Chain Reaction Cycles’ economy enduro bike has had a significantly lighter carbon upgrade for 2016, addressing a key issue with the alloy original. The geometry has been tweaked too, but the price is still keen.
High-quality construction
Much of the weight loss comes from switching the mainframe to a high-quality Toray T700/800 carbon construction. The Sommet CR has a bolt-on belly guard and internal cable routing, and by limiting it to single-ring use, Vitus has been able to thicken the BB shell to combat stretch and squeak.
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The back end is still alloy but pivots on a 15mm axle, with adjustable collet bearings and a 142x12mm axle. The RockShox Monarch Plus shock ‘floats’ between the linkage and extended chainstay tips to provide 155mm (6.1in) of smooth travel, and while the Sommet CR isn’t particularly long, there is an an XL option.
The Vitus’s transmission is directly comparable with that of the similarly priced YT Capra Comp, which we tested at the same time. But when you start looking at forks, brakes and wheels there are some small but significant economy measures. Production bikes will also come with a non-remote Brand-X Ascent dropper post instead of a RockShox Reverb. It’s still an impressively light and responsive complete package though.
User-friendly setup
Having spent hours trying to find the suspension sweet spot on other longer-travel bikes, the super-tolerant set-up of the Vitus was sheer bliss. Whether we were tackling boulder-spine black runs that make you feel like you’re riding a washing machine down metal stairs on some bikes, grunting up knee bursting, stalling speed switchback climbs or slamming into the belly of G-out berms, we never even thought about the suspension, which just got on with the job exactly how we wanted it done.
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