Vitus E-Sommet VR

[volts]

I love this bike. I really do. I am not that young any more, and when I got my first bike about 1 year ago on sale (an XC bike that I soon found out wasn't doing it for me), I didn't think it would become an obsession like it is now. This weekend, I was lucky that a photographer wanted to test out his new equipment, and shot me a few times doing some tiny airs. Yay, this bike is so much fun! But are you also finding the crank arms to be a bit too long?

 

[R120]

Nice - a lot of us have swapped out the cranks to shorter Miranda ones, i have the 160mm on mine

 

[volts]

Nice - a lot of us have swapped out the cranks to shorter Miranda ones, i have the 160mm on mine

Oh nice, where do you buy those? I have been looking for shorter cranks a lot, but I seem to only be able to find the xt ones with hollowtech (a bit expensive compared to the solid ones) and they are 165.

edit: oooh...these? Miranda Bike Parts

 

[Gary]

But are you also finding the crank arms to be a bit too long?

No. simply move your pedals out of the way of oncoming objects.

Thank me later

I love that the bike has a nice low(ish) BB height similar to all my normal bikes.
This does mean you can't just pedal like a spaz* through singletrack with sniper roots/rocks or ruts but that's a terrible habit to have.

*US definition

Ps. Your trails look really similar to a spot a few miles from me on the outskirts of Edinburgh in Scotland. They in NY?

 

[Doomanic]

No. simply move your pedals out of the way of oncoming objects.

I knew that was coming, nearly posted it myself.

 

[R120]

Gary is an anomaly in his appreciation of shorter cranks on the Vitus - for most of us its a worthwhile upgrade, but he is right in that learning how to adjust your pedalling is pet and parcel of going faster up technical hills.

There’s a load of info on the Miranda cranks earlier in the thread

 

[Gary]

No. I'm not . All of you are.

The Vitus doesn't even jhave a super low BB
You really are a clumsy bastard if you KEEP clipping pedals. And god help all you clown crank guys if you ever ride a normal low BB bike again.

I imagine all of you to have these all over your houses...

 

[volts]

Gary is an anomaly in his appreciation of shorter cranks on the Vitus - for most of us its a worthwhile upgrade, but he is right in that learning how to adjust your pedalling is pet and parcel of going faster up technical hills.

There’s a load of info on the Miranda cranks earlier in the thread

Yeah well as fun as ratcheting through large portions of some climbs is, I don't enjoy it as much as others I guess. Thanks, I'll look back in the thread. Cheers!

 

[Doomanic]

clown crank

Love it! Almost as good as "clockwork"!

 

[Northumbrian]

Nice pics by the way......

 

[R120]

Thing is I don’t ride my other bikes up the terrain I ride on my Vitus, and certainly not at the same speed or cadence.

I agree that I don’t think 150mm cranks are necassary, but for me 160mm made a noticeable difference without compromising elsewhere.

 

[CryptoBiker]

awesome pics, still think its about the best ebike you can buy

 

[Gary]

Thing is I don’t ride my other bikes up the terrain I ride on my Vitus, and certainly not at the same speed or cadence.

Yeah. Me neither But pedal strikes are still 100% the rider's fault whatever speed/cadence we climb at.

I actualy think if you've bought any bike with the E-sommet's (or normal Sommet/Nukeproof Mega etc.) geometry and you've bought it intending to climb steep technically challenging, rutted, rock strewn climbs you've chosen the wrong bike. It'll do it. but it's not it's forte.
Something like a 2019 Levo with it's 29" wheels, less travel, steeper H/A and inch higher BB would be a far better choice.
Every bike's geometry is compromised somewhere. This bike although still incredibly capable all round was designed with descending fast, technical, rough and steep terrain in mind more than any other type of riding.. The fact it has a decent climbing characteristics at all is just a massive bonus.

Mine ended up being an utter headfuck for me today. I found myself with an hour free, bike in the back of the car, civvys rather than any riding gear and 2 miles from the best set of dirt jump trails in the area. Rude not to, eh? Well...you'd think so but getting the speed, timing and pop right on a 170mm 50lb bike with pedal assist isn't easy. it took me 4 run ins to get the speed/pump right for the first set-up/racer jump nevermind working out if I could make the first big double. I left feeling utterly shit and wishing I'd had my Dartmoor. pedaliing the 2 miles each way through flat urban singletrack at high speed with very little effort wasn't even a slight consolation. Better than sitting in the car but it def wasn't the one today.

 

[inwoods]

One of my cranks came off today, tightened it back up but it came off again, lost the end cap thing, Gary can I have a link to the metal ones you bought please, do these look too rounded off ? And is there anything else im missing ? Does something go in that small hole ?

 

[Doomanic]

You are missing one of these;
Crank Arm Fixing Bolt For Shimano HollowTech II Crank Chainset CNC M20 For MTB | eBay

You will need to check that your crank uses M20.

 

[inwoods]

Thanks Doomanic, do you think a bit of threadlock should be stuck on the actual crank arms bolts ?

 

[Doomanic]

The two that clamp the crank on to the BB spindle? Yes.

 

[Gary]

the small hole is for the plastic spacer that sits between the pinchbolts. if the crank came off it's probably missing the tab that sits in the hole now. it doesn't matter.
Yes those bolts Dom linked will fit.
You don't *need* to threadlock anything but it's good security.

CRC/Vitus need to do those pinch bolts up tighter (and evenly) when assembling the bike. Even with my new motor I wasn't entirely happy with how tight the crank pinch bolts were.

Most of those bolts use a 10mm allen key so you'll want to carry one in your tools. I use a 10mm socket to use with the 10mm spanner on my multitool as it's less bulky (and will rarely ever be required out riding)

 

[volts]

I cant help thinking there is a reason shimano made then plastic. most likely to prevent overtightening. seems a bit strange though since they could just spec torque low and recommend thread lock on it. idk.
PS: I'm mounting my Mirinda clown cranks today! Woho, it's going to be a great weekend.

 

[Gary]

Yes. That;s exactly their job. To stop you overtightening and deforming the clamp. The little tab does nothing to keep them on the spindle.

 

[Gary]

Most folk I know who're decently mechanical minded (ie. can turn an allen key without overtightening) throw away the spacer

 

[volts]

The clown crank arms doesn't even fit the spacer, so no problems there
In regards to the end cap deforming the arm and/or spinde with an alu cap, it would think it will require some serious mismanagement of force to do damage. I dislike the plastic, but as long as I don't have problems with it coming loose I guess ill just keep it plastic.

 

[Gary]

Yeah. I use saints on all my other mtbs and they come with Alu pre-load bolts. (as do XT IIRC) Plastic bolts of any kind are stupid and anyone who specs them on a premium product is doing so to cut their costs. The Alu allen key ones are just handier for checking while riding if you sort out a 10mm hex for your tool pack.

 

[inwoods]

Cheers ordered them and will tighten the crank bolts to the recommended 12-14Nm with a bit of thread lock and hopefully it wont happen again, luckily it was the end of my ride.

 

[davosaurusrex]

So who just passed me on the downs heading towards Lewes? Deore model, full enduro with mirrored goggles!

 

[Gary]

Mechanical heads up.
Towards the end of yesterdays ride I was flying down Spooky Woods at Glentress hitting the jumps and on landing one I heard what sounded like an exploded (or mangled) rear mech. I pulled over to inspect it and at first glance the mech looked fine. on looking more closely the rear mech hanger nut had come off completely and allowed the rear end to flex popping it out of it's recess. With nothing to hold the rear end together I had no choice but to walk all the way back to the bottom.
New rear mech hanger ordered. hopefully be here by Weds and I'll be threadlocking this one. Just hope the nut coming loose hasn't ovalised the fitting on the seat stay. (It doesn't look tooo bad but you never know. and I can't be sure how long it was missing/loose)
I'd pre emptively threadlock the nut to the hanger if I were you. Yes it'll be more difficult to change a hanger out on the trail. but if you continue riding not realising that nut is missing it's going to end up being new seatstay time. and I can't imagine it'd be a very quick process getting hold of one.

 

[thebarber]

Should av got it thru warranty, my shifter hooses so they sent a new one.
I've had better service with wiggle than my mate's buying from local Evan's

 

[Gary]

Just want it fast mate. it's £15. I also had a new shifter through warranty

 

[Gary]

CRC have been great with warranties. it's just a bit longwinded contacting them. sending bike back n forth etc.

 

[Dan09]

Hello all, I'm a newbie. This thread has been great, very informative.
So, after stalking CRC for a while a medium VR magically appeared in stock a few days ago, and I bought it. Now apart from the fact that it seems a bit suspicious that a lone bike at full price has turned up months after they all sold out (was it a return... a refurb... ex demo... hiding in the basement... ??) I have also been having size anxiety.
I'm 5' 6" and a half (169cm) and very borderline medium. My current bikes are both medium frames and fit well with aftermarket shorter stems, but I can only fit short droppers on both - 125mm on my hardtail (Saracen Mantra) and 100mm on the Boardman FS. Both posts are pretty much fully inserted. Obviously I'm not going to fit on a 150mm dropper so these are my options: 1. fit a shorter dropper 2. shim the 150 (I don't even know how to do that, but I can learn...) 3. cancel the order and wait for the 2019 bikes - hopefully November - and get a small.
Smoky Jo's post comparing the fit of the sizes was really helpful, Gary's evangelism (can I say that? ... thanks Gary) about benefits of smaller sizes also helps sway my thinking, and I'm leaning towards 3. cancel and get a small.

Any thoughts?
Cheers, Dan