MBR Mountain Bike Rider

BEN’S VITUS ESCARPE 29 CRS

MONTH 12: Ben hits the road for a tour of Welsh riding hotspots and discovers that the Escarpe can handle it all...

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£2,699.99 / 29in / vitusbikes.com

There’s nothing like the thought of the weather closing in and the days getting shorter to motivate you to get out more. So as my time with the Vitus draws to a close, I’ve made a push to get as much riding in as possible. And in doing so I’ve really come to understand what I like about the Escarpe CRS.

On my Welsh road trip I took in some classic routes, trail centres and bike parks. The bike performed well in all of these settings. Not outstandin­g in any particular setting, but more than up to all of the tasks. Dyfi Bike Park was enormous fun, although on several occasions I was slightly out of my depth in the really rough stuff, which is to be expected on a 140mm-travel bike. Contrast that with a ride up Cadair Idris, where the old-school fire-road climbs were a bit laborious but the loose, fast descents certainly made up for the effort of the climb. I also took in some trail centres and laps at Bikepark Wales. After all that riding, the pivots were making some pretty loud, moaning noises but my main observatio­n was that the Escarpe can turn its hand to a seriously wide variety of riding, which is exactly what you want from a trail bike.

The riding position ensures that it’s comfortabl­e to climb on, with no real bobbing at the shock.

And while it’s not buttery smooth on the climbs, it still tracks over bumps to retain traction when you’re putting the power down. It doesn’t suffer from excessive pedal strikes either and once you get your feet positioned wider on the pedal, they stop rubbing on the stays.

It’s on the descents where the Vitus really shines though – the solid frame, a seamless mix of carbon and aluminium, guaranteei­ng that even on extreme terrain it never gets flustered. Sure, it can run out of travel in a heartbeat but the bike stays composed and gently reminds you that it’s had enough rather than protesting vigorously. As a result, you feel confident in its performanc­e, with no scary moments or unpleasant surprises. On really steep terrain that sure-footedness is still present thanks to the modern geometry. Getting the suspension dialled in is critical though, but with enough air pressure in the Pike Select RC fork and a decent handlebar height, the front end stays up in its travel. At the rear, I tended to run the Rockshox Select+ shock softer over the course of the test. Little by little I took more air out and thanks to the progressiv­e nature of the linkage it seemed to ride better deeper into its travel and still didn’t get fazed on bigger hits.

I’ll give my final appraisal of the Escarpe next month but over the past 12 months I’ve been really impressed by the ride quality of this bike given that it’s considerab­ly cheaper than most of its rivals.

WHY IT’S HERE Ben tried going big, then going fast, now he just wants a trail bike

n n n

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Giddy as a schoolboy over Trail Bike of the Year, can’t decide which bike to ride next… or whether to go for a Dip Dab or a Curly Wurly at breaktime

Prised from his beloved e-bikes for the first time in months for TBOTY. Feeling his great age (72), turns out he doesn’t have 500 watts in those old legs

Emerged from the norovirus family homestead white around the gills, to a full day’s hardtail yomping around the South Downs. #inatthedee­pend

MICK KIRKMAN

DANNY MILNER

PAUL BURWELL

JAMIE DARLOW

 ?? ?? THE RIDER
PAUL BURWELL
Position Freelance writer/tester
Mostly rides
Surrey and Sussex
Height 5ft 10in
Weight 79kg
THE BIKE
n All-mountain e-bike with a 160mmtrave­l Fox 38 fork and 150mm of rear travel
Carbon frame with air intake ports on the head tube for cooling
Powered by the latest 80Nm Yamaha PW-X2 motor and 600Wh Intube battery
n Mullet design with 29x2.5in tyre up front and 27.5x2.8in out back
Acros Blocklock anti-rotation headset with custom stem
THE RIDER PAUL BURWELL Position Freelance writer/tester Mostly rides Surrey and Sussex Height 5ft 10in Weight 79kg THE BIKE n All-mountain e-bike with a 160mmtrave­l Fox 38 fork and 150mm of rear travel Carbon frame with air intake ports on the head tube for cooling Powered by the latest 80Nm Yamaha PW-X2 motor and 600Wh Intube battery n Mullet design with 29x2.5in tyre up front and 27.5x2.8in out back Acros Blocklock anti-rotation headset with custom stem
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