Vitus reveals its hardtail line up, as well as an update to its very-good-value-for-money Mythique full suspension bike that we tested last year.
There was a time earlier this year where it seemed every bike launched started at the price of an eye and went up to the cost of two kidneys and your first born. Happily those of us averse to surgery, there’s another trend taking place: well equipped bikes on a budget. Today we see the launch of Vitus’ 2021 range that goes easy on the pockets and is available online through Chain Reaction or Wiggle.
Vitus Nucleus 2021
- From: £549
The Nucleus trail hardtail drops the front derailleur and goes entirely 1x for 2021. Starting at just £549 for a bike kitted out with a SR Suntour XCR32 air fork, it comes in either a 29in or 27.5in wheeled option, plus there’s a women’s frame with dropped top tube and 27.5in wheels.
Vitus Sentier 2021
- From: £849.99
The Sentier is aimed at slightly more aggressive ride than the Nucleus, and starts at £849.99 for a build with X-Fusion RC32 fork. Again it comes in 27.5in or 29in wheeled options, but this time it’s a chunkier 2.6in tyre that comes on the Rentier. Step up to the £1,099.99 model, and you’ll get yourself a Marzocchi Bomber fork and brake upgrade, while the top end £1,599.99 model comes with Fox 34 forks and Shimano groupset.
Vitus Rapide Carbon
- From: £1,799.99
The Rapide Carbon leaves the alloy Sentier and Nucleus behind, and as an XC race bike hopes you’ll be leaving the competition behind too. The Rapide models start at £1,799.99, with a race ready SID fork, but if you fancy yourself a bit faster there’s the Rapide CRX at £2,499.99 with SID Ultimate and Shimano XT groupset.
Vitus Rapide 2021
- From: £899.99
Racing isn’t just for the deep of pocket though – there’s a Rapide Alloy too, starting at £899.99 with a RockShox Recon Silver fork and Shimano drivetrain. There’s RockShox Reba equipped VR model at £1,149.99 too.
Vitus Mythique 2021
- From: £1,249.99
Those hardtails might seem very tempting at those prices, but the Mythique might just lure you into the world of full suspension, with models starting at £1,249.99. When we tested the Mythique last year, we said it really needed a dropper post, and this year all models come dropper post equipped, plus have 1x Shimano group sets – whoop! It’s quite something when the top of the range in a full suspension bike is £1,649.99 – a far cry from £7k super bikes, but with Marzocchi Bomber Z2s and a RockShox Monarch shock, are you going to bother spending that £5k saved on upgrades, or splurge on trips, coaching courses and some really good waterproofs so you can get out and enjoy the fun as often as possible?
The hardtails are in stock now on Chain Reaction and Wiggle, or wait a week or so for the Mythique to land.
That Rapide carbon is a very tasty bit of kit.
FS bike for less than £900!! WOW #gamechanger
Ah bugger, £1249.99. Still great value.
I’m gonna need for Vitus to start selling frames again.
“an XC race bike hopes you’ll be leaving the competition behind too”
not with a 30T chainring……. seems an odd choice
@Adam sorr-eee…bit of a cut and paste error there! But it was a good deal last year and looks even better now!
Bought last year’s Bomber-equipped Mythique 29 for my son and it’s absolutely superb. Heavy to lift, but not on the trail. The pricing is unmatched. The bomber-equipped hardtail with deore for 1099 is an absolute steel.
Vitus Rentier – special edition for bike hire companies? 😉
Sentiers now (unsurprisingly) out of stock in all sizes 🙁
Has anyone else noticed that the Vitus Rapide Carbon frames are exactly the same as the Voodoo Bizango Carbon?