In the market for a new DH bike? Well it might be worth checking out Specialized latest news. Specialized have announce that they will be adding two new additions to their demo family. The new frame will retain the same distinctive look as the carbon version. The Aluminium frame is considerably cheaper than the carbon alternative, coming in at just $2400 for the frame in comparison to $4500. The cheaper of the two whole bike builds comes in at $4000 with the second build coming in at $6000.
The Vitus Escarpe – All The Trail Bike For Half the Price.
Price: £1199.99
Rating: 4.0 / 5 Stars
Weight: 14.12kg/31.15lbs
Wheel Size: 27.5 / 650b
Suspension: 4.0 / 5 Stars
Handle Ability: 4.0 / 5 Stars
Frame & Geometry: 4.0 / 5 Stars
Handling Like a Dream on the Red DH @ Nevis Range
Picking It’s Lines Half Way Down Fort William World Cup Track
The Vitus Escarpe is all the bike for half the price. We have been riding the standard set up for around 2 months now and it’s fair to say there isn’t much that we would change! One of our main concerns was that the weight of the bike would make it a lot more sluggish to concur climbs and heavy on the descents but our fears were unjustified!
The suspension set up is 140mm Mantiou Comp forks up in the front & Rock Shock Monarch R at the rear. The Manitou forks will rival most other airforks in the market. There quirky design might cause some confusion but I’ve only had a couple people ask me why my Forks are on back to front! The Rock Shock Monarch R on the rear has good compression, but would look to upgrading to a lock out shock eventually!
The Shimano BR-M396 brake set up was something I thought I would be changing on this bike straight away but 2 months on and still on the 1 set of brake pads they are holding up pretty dam good! They aren’t the sharpest brakes out there but they can definitely hold their ground in the market
The Vitus handles extremely well in all condition & terrains! We’ve had it down a variety of trails from loamy single to hard pack trail stuff and even pushed it to it limits on some gnarly downhill tracks and it still handles like a dream on single one of them. The past year I have been mainly riding downhill bikes so was a bit apprehensive about having such little travel on some of the tougher tracks but once again my fears were unjustified as the Escarpe was more than capable of handling it all!
Galloping Down the New Jump Line on Aonach Mor
Anyway lets get away from all the technical talk! Here is what you need to hear, the Escarpe may not be the lightest trail bike in the market or come with the best spec but ultimately it all works wells together! It climbs like a dream and descents like a demon. It is a great intro full suspension bike and great value for money! I think you would be hard pushed to find a similar priced bike that works so well! I was skeptical about the capabilities of this bike bit it hasn’t proven true on any of my doubt! The bikes bright colour works wonders in two ways… Your always seen & even when the suns not shining at least you are! I would advise anyone looking for a good budget trail bike to give this bike a go! I don’t imagine you will be disappointed
Cons – Only thing missing is a dropper ….But for that price I wouldn’t expect one!
SPEC:
Frameset:
Frame: Hydroformed 6061-T6 Aluminium Frame with Four-bar V-Link Rear Suspension, 135mm Travel
Forks: Manitou Minute Comp, 140mm Travel, TS Air spring, Ø32mm Aluminium stanchions, Compression to Lockout and Rebound damping, TPC Technology ABS+ Trail Tuned, Tapered aluminium steerer, 15mm QR Through Axle
Shock: RockShox Monarch R, 190mm x 51mm, Custom tune HVI ML
Groupset:
Chainset: FSA Gamma Drive MegaExo, 170mm, 36tx24t
Bottom Bracket: FSA MegaExo (BSA)
Shifters: Shimano Deore SL-M610 Rapid Fire Plus, 10-Speed
Front Derailleur: Shimano Deore Direct Mount FD-M616
Rear Derailleur: Shimano Deore RD-M615 Shadow Plus
Cassette: Shimano CS-HG50, 11t-36t, 10-Speed
Chain: KMC X10, 10-Speed
Wheelset:
Rims: WTB ST i23 TCS, 27.5”
Front Hub: Formula – 6 Bolt, 100mm x 15mm
Rear Hub: Formula – 6 Bolt, 142mm x 12mm
Spokes: Stainless
Front Tyre: WTB Vigilante Comp, 27.5” x 2.3”
Rear Tyre: WTB Trail Boss, 27.5” x 2.25”
Components:
Front Brake: Shimano BR-M396 Hydraulic Disc, 180mm Rotor
Rear Brake: Shimano BR-M396 Hydraulic Disc, 180mm Rotor
Handlebars: Vitus Riser Bar, 7075 Double Butted Alloy, 15mm Rise, 740mm Wide
Headset: FSA Orbit 1.5 Zero Stack (NO.57), 1.1/8” – 1.5”
Stem: Vitus, 3D Forged 6061-T6 Aluminium, +/- 7 Degree Rise, 60mm Extension
Saddle: Vitus
Seatpost: Vitus Alloy, 6061-T6, 15mm Offset, 31.6mm x 400mm
Seatclamp: Vitus QR
Would We Recommend Buying? Hell Yes We Would!!!!
