VITUS ESCARPE CRX

With a carbon frame and revised geometry, can the new Escarpe eclipse its illustrious forbears?

- Paul Burwell

£3,499.99 / 27.5 or 29in / vitusbikes.com

NEED TO KNOW

Brand new carbon-framed 140mm-travel trail bike available in both 27.5in and 29in wheels sizes.

Rejigged geometry and a new XL frame size that’s genuinely large

Increased dropper post compatibility and size specific – small/ 125mm, medium/ 150mm, large and XL/170mm.

There are also two aluminium models (CR and CRS) to choose from.

This is the new Vitus Escarpe 29 CRX, which is the fourth iteration of this award-winning trail bike. It’s been a frequent competitor in our Trail Bike of the Year tests and has even won on one occasion. In this year’s test, however, the Escarpe VRX showed its age and slipped down the pecking order, but for 2021 Vitus has a raft of updates which address all of the niggles and then some.

The Escarpe VRX wasn’t a heavy bike to begin with but to cut some weight Vitus has updated the main frame to carbon, hence the new CRX tag. It’s also oversized the tubing profiles to add a bit of stiffness and flared the mid-section of the seat tube to increase dropper post insertion depth. This means longer dropper posts across all frame sizes – our size large test bike featured a 170mm post that can be fully slammed, so you get a greater range of adjustment without the saddle being too high when pedalling.