Vitus E-Sommet VR

[Gary]

Haha.. .trust you @R120

Just had a quick nerd. uninspiringAF™ geometry

I is sad... but it's out on the beers time now

swings n roundabouts init?

 

[R120]

Ohh look what greeted me on my return from work

 

[Gary]

Cool. I like big black boxes



erm..

 

[Gary]

Could it just be a Boxx.. er?

 

[R120]

Alas not a boxxer, but it is something red and 180mm

 

[Gary]

finally I can stop pressing F5 and get some sleep

looks surprisingly alright with a red fork. I'm not one for colour matching (or colours at all for that matter) but the matching grips actually help.

Talking of my dislike of colour. Check what the postie just delivered for mine.

Still gotta get hold of some masking tape so it won't be ready any time soon.

 

[R120]

Yeah the e bikes are the only ones i own that aren't black on black - the hardtail is booked in for a powder coat, but i kinda decided to go with it on the Sommett - not all the bits quite match but i figured i would indulge by 12 year old selfs love of Kleins and anodised bits.

Just had a 10 mile blast on her and very impressed with forks, i didn't think there would be that much difference as the setup out the box is top notch on the sommett, but feck the dampening on the forks is good, small bump sensitivity is next level to anything else i have tried.

 

[Gary]

Nice. i must remember not to nick a shot of the next 2019 lyrik shod bike i spot... sounds rather pricy

 

[volts]

Yeah the e bikes are the only ones i own that aren't black on black - the hardtail is booked in for a powder coat, but i kinda decided to go with it on the Sommett - not all the bits quite match but i figured i would indulge by 12 year old selfs love of Kleins and anodised bits.

Just had a 10 mile blast on her and very impressed with forks, i didn't think there would be that much difference as the setup out the box is top notch on the sommett, but feck the dampening on the forks is good, small bump sensitivity is next level to anything else i have tried.

I got the new 2019 shafts for my pike, yari and lyrik on my 3 bikes. I originally just got it for my trailbike (pike) but after feeling the difference I got the upgrade for the other ones too. Bigger negative chamber and much lower friction! No upgrade on the damper like you though, and none of the new offset changes.
Did you get the new fork with different offset? And do you feel the HSC settings make a big difference?

PS for Gary:
I saw a piece on Sam Hills bike yesterday and when he said that he runs 165mm short clown cranks I almost started writing a comment on the vid explaining that "Gary From The Internet" thinks it is totally wrong and that he should switch to 175 right away.

 

[Gary]

PS for Gary:
I saw a piece on Sam Hills bike yesterday and when he said that he runs 165mm short clown cranks I almost started writing a comment on the vid explaining that "Gary From The Internet" thinks it is totally wrong and that he should switch to 175 right away.

Just as well you didn't. I run 165mm on most of my bikes. (including my roadbike) and haven't run 175s since the early 90s when I didn't know any better.I've run 165s since 2003 on my mtbs.
I also prefer oldskool Sam Hill approved low BB height bikes (Sam's gone a bit higher now pedalling through shit is a little more imprtant in his new role). It was Sam and the Aussie flat pedal crew that pioneered low BBs and proper slack H/As in DH racing in the mid 00s. It's partly how he managed to corner fater than anyone else on the WC scene back then.
Sam, like me still doesn't ride stupid fashionably long reach bikes though.

Gary from the internet knows far too much about Sam Hill's set ups over the last (almost) two decades.

FWIW - the 2 bikes I have with 170mm cranks came spec'd with them. I prefer 165s for pedalling more than the clearance but 5mm isn't really worth shelling out for until the cranks bend, and consideing I'm no longer a wreckless DH racer, rarely ever get pedal strikes and only ever hit big jumps/drops I'm 100% sure of landing to downslope the stock cranks are likely hold up for a very long time. I'm still a crasher though and if they bend in a stack I'll replace them with 165s

 

[Gary]

Just to get this thread back on topic a little

Did you realise the Small ESommet shares very similar angles and sizing to a Medium Nukeproof Mega? (Sam Hill is 5'9" and rides a stock size M Mega frame)
The Small ESommet is actually slightly bigger having 10mm longer reach and 9mm longer chainstays. The biggest difference is the ESommet having a 15mm lower BB drop.
I'm 5'11" and folk seem to be shocked that I choose to ride a small. In reality, for gravity riding t's far from small. And no one I haven't told it's size has ever noticed it looking small.

 

[davosaurusrex]

The real question here is how much Sam Hill knows about Gary from the internets set up over the last two decades. I bet it's shit loads!

 

[R120]

I got the new 2019 shafts for my pike, yari and lyrik on my 3 bikes. I originally just got it for my trailbike (pike) but after feeling the difference I got the upgrade for the other ones too. Bigger negative chamber and much lower friction! No upgrade on the damper like you though, and none of the new offset changes.
Did you get the new fork with different offset? And do you feel the HSC settings make a big difference?

PS for Gary:
I saw a piece on Sam Hills bike yesterday and when he said that he runs 165mm short clown cranks I almost started writing a comment on the vid explaining that "Gary From The Internet" thinks it is totally wrong and that he should switch to 175 right away.

The stock fork is 170MM with i believe a 42mm Offset, i got the 180mm with 46mm offset (rather than the 51mm).

I have now put about 30 miles on the fork over the last few days, and i am really surprised at quite how big a difference it has made, not only to the suspension, but also how the bike feels to ride overall. I know part of this will be new shiny part fever, but i was pushing the bike harder on my local spots yesterday than i ever have before, and i felt far more confident railing into tighter switchbacks/turns etc that under the old set up.

I am not one to geek out or be precious over settings, i tend to find ones that feel right and only really change them if i am going to ride somewhere that might require a very different set up to my usual rides. As such i am not the best to give a truly technical review on the forks, but i would say that despite going up in travel, my main takeaway is that feedback in terms of front end placement and confidence has gone up, and despite going up in travel and nudging the wheelbase a bit, the bike actually doesn't feel quite so long in terms of manoeuvrability, but still feels every bit as stable as it did before. more by luck than any clever thinking on my part, i am loving the resulting geometry from swapping out the fork, and the bike feels just right.

I put this down to the smoothness of the forks, especially on trail chatter, which really gives you a sense of control over the steering, and confidence to just point it in and go. There is a small section of downhill near me, which is essentially a series of 200m winding straights over loose rocks/clay into switchbacks, that gets you down off the Surrey Hills and takes about 3 minutes to do - its not technical, but you can hit it as fast as your balls/equipment lets you go, hitting mid to high 20mph's. If you overcook it into the switchbacks you will pretty much put yourself into A & E, so you have to tread a fine line when setting up for the corners. Riding this yesterday i was braking later and going into the corners (which are natural berms) than i have before, and never felt like the front end was going to let me down - on the old forks (which again never felt they where going to let me down in terms of dampening) if i went at full pelt things would get pretty bumpy as you came into the corners which was transmitted through the bars, with the suspension action overtaking the feedback you would want, and that the main thing with the new forks, is that they still smooth out everything, without compromising the feedback from the front end.

Hope that makes sense! Riding the HSC wide open with just under 25% sag, 1 Token, and i think 3 clicks back in on the LSC, rebound i cant remember as i just fiddle with it on first ride till it felt right.

 

[MattyB]

...Talking of my dislike of colour. Check what the postie just delivered for mine.
View attachment 6221
Still gotta get hold of some masking tape so it won't be ready any time soon.

I doubt they will change very much on the E Sommet for 2019, but I suspect the colours will get a refresh - I’m not sure who chose them, but neither scheme does it for me, and I have seen plenty of comments online indicating I’m not alone there.

 

[R120]

Yup, hopefully some plain colours and an all black option. Vitus's do tend to look better in the flesh, when i got my E-Sentier (the hardtail) i already had it booked in for a powder coat before it was delivered based off the photos on the website, but when it turned up i was surprised that it looked a lot better than expected, so held off the respray.

 

[R120]

Really all they need to do is take the scheme from their Sommet CRX

 

[Polaris]

Really all they need to do is take the scheme from their Sommet CRX

View attachment 6315

This colouring plus bronze vitus logo and gold forks/seatpost and they have nailed it

 

[Gary]

Really all they need to do is take the scheme from their Sommet CRX

View attachment 6315

There was a pic of the ESommet prototype somewhere a while back and it was an all black frame. I can't remember where I saw it now. On a news article from an mtb site about a show probably. and Yes. it did look way better.
Mine will be getting the blue masked soon. When I can be arsed doing the masking and semi-strip down. I really don't want to remove the internal cables but have a plan for that.

This colouring plus bronze vitus logo and gold forks/seatpost and they have nailed it

WTF is it with all the JPS Lotus fans here?

 

[Iain at the back]

I think you'll find we're JPS Norton fans.

 

[Gary]

let it go

 

[jonathan horticulturist]

I think you'll find we're JPS Norton fans.

I don’t get it.

 

[R120]

I don’t get it.

 

[jonathan horticulturist]

View attachment 6319

I did a search on it, but didn’t edit my post in time.

 

[Gary]

View attachment 6319

No STREETHAWK tho, wre they?

 

[R120]

Ahh my favourite childhood show

 

[Polaris]

There was a pic of the ESommet prototype somewhere a while back and it was an all black frame. I can't remember where I saw it now. On a news article from an mtb site about a show probably. and Yes. it did look way better.
Mine will be getting the blue masked soon. When I can be arsed doing the masking and semi-strip down. I really don't want to remove the internal cables but have a plan for that.


WTF is it with all the JPS Lotus fans here?

Ha, wouldn’t mind just a tad bit of colouring to save a bus rolling over me on my daily dark commute. All jet black and no one will find me in a ditch for months

 

[Gary]

All jet black and no one will find me in a ditch for months

#emoAF

it's a lifestyle choice. A lifestyle choice too far for most

 

[Polaris]

Sorry if this is common knowledge but Further confirmation from Vitus bikes after asking about a 2019 esommet vr:


Hi,

We expect to have our new models released and in the market before the end of November although I cannot guarantee an exact date at this stage.

I hope this helps.
Thanks,
Nathan

Vitusbikes

 

[R120]

Nathan always very helpful on the email. Nukeproof just dropped their 2019 range, so suspect Vitus only round the corner

 

[peteh80]

So tonights ride didn't last long.
For the past few rides I've noticed a "bang" at the rear wheel when ever I'm start to pedal. I just thought it was the chain/spokes bedding in. But tonight the whole freehub given up. Not fucking happy! 100 miles since new. Always cleaned and lubed drivetrain after every ride.....plus it now seems that the cassette has chewed into it so that's going to be a nightmare getting off.
Let's hope CRC customer services help me out!