Mullet Esommet?

[StuE]

Might have been asked before but has anyone tried a mulleted Esommet? I'm thinking 160mm travel forks would go some way to maintaining bb height, it seems to be how Adam Bryton is running his bike, would be interested in any input and opinions

 

[thebarber]

Thought about it after trying mate's levo, that thing rolls fantastic.
29 won't fit original forks tho and didn't want to buy new forks and wheel on a whim.
It'll be an expensive experiment.

 

[thebarber]

Also, just realised the e escarp is mullet, wonder why they didn't do it to sommet

 

[R120]

Different strokes for different folks - the E-Escarpe is a traill bike, based off their 29'r Escarpe - personally I dont get why they didn't go 29 both ends with the E-Escarpe, but I guess it was for cost reasons and using what they had in the parts bin. If they had gone 29 both ends I would have been tempted to get one to complement the E-Sommett.

I think you could mullet the E-Sommett easy enough if you wanted with a 160mm front end, perhaps with a Fox 38 ?

 

[kafkastan]

Different strokes for different folks - the E-Escarpe is a traill bike, based off their 29'r Escarpe - personally I dont get why they didn't go 29 both ends with the E-Escarpe, but I guess it was for cost reasons and using what they had in the parts bin.

Touch harsh on Vitus, I reckon. The manual Escarpe is available in both 27.5 and 29, and mullet is very much on trend - so personally I suspect Vitus were more trying to appeal to anyone who wanted a trail bike without expanding their product range too much. Certainly worked on me.

And the end result is _amazing_. I've grown to love the mullet-ness of the E-Escarpe. With the extra speed I'm doing with a motor, I appreciate that extra bit of rollover confidence the front 29 gives. And, for my overall height, I've short legs (Irish farmer genes), so 27.5 at the back really works for me. I _love_ how it handles.

 

[R120]

Not being harsh on them, there is nothing wrong with the mullet E-Escarpe its a great bike, just my personal preference would have been to see a full 29'r option. Keeps cost down for them to reuse the sommet rear end, so economically made sense for them to go down that route. That being said I guess you might be able to squeeze a 29 out back with a 2.3 tyre.

The great thing about the options out there now is you can get bikes that work for everyones preferences, and I think the Mullet set up is perfect for a lot of riders who dont want a full 29'r, giving far more options and benefits to a lot of people.

 

[kafkastan]

Righty-ho, sorry to suggest you were being harsh. Can I ask, why do you think they used the Sommet rear end? The claimed head angle for the Sommets and E-Somments is 65.5 degrees. For the manual Escarpes - the 27s and the 29s - it's 66 degrees, whereas for the E-Escarpe it's 65. Unless I'm getting my geometry wrong, it seems to me most likely that they simply bunged a plus-sized 27.5" tyre onto - basically - the 29er Escarpe frame and rear end.

Now I might be being harsh on Vitus! Again though, it works very well.

 

[R120]

Simply because its the same design and same measurements - 444mm chain stays. Bare in mind there is a lot of parts haring across the whole Vitus E/Non E Sommet and Escarpe ranges, its how they help keep the costs down.

 

[StuE]

Different strokes for different folks - the E-Escarpe is a traill bike, based off their 29'r Escarpe - personally I dont get why they didn't go 29 both ends with the E-Escarpe, but I guess it was for cost reasons and using what they had in the parts bin. If they had gone 29 both ends I would have been tempted to get one to complement the E-Sommett.

I think you could mullet the E-Sommett easy enough if you wanted with a 160mm front end, perhaps with a Fox 38 ?

38 might be a bit spendy, I have been looking for a s/h fork to try it out

 

[R120]

Tru, but would look badass!

you could prob pick up a Yari or Basic Lyric on eBay, then if you like it upgrade the internals.

 

[thebarber]

U asked tf if 29 lowers would fit but no reply.
I don't mind spending the money if its a goer

 

[STATO]

Im pretty sure the E-Escarpe and E-Sommet are the same frame. There is nothing visually different and the geo is almost identical, only differing because the front wheel and fork are different. The Sommet was out first and Escarpe is great (love mine) but cant imagine they would make a specific frame for it when its so similar.

The fork length, 555mm 29 vs 562mm 27.5 Lyrik, and ~40mm larger OD tyre, actually end up giving same height due to 66 head angle.

I use a bike geometry spreadsheet to compare bikes and if you swap fork/wheel you get get hardly any difference, rounding values make more change.

Shock is same length but different stroke. Interestingly, with the shorter stroke on the E-Escarpe you can comfortably fit a 29er with 2.3 maxxis aggressor (wheel/tyre to hand when i tried it) with good clearance all round when bottomed. A 2.5 should fit but depends how much mud room you want. Obviously slightly bigger rear wheel lifts the BB a bit and steepens the angles. Im waiting on a cassette for my wheel so i can ride it to try.

Regarding Mullet sommet, you could try. On my spreadsheet adding taller fork (29 fork is ~20mm taller than 27.5) and higher front axle (~20mm) would give you a much taller front end, dropping 1.5deg off head angle and raising BB ~10mm.

Might be worth dropping 10mm travel or slightly smaller front tyre.

 

[StuE]

Im pretty sure the E-Escarpe and E-Sommet are the same frame. There is nothing visually different and the geo is almost identical, only differing because the front wheel and fork are different. The Sommet was out first and Escarpe is great (love mine) but cant imagine they would make a specific frame for it when its so similar.

The fork length, 555mm 29 vs 562mm 27.5 Lyrik, and ~40mm larger OD tyre, actually end up giving same height due to 66 head angle.

I use a bike geometry spreadsheet to compare bikes and if you swap fork/wheel you get get hardly any difference, rounding values make more change.

Shock is same length but different stroke. Interestingly, with the shorter stroke on the E-Escarpe you can comfortably fit a 29er with 2.3 maxxis aggressor (wheel/tyre to hand when i tried it) with good clearance all round when bottomed. A 2.5 should fit but depends how much mud room you want. Obviously slightly bigger rear wheel lifts the BB a bit and steepens the angles. Im waiting on a cassette for my wheel so i can ride it to try.

Regarding Mullet sommet, you could try. On my spreadsheet adding taller fork (29 fork is ~20mm taller than 27.5) and higher front axle (~20mm) would give you a much taller front end, dropping 1.5deg off head angle and raising BB ~10mm.

Might be worth dropping 10mm travel or slightly smaller front tyre.

I was looking for an 160mm travel fork to try to keep the geometry similar to the stock bike, it's on the back burner at the moment as the bike isn't getting used that much (riding local trails on my unassisted bike most days as the sommet is a bit overkill)

 

[Gary]

The claimed head angle for the Sommets and E-Somments is 65.5 degrees. For the manual Escarpes - the 27s and the 29s - it's 66 degrees, whereas for the E-Escarpe it's 65.

Just to blow your mind BOTH my ESommets measured (unsagged) H/As are 64.5deg (with 27.5x2.5 DHF front, 27.5x2.3 SS rear)


@StuE if you prefer how a 29" front wheel handles and you're running a fairly large sized frame I don't see many downsides to running a 160mm 29" fork and wheel on the ESommet.
Personally I still prefer how 27.5 and 26" wheels handle despite them losing out in rough straightline situations to the larger wheels and think the Esommet would be a less fun alround bike to ride set-up how Brayton has his
But...
If the reason you're looking at a 29" front end is for pure DH performance and riding like Adam does a 29" wheel Fox 40 reduced to 180mm travel could be fitted without altering overall geometry as much as a 160mm single crown fork. (raising stanchions in crowns) The only issues would be keeping bar height low (but a lower rise bar would fix that).
and the increased off-set some 40s have.
The 40 is tons stiffer than any single crown. (including the 38)

 

[R120]

Dont give me ides Gary

 

[Gary]

Dont give me ides Gary

hahah
I actually have an unused Fox 49 set-up in my posession.
(An injured Junior racer's full 29" DH bike I'm looking after)

 

[R120]

So tempting but dual crown wiped be a step to far for my local riding

 

[StuE]

Riding like Adam Bryton ????

 

[Lawson]

U asked tf if 29 lowers would fit but no reply.
I don't mind spending the money if its a goer

I'm not sure what you're asking here.... But here's my random findings that may or may not be helpful ?
I had a 160mm pike RC 29er with a charger cartridge.
I bought 27.5 lowers for it to fit my Evil.
When reassembling I installed a coil conversion kit and it bottomed out horrifically. I installed harder and harder springs to fix it, but it didn't work. TF couldn't work out why.

Long story short, the 29 and 27.5 dampers are not even remotely the same and the fix was to change the damper to a 27.5 one. Basically the 29er damper was bottoming out and not the fork itself.

Does that make sense?

 

[thebarber]

I thought that but wanted to be sure.
I keep wondering if/ how I can make the bike better, but tbh I think i need to work on me instead.....
Does that make sense ???

 

[StuE]

Finally got everything together to mullet the sommet, Yaris with the new 160mm 2021 airshaft, wheel I have nicked off one of my other bikes, seems ok riding up and down the street but first proper ride tomorrow if the weather behaves,

 

[Shjay]

I thought about doing it on my E-Sommet using the Manitou Mezzer off my other bike but figured would have to drop to 150mm to keep similar geometry. Instead my 29er clockwork bike I have run a 27.5 in the rear which is great fun in the woods, my Gravel bike is also a mullet with 700c up front & 650b on rear

 

[StuE]

First ride and I can't honestly say I noticed a massive difference, my local trails are not the most demanding but I do have a steep,slippery rocky climb and it did seem better there

 

[StuE]

Had first proper test of the bike in it's mullet set-up on Wednesday, lots of rocky technical Lakes trails and I think the bike is better on these sort of trails with the 29 front wheel

 

[Shjay]

Decided to Mullet my e-Sommet took the fork off analog bike & upped travel to 160mm on the Mezzer, easy 1st ride towing the tag along round Bedgebury, it’s funny when overtake people then they see my son chilling on the back of the tag along we avg 8.5mph

 

[StuE]

Decided to Mullet my e-Sommet took the fork off analog bike & upped travel to 160mm on the Mezzer, easy 1st ride towing the tag along round Bedgebury, it’s funny when overtake people then they see my son chilling on the back of the tag along we avg 8.5mph

Any pics ?

 

[Shjay]

Will add some wood pics at later date

 

[Shjay]

In the woods

 

[Shjay]

Quite enjoying riding the mullet setup few pbs today, taking it to Wales in couple weeks & early ride round Surrey on sat

 

[gtaadicto]

I was thinking about going mullet on my 2019 E-Sommet. I would like to have a slightly slacker head angle and replace the 27,5" 170mm Rockshox Lyrik fork as I don't like its performance.
Is it a good idea to replace it for a 29" 170mm fork with 44mm offset?
@StuE @Shjay What's your head angle?