After scooping up the brand and switching to a consumer direct business model, the new owners have transformed Votec from a brand that made some very interesting looking mountain bikes in the ’90s to a company that’s putting out some very refined looking designs.
The new VRX jumps into gravel riding with wide tire clearance, reinforced headtube/downtube junction and a sleek gloss-and-matte black paint job. It’s joined by a new disc brake version of their road bike, and a new VE enduro race machine with independently adjustable geometry and travel. Check ’em out…
Both the top tube and downtube widen to capture more of the head tube in their welds, which should make for a laterally stiff front end. The fork is carbon.
We’d guess there’s space for 40mm tires with room to spare.
Thru axles front and rear and a 1×11 drivetrain finish off the very modern bike.
Similar in look but with its own unique touches is the disc brake version of their VR road bike.
A wide downtube makes good use of the pressfit bottom bracket and should help keep power transmission efficient.
The bike’s built around the flat mount brake standard, and this is the sleekest integration we’ve seen yet. The left dropout uses a recessed brake mount, which would put a direct-mount caliper neatly tucked into place and almost invisible. Not sure how that affects cooling, but damn if it don’t look nice!
The Votec VE enduro mountain bike gets 160mm and 170mm of travel from the same frame. And, you can put it into either mode without messing up the geometry.
The rocker arm has a chip insert for the lower shock mount that provides four different positions.
There’s a hi and low setting that tweaks BB height and head angle, and there’s a 160mm and 170mm suspension setting. Depending on which corner you put it in, you can affect one without the other.
All that motion is controlled by a Fox EVOL shock with remote lockout. The amount of color coordination on the bike is fantastic – cable housing, grips, anodized blue bits on the Fox suspension (pure coincidence, we know).
The bike will take ISCG05 mounted chain and bash devices, but there’s no room for a front derailleur – it’s a 1x bike only.
The blue is gloss and the black is matte, making for a very pretty frame. All bikes should be available later this year.
