Bike check – Vitus Nucleus 24 Youth vs Vitus 24+

I’m about to buy one of these and wanted a quick STW checkup to see if there was anything else comparable in this price range I should also be considering?
My son is currently on a 20” Trek Roscoe with the 2.8” tyres and is very competent on it. He’s about to outgrow it so I’m looking for something reliable that’ll extend his XC MTB’ing for a few more years.

Any reasons not to go for the Nucleus 24?

Cheers!

Just got one for my son, £349 from CRC.

He had a Specialized Hotrocks 20 before and he was good on that.

Definately recommend them, should keep the value well enough too.

K

Not too worried about the resale value as he has an equally keen younger brother that’ll have after him.

Nukeproof scout? Bit more money but a bargain at the moment.

Vitus Nucleus 24 is superb, not just for the money but superb full stop. Brilliant sizing/geometry and the build kit is solid and everything just works. Would be nice if it was lighter but it’d need to be more expensive to achieve that. 11.7kg inc pedals for my youngest’s Nucleus 24 that we’re about to get rid of.

Both mini a11y’s are now riding the Nucleus 26 versions.

Very impressed with my son’s Nucleus 24 Youth – and if it’s now £349, an absolute bargain (I was impressed when I paid £500).

We also have a Voodoo Nantai, as his brother specifically asked to have a different bike, which to be fair has also been pretty great – but definitely a bit of a downgrade. Both came with decent tyres, useable 1×8 gearing and feel like ‘real bikes’. The Vitus has hydraulic discs, a clutch mech and routing for a dropper post if that takes your fancy – the rest of the kit is comparable – entry level, but decent enough.

Fantastic to hear! They look fantastic and it’ll blow his mind when he gets it. Might need some wider tyres though as it’s particularly sandy here and I fear the 2.0 tyres might be a bit narrow.

My youngest has a Scott Scale 24+ with 2.6 tyres and a mega range cassette. No idea if they still make them, but it’s an absolute weapon. He did a 20km / 500m singletrack adult’s club ride on it last Sunday.

My soon to be 8 year old also rides a Nucleus 24. As others said, great geometry and fantastic kit for the price. The only upgrade I have done is to swap the tyres to some 2.4 Schwalves which have given Jim much more confidence and grip.
I would recommend it!