Enduro Mountain Bike Mag review the Escarpe VRX

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Whilst much of the news from Vitus as a brand this year has been around the “all-out” Enduro SOMMET model, it’s important not to forget its little brother the ESCARPE! With 135mm of travel in the rear and 150mm up front this aggressive trail bike is as much at home around your local woods as it is smashing it’s way through the trails on an all day epic. We handed the Marzocchi 350CR / SRAM X1 equipped Escarpe VRX to Andrew Cooper from Enduro Mag to see what he thought.

Vitus is part of the modern era of direct sales bike companies, where the manufacturer cuts out the ‘middle man’ to provide a cheaper product. Direct sales is certainly a controversial subject depending on who you are talking to, however we believe that value for money helps more people into the sport which can only be a good thing, Remember not everyone has £5000 to spend on the latest ‘must have’ bikes.

We tested the Vitus Escarpe 275 VRX, a short travel 650b trail smasher, The VRX is one of four different build kits and they also offer a 29er version. The Escarpe arrived in a huge cardboard box with only the bars removed, five minutes later and it was ready to ride. The frame comes with the plush RockShox Monarch Debonair rear shock, twinned with a Marzocchi CR 350 fork, which looks amazing with the espresso coating. Braking is handled by the reliable Shimano SLX brakes. Very impressive at this price point is that the bike is equipped with a SRAM X1 group set, Vitus still fit a chain device which is a great move and often overlooked by other manufactures. The RockShox Reverb dropper post is a must on any trail bike. The Escarpe comes with WTB i23 rims with a WTB Vigilante up front and a WTB Trail Boss on the rear. The Escarpe is a good looking frame with a conservative paint scheme that doesn’t demand too much attention, making its mass target group clear.

ARTICLE ORIGINALLY POSTED ON ENDURO-MTB.COM // Pics Trev Worsley

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