I ordered one of these about a month ago through CRC. The process of purchasing and shipping from CRC kinda sucked, but it eventually got to my door a little over 3 weeks later. DHL themselves were quick, they had it for something like 3 days before it was on my doorstep. It showed up undamaged and in perfect shape.
Why this bike? Features and value. It had basically everything I was after for $3200 to my door. There were other contenders along the way, the most notable being the 2018 Fuel EX 8. It cost more when accounting for taxes, the local huge dealer wouldn’t negotiate, and parts of the spec were a downgrade, so Vitus won.
The rear suspension design is a shameless melding of Trek’s Full Floater lower shock mount, a rocker link, and Spesh FSR chainstay pivot, with the shock bisecting the seat tube near the BB. The ball bearing trunnion mount metric shock gets that top tube very low. Frame build quality is excellent and beefy. DT Swiss wheels set up tubeless with a floor pump in all of 5 minutes, super painless. Only thing changed were narrower bars (760 from the stock 800) and a shorter stem (35 from 45).
On the trail….this thing covers ground fast and with high confidence. The geo seems dialed for general trail riding up to fairly hairy descents. Suspension is active but supportive. The bike is super stable, probably because it’s super long…wheelbase barely fits my rooftop rack. It isn’t particularly fond of getting airborne but will do it with some body English and muscle. Climbs aren’t blistering but I don’t dread them either, with Eagle you can winch it up anything and the traction is there. You can also stand and mash, something I couldn’t do on my RIP 9. It’s very confident and capable when things point downward. I wouldn’t call it playful but it’s not a dud either. The Guide RE brakes are crazy good with gobs of power and great modulation. Overall it’s just a really good and versatile trail/AM bike.
Downsides….weird parts spec at times. The 150mm Lyrik is awesome but over-spec’d for a trail bike, same with the DT E-series wheels. The MRP chain guide is unnecessary and the chain rubs substantially when on the two largest cogs and that chain isn’t going to drop anyway with the clutch and tooth design of Eagle. As a result it’s a bit heavy, my build feels right at 32 lbs. A Pike, DT M-series wheels, and losing the chain guide would help trim this fatty. The 200mm front rotor, while nice, could easily be dropped to a 180mm.
Overall though an excellent bike so far which I recommend thoroughly….
Why this bike? Features and value. It had basically everything I was after for $3200 to my door. There were other contenders along the way, the most notable being the 2018 Fuel EX 8. It cost more when accounting for taxes, the local huge dealer wouldn’t negotiate, and parts of the spec were a downgrade, so Vitus won.
The rear suspension design is a shameless melding of Trek’s Full Floater lower shock mount, a rocker link, and Spesh FSR chainstay pivot, with the shock bisecting the seat tube near the BB. The ball bearing trunnion mount metric shock gets that top tube very low. Frame build quality is excellent and beefy. DT Swiss wheels set up tubeless with a floor pump in all of 5 minutes, super painless. Only thing changed were narrower bars (760 from the stock 800) and a shorter stem (35 from 45).
On the trail….this thing covers ground fast and with high confidence. The geo seems dialed for general trail riding up to fairly hairy descents. Suspension is active but supportive. The bike is super stable, probably because it’s super long…wheelbase barely fits my rooftop rack. It isn’t particularly fond of getting airborne but will do it with some body English and muscle. Climbs aren’t blistering but I don’t dread them either, with Eagle you can winch it up anything and the traction is there. You can also stand and mash, something I couldn’t do on my RIP 9. It’s very confident and capable when things point downward. I wouldn’t call it playful but it’s not a dud either. The Guide RE brakes are crazy good with gobs of power and great modulation. Overall it’s just a really good and versatile trail/AM bike.
Downsides….weird parts spec at times. The 150mm Lyrik is awesome but over-spec’d for a trail bike, same with the DT E-series wheels. The MRP chain guide is unnecessary and the chain rubs substantially when on the two largest cogs and that chain isn’t going to drop anyway with the clutch and tooth design of Eagle. As a result it’s a bit heavy, my build feels right at 32 lbs. A Pike, DT M-series wheels, and losing the chain guide would help trim this fatty. The 200mm front rotor, while nice, could easily be dropped to a 180mm.
Overall though an excellent bike so far which I recommend thoroughly….