VITUS ESCARPE 29 AMP REVIEW – A TRAIL BIKE DONE RIGHT
An exceptionally refined trail bike.
The Vitus brand was born in France in the 1930s when a high-end tubing manufacturer began building bikes. The original brand has deep roots in road cycling and was a sought-after frame maker through the ’80s. Vitus struggled during the ’90s and 2000s, and the trademark was eventually sold to new owners. In 2009 a team of bike engineers from Northern Ireland was working on a new range of bikes and discovered the Vitus brand was for sale. They acquired the rights and started with a fresh slate to create the new line of Vitus bikes we ride today.
In 2011 Vitus relaunched with a full lineup of mountain and road bikes. Since then, they’ve worked tirelessly to improve the quality of their bikes and designs. The Escarpe trail bike has been the cornerstone of the Vitus mountain bike lineup since 2012. It has seen every stage of development in Vitus’ mountain bike history and comes to the table with a refined suspension platform that’s been years in the making.
FRAME
The full carbon frame construction is a first for Vitus. Both front and rear triangles are made entirely from high-grade, T800-series carbon layups. The bike sports 140mm of travel in the rear and 150mm up front, putting it squarely in the trail bike category. The geometry is built to deal with the dynamic nature of trail riding and provide balanced but aggressive handling both uphill and down. The geometry choices are modern but not so wacky that they have us questioning where to ride this thing. It’s a trail bike through and through and had our testers feeling comfortable and confident quickly.
The frame features Boost 148 spacing, a tapered head tube, a threaded bottom bracket, and internal cable routing able to run the rear brake on either side of the bars. There’s a flip chip on the lower rocker mount to give .5 degrees of adjustment to the geometry. As a nice touch, the Escarpe comes with factory-installed paint-protective film and a large rubberized downtube guard. The rubberized chain- and seatstay protectors do a nice job of quieting chain noise.
COMPONENTS
Vitus specs the Escarpe AMP with a top-end build kit to match their highest-end frame offering. The bike comes kitted with SRAM’s X01 level kit, including Code RSC brakes and RockShox Ultimate suspension. The NukeProof Horizon wheels have an aluminum rim with a 30mm inner width and a hub with 102 engagement points. The Nuke Proof HZN bar and stem performed well during the test and left us with no complaints.
SUSPENSION
The Escarpe uses a Horst-style, four-bar-link suspension design. It’s a tried-and-true system that Vitus has gradually refined over a decade of building this model. The latest iteration comes with a RockShox Deluxe Ultimate RCT shock to control its 140mm of rear-wheel travel and is built with a RockShox Lyrik Ultimate 150mm-travel fork.
CLIMBING
With modern trail bike geometry and a relatively steep seat angle, the Escarpe puts the rider in a pedal-friendly position. The bike feels relatively efficient on long and smooth climbs, especially with the climbing switch on the shock engaged. With an active suspension design like the Escarpe, the addition of a climbing mode on the shock is a welcome one. We found ourselves running the RockShox Deluxe shock in this mode for fire road climbs. In the Open mode, the shock has three compression modes to fine-tune the firmness.
The bike tips the scales at over 30 pounds, so don’t expect it to feel like going uphill fast is its specialty. Nevertheless, the bike performs well on short and technical climbs, especially with the suspension open to improve the consistently great grip of the Maxxis tires.
DESCENDING
Descending on the Escarpe is a blast because it has geometry that’s aggressive enough and not so long, big or slack that it requires extra input or a different riding technique. The feel is responsive without being twitchy. The bike can be used to either pick through or plow over obstacles, whatever you prefer at the moment. The Escarpe finds a nice balance between agility and stability, and works well for a wide range of descents.
It’s far from a gravity bike, but we quickly found ourselves riding some of our favorite gnarly lines, strewn with steep chutes and drops, with confidence. There’s no extremely slack head angle or monster-truck wheelbase to contend with and no electronic widgets to configure. Instead, Vitus delivers a tried-and-true geometry that feels as though you’re bringing the expertise of every Escarpe test rider from the last decade with you. The bike feels balanced and plush when it should and isn’t afraid to pop off some obstacles along the way to make the ride more fun. The suspension feels controlled and predictable, with plenty of small bump-eating compliance mixed with a supported feel throughout. The travel feels active and responsive on rough terrain and allows the tires to grip through trail chatter.
With all the great performance features of this bike, it may be easy to gloss over the details that make the ride quality what it is. While you’re effortlessly blasting over rough terrain, allow yourself to notice how quiet the cable routing and drivetrain are, thanks to the well-designed cable ports and custom-molded rubber protection. As with the kinematics in the suspension, it’s in the details and not the extremes that this bike sets itself apart from the rest.
WHAT DID WE LOVE?
You could ride this bike pretty much anywhere. Vitus has done its homework to check every box so that you don’t have to sweat the details to enjoy this thing. It’s truly shred-ready but not that hard to set up or ride.
WHAT DID WE HATE?
The factory bleed in the SRAM Code RSC brakes had a tiny amount of air, which was only detectable as the brakes became spongy at higher elevations mid-ride. This also happened to the hydraulic remote on the Reverb seatpost. We had to bleed these components multiple times from the ground up before they worked properly. This should be standard advice to anybody with brand-new SRAM hydraulic componentry, as this is not the first time we’ve encountered a questionable factory bleed from them. We only bring this up because Vitus is a consumer-direct brand and, unlike with a shop-bought bike, the buyer will have to deal with it. Vitus is setting up a new North America distrubution and assembly facility in Salt Lake City, Utah and says these issues will be sorted out.
BOTTOM LINE
The new Escarpe AMP feels exceptionally refined considering it’s the first fully carbon model from the brand. Vitus has used this suspension platform for many years and eked tons of performance out of this simple, low-fuss system. The resulting ride feels impressively capable, but it is not something you have to overthink to enjoy. The build quality is second to none, and attention to detail in the frame sets this bike apart from a world full of nice-looking, Horst-link trail bikes.
The Vitus brand may have a long history in road racing, but it’s the more recent history of refinement in trail bike suspension that shines through with this model. The Escarpe feels like an old favorite almost right out of the gate, thanks to its dialed geometry that’s comfortable and balanced. It’s not the lightest or most aggressive bike we’ve ever tested, but it’s quick on its feet and stable when it should be. The Escarpe hits the mark by being an efficient climber with plenty of descending chops that won’t leave you feeling “under-biked” when the backside gets steep and technical.
CATEGORY: Trail
SUSPENSION: 150mm (front), 140mm (rear)
WHEEL SIZE: 29″
VITUS ESCARPE 29 AMP
Price: $5,999
Weight: 30 pounds (without pedals)
Sizes: S, M, L (tested),XL
Frame tested: T800 carbon front and rear, Horst-link 4-bar, 140mm travel
Shock: RockShox Deluxe Ultimate RCT
Fork: RockShox Lyric Ultimate (150mm travel, 42mm offset)
Wheelset: Nukeproof Horizon (30mm inner width)
Tires: Maxxis Assegai F/Dissector R, WT 3C MaxxTerra (29×2.5-2.4”)
Seatpost: RockShox Reverb Stealth (175mm travel, size dependent)
Saddle: Nukeproof Neutron
Handlebar: Nukeproof Horizon (25mm rise, 780mm)
Stem: Nukeproof Horizon (50mm)
Grips: Nukeproof Sam Hill
Headset: Acros AZX-212
Brakes: SRAM Code RSC
Rotors: SRAM Centerline (200/180mm)
Rear derailleur: SRAM Eagle X01
Shifters: SRAM Eagle X01
Crankset: SRAM Descendant Carbon
Bottom bracket: SRAM DUB
Cassette: SRAM X01 Eagle (10-52T)
Chain: SRAM X01 Eagle
Chainrings: SRAM X01 Eagle (30-tooth)
GEOMETRY
Head tube angle: 65-65.5°
Reach: 478mm (18.8“)
Stack: 634mm ( 25“)
Effective seat tube angle: 77.5-78°
Bottom bracket height: 337mm ( 13.4“)
Chainstay length: 440mm ( 17.3“)
Wheelbase: 1281mm (50.4“)
