BEN’S VITUS ESCARPE 29 CRS

MONTH 6: Ben’s looking to treat himself to some birthday upgrades

Riding mountain bikes is amazing. But I’m every bit as passionate about researching all the latest kit as I am about shredding turns. Having spent most of my formative years thumbing through brochures and magazines, and lusting after purple Ringle stems, Onza Ti bar ends and Cook Brothers cranks, I’m something of a kit magpie.

So with that in mind I started thinking about what upgrades would really make a difference to the Escarpe, purely from a functional standpoint, of course. And to keep this thought experiment true to life, I allocated myself a £500 budget.

Well, my birthday is fast approaching. Also, it’s still less cash than it would cost to upgrade to the Escarpe CRX. That model costs £800 more and comes with a mostly XT drivetrain, Fox Factory suspension and a higher-grade DT Swiss wheelset.

It’s likely that some consumables will need replacing over the course of this long-term test, but for the moment there is plenty of life left in my drivetrain and even the grips are nicely worn in rather than worn out, so I’m not too concerned about that. So, what to buy? Well, I really don’t like the SLX brakes. Yes, they have plenty of stopping power, but I dislike the grabby lever feel and would prefer something with a softer initial bite and smoother progression, like the SRAM Guide RES.

Then there’s the Brand-x dropper post. It works just fine but the remote lever feels a bit flimsy. Still, in my mind, if it’s a dropper that’s still working then keep hold of it. In fact, all of the touch points on the Vitus are great for me – bar, stem and saddle are all ideal. The WTB saddle has quickly become a favourite in fact, although I see on the Vitus site that the spec has changed to a Nukeproof branded saddle.

So that brings me to the suspension, and possibly the only thing that might make a significant difference to the performance. The stock Rockshox Pike Select fork uses a Charger RC damper, but you can easily upgrade to the more sophisticated Charger 2.1 damper found on the Pike Ultimate. At £250 it offers more adjustability (high and low speed compression damping) and should be less prone to spiking on big square-edge hits. Yes, it’s quite possibly the least sexy of all upgrades, but then I’m not a teenage boy any more and what I want is a genuine performance increase, not some flashy anodised parts. So there you have it, two key upgrades that sneak in under my £500 budget. Now all I have to do is find a retailer with stock.