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Between feathery XC bikes and brutal endurance racing frames, the brand can float on all kinds of oceans. They are not limited by athletes’ expectations of weight, agility, or even geometry. Generally, if a brand produces both 27.5" and 29" versions of mid-stroke products, the larger wheels are speed plows, while the smaller diameters are used for parties. Although I only tested one Escarpe model, it is clear that Vitus did not follow the 29er idea. This bike knows how to dance.

Escarpe 29 CRS has a rear travel of 140mm behind the 150mm fork, and the all-alloy rear end is connected to the same carbon fiber front triangle as the brand's Sommet enduro racing frame. Sharing the front triangle means that companies must purchase fewer carbon molds, which may be reflected in the bicycle's absolute affordable retail label. This version is priced at £2,699.99/3,299.99. Regardless of the wheel size, the version below is priced at £1,999.99/2,699.99, or the Kashima-coated model, with a retail price of £3,499.99/4,299.99. The frame set and Fox DPS Factory Electric Shock will cost 1,499.99 GBP/1,999 USD from your wallet. No matter which component you use, this is an inexpensive bicycle.

Test pilot profile height: 5'9 inches (175 cm) weight: 145 pounds. (66kg) Test area: Northern Italy

The Escarpe frame provides as much mud removal capacity as a bike designed in Ireland. Keep a good distance between the chainstay and 2.4-inch Maxxis Dissector tires, leaving enough space for debris to pass through. The large gap between the alloy bracket and the front triangle makes the mud easy to remove, and it may not be necessary to use motorcycle foam at that common pinch point. Thanks to the sturdy one-piece rocker link, there is no need for a bracket behind the riser for the seat stay, and the mud gap is almost unlimited. Speaking of slope, the down tube of this bike is quite large and intercepts a lot of debris on the way from the tire to your face.

This frame has some nice paint, it is well protected by a transparent plastic film, and it can be replaced or removed when it gets dirty. The protection kit is installed on all Vitus mountain bikes, including the single point frame kit. The slap and mute effect on the alloy rear triangle is good, covering the chain stays and inner chain stays. The rubber plates may be thicker to further reduce chain noise, but overall, they can get the job done. The down tube protection is also suitable for stone impacts, and because the carbon tube does not extend the length of the crank arm, any larger impact is likely to hit your foot or crank before it comes into contact with the down tube.

The cable routing in the Escarpe frame is loose, which means that the brake hose and cable housing do not pass through the tube. Surprisingly, these free-floating cables did not make any noise during the entire test. If the rider starts to hear their applause, there are many tricks to fix them in the frame. The window for the cable entry and exit is quite large, which makes it easy to route without a guide when it needs to be exchanged. Those same plastic windows are larger than their adjacent holes, so it is difficult to accidentally drop them into the frame.

One of the few hits to the frame was the brake hose and derailleur cable leaving the down tube and passing under the BB to re-enter the chainstay. Although this wiring can make these cables less stressful and bend softer, it can also place them in the wire of fire, being damaged by rocks and pinched by passing sticks. I haven't managed to get anything caught by them, but I have other bikes, and I definitely don't like this route layout. Even if the chance of you hitting the rock enough to cut the brake cable is very small, I feel uneasy about taking this unnecessary opportunity. Although typing is easier than designing, I would love to see them move these important veins away to avoid injury.

The Escarpe frame uses a trunnion-mounted 205x60mm shock absorber, and the lower link is connected to a flip chip between two carbon fiber brackets near the BB. The bracket and rocker link look particularly strong and always look great when running trunnion shock absorbers that are easily damaged by rotational forces. The location of the shock absorber keeps it away from the main mud line and makes the air valve and external adjustment knob easy to access.

For most frames, I am always between the medium and large size. The large size may require more work to manipulate, while the medium size usually feels short and trembling. My ideal size seems to be those unicorns with a measurement range of 465 mm. In order to simplify this Mid-Travel Mashup, I chose the size recommended by the brand for my figure.

With a sufficiently flexible 65° head tube angle, a steeper 77° seat tube, and a proper 35mm lower bracket drop, I don’t see any reason to switch the flip chip to “high”. This chip makes the HTA steep by 0.5° and raises the BB by 6 mm, neither of which will make the bike ride better on our local monorail. The chainstay length of all four frame sizes is 440mm, and I think the length should be well-balanced with the medium-sized 451mm front fork I tested.

Although the 625 mm stack height of the medium Escarpe is fairly average, the steerer tube is cut a bit too short, which I don't like. The stock Nukeproof Horizon handlebars are raised by 20mm, and there are only 10mm spacers under the 45mm long stem. I found myself wanting more steerers to adjust the height of the handlebars. This can be easily solved by replacing the handlebars with higher lift, but it will be easier to cut the steerer longer at the beginning.

The buyer received a reasonable build kit for the price of this bike. At the rear end, DT Swiss M1900 wheels are wrapped in Maxxis Assegai and Dissector treads with EXO+ shells. The complete powertrain is Shimano SLX 12-speed, rear SLX 2 piston brakes and 4-piston calipers bolted to RockShox Pike Select. The diameter of the front rotor is 203 mm, while the diameter of the rotor near the flywheel is 180 mm. The shock absorber is RockShox Deluxe Select+, which provides low-speed rebound adjustment and compression switch to fix things.

Nukeproof and Vitus share a retail store in Chain Reaction Cycles, and I assumed that all other components on Escarpe came from Nukeproof. The cockpit and saddle are all Nukeproof brands, while the handles and seat tube clamps bear the Vitus name, and the earphones are from Acros. The 150mm dropper comes from another CRC brand, aptly named Brand-X. After using the 170mm dropper for a few seasons, this feels quite short, and I will definitely replace it with an extra dropper.

I have zero problems with the components on this bike. If this were my personal partner, I would be surprised at the construction. I would eventually switch to a 4-piston rear brake caliper for more power, lengthen the dropper, and clamp a handlebar that rises more, but otherwise the build really does not need to be upgraded. In fact, I might recommend downgrading to entry-level models equipped with Marzocchi Bomber Z2 forks, durable Shimano Deore transmission systems and similar shock absorbers that do not require this suspension layout.

Vitus's engineers have adjusted the excellent work of anti-squat and suspension adjustments for this frame, and it rides very high with almost no shaking under about 25% of the sag. People who like more comfortable suspension and deeper static sag may find the compression switch more useful, but I can almost keep it on all the time. I did turn it off on a paved climb just to save a watt or two, but even on smooth things, there is very little vibration when pedaling.

A platform with so much support sometimes comes at the expense of climbing grip, but this platform also wins there. The rear suspension makes way for the various small shocks and ledges of technical climbing, leaving all taps and tire slips to the rider's error. Although the Dissector tread pattern was drawn in consideration of fast and dusty DH, it can provide good uphill grip as long as the soil is dry.

The medium-sized Escarpe 29 with this construction weighs 14.9 kg (32.8 lb), which makes it easier to ride uphill compared to my 17 kg long-distance touring bike. The weight of the bicycle is very balanced whether it is climbing or in the air. You can use lighter saddles, carbon fiber handlebars, lighter wheels, and upgraded cranks and flywheels to reduce grams, but this bike does not require lighter. Considering the intent of the platform, the weight feels just right, and its off-road characteristics are lighter than similar bikes I have tested.

Of course, the geometry of this small red rocket also plays an important role in its climbing ability. Since the BB is almost in the center between the handlebars and the rear axle, and the steeper 77° seat tube angle, the climbing position is very comfortable. Keeping the front tires fixed on steeper climbs is an easy task, which will definitely help when you are trying to solve a narrow rock problem.​​ Escarpe won the title of "All Mountain Bike" for its pleasant behavior on various long trails.

Here we have a 140/150mm 29er, the head tube angle is relatively loose, and there are some DH treads, so it must be a straight fuel tank when it descends, right? Do not. That's far away. This kind of carbon fiber and alloy hybrid frame is difficult to reach the edge of the rabbit in the range of the rabbit to rhinoceros spectrum, so that I would recommend it to friends who only ride 27.5 inch wheeled bicycles. It swings and weaves happily, changing its lines and launching from one root to another, like a squirrel high in the branches. Yes, it is a 29er squirrel.

With the percentage improvement in the mid-1920s, it wasn't just the suspension that made Escarpe jump around. I don't care about the inventory quantity of its volumetric gasket, which is not the only variable. It is more like a well-designed system, put together in this interesting machine factory. I let a friend who likes to jump high and long ride a bicycle. The comments are very welcome.

Some bikes with similar trips are ready for your local endurance race. For example, it was not until last season that the brand launched a longer-travel frame that athletes used the 130mm Forbidden Druid to participate in EWS events. Escarpe seems to deliberately stay away from those mini endurance racing machines. All its squirrel spirit comes at a price, and there will be a less down-to-earth feeling on rough things. You can of course take part in endurance races on it, or you can ride fast in the rugged rock garden, but if this is the kind of riding you are after, there are better bikes out there. Escarpe feels like a bicycle. It wakes up in the morning of the race and says, “No, I’m going to play in the woods with my friends, maybe I will play some fun jumps.” This bicycle has its own decisive characteristics. It will race. The atmosphere is left to Sommet, its long-distance neighbor.

Depending on the park, this may be an interesting small bike park ripper for the right person. People who like the trails in the park, open their mouths, and cross the berm will have a great time on Escarpe. Short trips on double black tracks are not my choice, but for pure parties on some purpose-built single tracks, it may be the first 29er I will turn to. The lighter weight combined with the high-boom characteristics of the suspension makes for an interesting spring.

Just as the anti-rising value of the frame glows when climbing, Vitus engineers also adjusted the anti-recoil function of the bicycle to keep the rear end higher when braking hard. Since the rear end does not drop too much when braking at full speed, you need to add a lot of air and low-speed compression to the front fork to maintain the bike's geometry on steeper slopes. I first set Escarpe to the recommended suspension setting and droop, but the fork tended to dive and felt underpowered, causing the bike to become unbalanced and the head tube steep at the worst moments. Most of this can be solved by increasing the pressure of the front fork and a slightly softer impact, although when the calipers bite hard, the rear tires will still loosen and jump more than some similar bicycles.

In order to increase its infinite demeanor, chainstays with an average length of 440 mm allow the bicycle to easily break off the edge of a jump or manually cross a stream. My rear wheel riding skills are severely lacking, and Escarpe can easily keep the front tires on the water long enough to keep my feet dry. This bike wants to go through as many mounds or tree roots as you can. For those who cannot believe that 29ers are also interesting, it is undoubtedly a 29-inch long squirrel.

The price range of the YT Jeffsy Base we reviewed last year is similar, with a 10mm increase in rear axle travel, and an all-alloy frame. With its lower weight and suspension kinematics difference, Escarpe is more flexible than Jeffsy Base. If the rider let two bikes go down the same messy natural downhill, Jeffsy might be faster, and Escarpe might be more interesting.

Vitus Escarpe is a fun way to ride into the deep hills comfortably. The price per pound is hard to beat by a new bike, and there are not many things that need to be upgraded when buying. This is a good choice for people on a tight budget. It will meet the mid-trip needs of most riders, who care more about riding style points than K/QOM statistics. Factory-installed paint protection is a huge benefit, allowing the bike to stay clean and scratch-free for longer.

Pros and cons of Vitus Escarpe 29 CRS

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