Any E Escarpe owners ....

[Northumbrian]

Out there yet?.... got a fancy for a VRS or VRX in December, have not seen any reviews ... anybody tried one or took the plunge?
difficult decision as the Sommet is well proven, but I’m to old for all that travel....

 

[kafkastan]

One E-Escarpe VRS released to the wilds of Sussex today ...

 

[Northumbrian]

how does it ride, and what are you comparing it with ?

 

[kafkastan]

So far, I’m very pleased with it, though I’ve only done XC-ish rides on the South Downs, which can be slow and sticky in winter. Another caveat is that I’ve limited exposure to other emtbs in similar conditions. I’ve ridden a couple of full-sus emtbs – a Haibike FullSeven and a Radon Slide – in very different conditions, but recently I’ve been riding a Trek Powerfly 5 – a very XC-oriented hardtail.

That said, I had a few concerns and they’ve all disappeared.

I was a touch worried about having such a slack head angle. At 65°, I was initially surprised that it’s slacker than the manual Escarpes (66°) and even the E-Sommets (65.5°). And the Trek I’ve been riding is nearly 70°. However, it hasn’t troubled me at all. I’ve seen comments on this site bemoaning such slack head angles on emtbs, but I really can’t see the issue aside from a little less climbing efficiency, which is obviously less of an issue with a motor.

Also, I’d read reviews about the manual Escarpe being a little wallow-y when pedalling and I partly opted for the VRS to be able to lock out the rear shock. For me, I’m glad I did. Again, pedal bob is obviously less of an issue with a motor but I find it annoying on XC sections.

It was my first time riding a Shimano motor, but I was impressed with it. I’d seen some complaints about the feeling of it cutting out at 25kph, but I found it very smooth. I also love the assist gauge on the control display. It really reminds me to shift down and up my cadence. And the controller isn’t the awful clunky Bosch Purion, which is obviously a good thing.

FInally, the suspension is definitely amazing. Admittedly I was riding on trails I’ve only really done on hardtails, but I was struck a number of times by just how comfortable certain sections were. There’s a certain grassy slope I’ve done many times. It gets a little unpleasantly roll-y towards the bottom and I’m always fighting the urge to squeeze the brakes. The other day, I floated down, hitting well over 50kph on the roll-y section with no thought of touching the brakes. That made me happy.

 

[Philsilva]

I’d read reviews about the manual Escarpe being a little wallow-y when pedalling and I partly opted for the VRS to be able to lock out the rear shock. For me, I’m glad I did./QUOTE]

I'm thinking of going for the E-Escarpe VR but this might swing me to the VRS but I can't find any mention of it in the description.... Is it on the 2020 model? Thanks in advance ?

 

[R120]

I really want to try the E-Escarpe - as a long time E-Sommet owner ( which I love) I am interested to try the shorter travel platform, which I suspect might be a real sweet spot for UK riding.

 

[STATO]

Ive had my E-Escarpe for a short while and only got to ride locally before lockdown stopped me testing its limits. Its an amazing bike, so capable (in my limited experience) that it had me wondering if i should have bought the sommet to really smash stuff. I bought it for Trail/XC but after a few rides i was just going straight to the tech sections and skipping anything else. If youve got a good fun techy trails itll be a great bike. If youve got lots of long easy XC, maybe a more XC biased bike would suit better. From what i can tell its the same frame as the E-Sommet, just shorter travel shock. If you plug the E-Escarpe numbers into a geometry spreadsheet and then swap fork/wheel to E-Sommet spec, the numbers end up identical, and the pictures certainly look to show no differences.

The Z2 on the base model i have is a super fork and the rear suspension matches it very well.
This is my first e-bike and the stability i feel from it certainly comes from the weight, but the geometry and suspension give it a very stable, planted and dependable ride. Im no jumper but this thing was floating off lips better than ive ever done. Ive had no surprises from it, perhaps some might say its not as lively (i dont know ive not ridden other E's) but im very very happy with it.
My normal ride is a Scott Genius and that thing was a revelation, at 6-4 long reach figures have brought my riding on a leap, and this E-Escarpe is right there too, just hitting the limit of the travel, likely due to the weight.

Issues?
well the cable routing is an absolute chore, try swapping dropper outer and brakes and you need to strip the whole bike down, inc motor out. Just yanking will cut them on the roughly finished frame edges. Ive dealt with internal routing many times, this one is terrible due to the way the have to go around the motor and battery cables.
The geometry, fun for downhill, not so much tech uphill, but no worse than any bike with 65degree head angle. At least the seat tube is nice and steep which is a big positive. For road climbs a rear lockout might be nice, not for bob (your higher cadence on ebike means you dont really get that slow lolling bob) but just to prop it up a little more so you can really just chill out and spin.
Lack of bash guard, didnt think it would be an issue, already smacked motor off a load of things i didnt expect. Need to resolve that.
Water ingress, ive not had a problem but check other threads for this on Vitus e-bikes. You can see once you get it where some extra protection will go a long way to protecting your motor.

Final thought, tempted to try a 29er rear wheel, looks like it might fit?

 

[STATO]

This is mine, XL. Pretty much stock except seatpost (170mm drop was too long), saddle and grips. Also fitted Schwalbe Procore to protect the rims.
EDIT: oh yeah and Deore 4 pot calipers, with original levers/hose as they are the same and saved me dealing with the internal routing faff once i realised

 

[driftmonkey]

View attachment 30060
This is mine, XL. Pretty much stock except seatpost (170mm drop was too long), saddle and grips. Also fitted Schwalbe Procore to protect the rims.
EDIT: oh yeah and Deore 4 pot calipers, with original levers/hose as they are the same and saved me dealing with the internal routing faff once i realised

Nice! I went for the e-sommet as wanted the longer travel, but I wish the sommet had the Shimano brakes off the e-escarpe...
Get the E8000 motor guard on there as a minimum I reckon. I fitted it to my Deore E-Sommet - takes some filing down but will fit and is better than nothing.

 

[STATO]

This is mine, XL. Pretty much stock except seatpost (170mm drop was too long), saddle and grips. Also fitted Schwalbe Procore to protect the rims.
EDIT: oh yeah and Deore 4 pot calipers, with original levers/hose as they are the same and saved me dealing with the internal routing faff once i realised

Update: just checked rear end clearance with a 29er. Plenty of room with a 29er 2.3 Maxxis aggressor. On bottom out the 140mm travel of the E-Escapre has no areas even remotely in contact, I’d guess with the extra 30mm of the sommet (same frame and shock length, just more shock stroke) you may have tyre contact.

 

[jamesgarbett]

Any e-escarpe owners willing to tell me their height, inside leg and frame size please?! Assuming you think you got the right sized frame of course!

I feel like I'm between M and L - just want to make sure I order the right size

Thanks

 

[Stan’s Dad]

Any e-escarpe owners willing to tell me their height, inside leg and frame size please?! Assuming you think you got the right sized frame of course!

I feel like I'm between M and L - just want to make sure I order the right size

Thanks

I’m 5’11” & 31” I went for a large. It feels ok but I’ve never tried a medium. With the saddle at best peddle height I can just about touch the floor so it’s tall but ok. If your able I’d try both to be sure.

 

[Stan’s Dad]

Eventually got mine a couple of weeks ago. I’ve come off a decent hardtail, so this is a real leap into the present. I can’t compare bike to bike but I can say it has transformed my attitude to where and what terrain I ride. (Surrey Hills & West Sussex trails) I’ve enjoyed riding with some new friends and my fitness and health is improving daily. (My shins totally disagree with that last bit) I feel sure the bike can do a lot more than I’m capable of at present. I found the factory setting of the Trail mode a bit dissapointing when coming from Eco so I got ETube working and found the bike came with power set as follows. Eco in High Trail in Low and Boost in High. So it’s worth playing with these settings but it’s a balancing act thinking about Power v Range. I’ve had a look at basic Stunlocker which seems to give you a bit more control but I’m not derestricting it. A bit of rain to soften up the trails would be good. The bike was great value considering it’s components and I’m loving how it just eats the miles without destroying me. Happy with my choice.

 

[jamesgarbett]

Looks great. Did you get a discount on it? Think I may have missed out on 25% off recently

 

[Stan’s Dad]

Looks great. Did you get a discount on it? Think I may have missed out on 25% off recently

I did and it was dumb luck !

 

[LAWHITEY]

Eventually got mine a couple of weeks ago. I’ve come off a decent hardtail, so this is a real leap into the present. I can’t compare bike to bike but I can say it has transformed my attitude to where and what terrain I ride. (Surrey Hills & West Sussex trails) I’ve enjoyed riding with some new friends and my fitness and health is improving daily. (My shins totally disagree with that last bit) I feel sure the bike can do a lot more than I’m capable of at present. I found the factory setting of the Trail mode a bit dissapointing when coming from Eco so I got ETube working and found the bike came with power set as follows. Eco in High Trail in Low and Boost in High. So it’s worth playing with these settings but it’s a balancing act thinking about Power v Range. I’ve had a look at basic Stunlocker which seems to give you a bit more control but I’m not derestricting it. A bit of rain to soften up the trails would be good. The bike was great value considering it’s components and I’m loving how it just eats the miles without destroying me. Happy with my choice. View attachment 32589

I did exactly the same thing with the Etube settings, didn't see the point of how it came set up, went from eco to trail and didn't see any difference so customised mine to Eco (low), Trail (Mid or medium) Boost (high) made more sense to me and find i use trail mode the most for any but the steepest hills and try to use Eco on the flats to save battery, you tried riding with the motor off? (That is a heavy bike). Personnly i wouldnt go anywhere near one of the aftermarket apps for altering any settings but that's just me. Had mine about 5 weeks now and overall very impressed, once ive got my set up right. Was a bit of an impulse buy as i'd never tried an emtb before but went with it as it had the 25% off. I see they are doing it again with 10% off only on this model which makes me think they aren't selling many and everyone is going for the Sommet. I wanted a 29er for my next bike so saw this as the ideal compromise. Only thing i've changed are the grips to some Ergons as i thought the stock grips were too thin and uncomfortable.

 

[Stan’s Dad]

Well there’s a few us enjoying it ? My grips are too thin, Ergons are the answer ?

 

[LAWHITEY]

Well there’s a few us enjoying it ? My grips are too thin, Ergons are the answer ?

I would recommend them, i got the GE1 Evo and really like them, of course you can buy cheaper but i've been wanting to try them for a while.

 

[STATO]

My (base spec) E-Escarpe seems to have noticable differences in the settings, ill have to check the app incase not. I have ridden it a few times with motor off, mainly because the battery runs out on the very steep climb home. Grinding uphill is fine, but trying to get it upto speed without assistance (motor or gravity) is a chore, feels like youve got the brakes on. Im not unused to heavy bikes as ive bikepacked on a Fatbike before, now thats heavy!

Running 29er front and back currently and loving it.

 

[kafkastan]

Anyone managed to source a spare mech hanger for the E-Escarpe? Wiggle told me back in January that it's "Vitus Hanger 41" and it'd be in stock "soon". It's still not in stock!

 

[STATO]

Anyone managed to source a spare mech hanger for the E-Escarpe? Wiggle told me back in January that it's "Vitus Hanger 41" and it'd be in stock "soon". It's still not in stock!

Vitus are a CRC brand. Ok yes CRC are owned by and often share distribution centres with Wiggle these days, but they do list parts more than Wiggle does.

Vitus Derailleur Hanger 41-E-Escarpe-E-Sommet 2020 | Chain Reaction

Vitus Derailleur Hanger 41-E-Escarpe-E-Sommet 2020 - Lowest Prices and FREE shipping available from The World's largest online bike store - Chain Reaction Cycles

www.chainreactioncycles.com

 

[kafkastan]

Gah! I've been so focussed on nursing my Wiggle loyalty discount that I didn't even think to check CRC!

Ta loads.