oh wait of course we do cause the industry says we do!!!!!
In me dyslexia perhaps, but thought said it Situs Vommet.
vitusbikes.com/products/sommet-pro-frame-2016
Pike di 160mm per tre anni e no problema.
See you, cheers!