Hiya

I am looking at buying a new bike and have narrowed it down to these 2:
Vitus Sentier VRS
Bird TR3

Now looking for expert advice 🙂

I need an all-rounder, I’m still something of a beginner and mainly ride my local trails (in Manchester) however I intend to ride more in the Peak District, Wales as well as more trail centres.

I like the downhills and rough stuff and intend to do more of this and get better over the summer… though not proper DH of course.

I’ll keep this as my only mtb for several years at least.

Which do you think would be better suited?

I’ve liked the look of the VRS for a long time plus it’s £250 cheaper than the Bird which makes a big difference, however maybe the Bird is a better choice…

Not looking for suggestions of other bikes at this point, just between these 2.

Edit: an advantage of the Bird is that I can demo it, not possible with the Vitus.

Both seem similar in spec, Shimano brakes and running gear….but I’d go for the Bird purely for the fork, I run X-Fusion suspension on my FS and its top quality stuff….read the Cotic site as to why they’re going over to X-Fusion as OEM fitment.

Lastly, a good fork can make or break a HT, on current performance of my Sweep RL2 I’d happily recommend the Bird.

I read that and thought Vitus Sommet VRX, and thought I could offer good advice. I have a Bird Zero (original), and demoed the Sommet VRX two weeks ago. I’ll keep it short, because it’s less relevant.

I no longer want to buy a full-sus. It was nice enough (and better than the NP Mega), but not better than the Bird. I didn’t like the X1 shifter, but you might. I didn’t like the Oklo dropper either, it was a lot slower than a reverb and the lever was much harder to use (when I was knackered, I had to use my whole hand to actuate the lever).

The Zero TR has more modern geometry – slacker head angle, longer reach, lower bottom bracket, which I would consider well worth the extra cost. It also comes in five rather than three sizes, so you’ll get a better fit if you’re on the tall or short size.

I can’t fault the Zero AM which I’ve had for a couple of months and Bird’s customer service was excellent.

No-brainer imo – Bird TR.
They’re small enough that you can pick up the phone and speak to the designer and small enough that customer care still matters.
Yet their direct pricing means they can compete with mass-market box-shifters.

Another vote for the Bird.

Especially after I saw the new green colour on FB yesterday.

I had a similar dilemma and went for the bird. Arrived earlier today, so no chance to ride it yet, but it looks and smells lovely.

(Is new bike smell a thing? Clean rubber, fresh grease, that heavy sticky new chain gunk . . .mmmmm)

I’ve got a Zero TR and it’s the best HT I’ve ridden by a large margin, it’s very similar in feel to my Whyte T-130 Works which I also rate very highly.

My mate has a Aeris and the backup from Bird has been top notch so that’s a huge plus for me and was very important in my decision to buy the Zero TR. HTH