The all-new Mythique is direct-to-consumer bike company Vitus’ answer to the affordable mountain bike question – what they are calling a “one stop shop, does it all trail bike”. With two mid-range travel options and the choice of either 27.5 or 29″ wheels, the four-bar Mythique promises balanced climbing efficiency and descending prowess, all at prices that won’t break the bank.
2020 Vitus Mythique alloy trail bike: 130 or 140mm, 27.5 or 29″
c. VitusEven seeing new short travel bikes pop up, I keep hearing about the death of cross-country and the rise of enduro. But somewhere in the middle of the two – say 130mm-140mm of travel – a capable trail bike is probably what most mountain bikers need when they talk about riding aggressive singletrack. And that’s just what Vitus is trying to deliver with their new Mythique family.
Interestingly, Vitus already had a 140mm alloy trail bike in their line-up (the Escarpe), but with the new Mythique they wanted to create an even more accessible, more broadly capable, performance driven trail bike – offering the best value on the market. And coming in at less than half the price of their Escarpe, it looks like Vitus is onto something.
Mythique geometry & suspension kinematics
The geometry & suspension design of Vitus’s new Mythique trail bike range is nothing exotic. Instead, Vitus took well established modern trail bike geometry and built it into a time-tested & proven Horst-link 4-bar design with a reliable 6061 alloy frame welded from shaped tubing.
That pairs with a consistently progressive shock leverage curve for supple early travel, supportive through the mid & end stroke. Low anti-rise figures keep the 4-bar active while braking, and high anti-squat at sag prevents pedal bob, then dropping to keep suspension free to move.
To make it adapt to a wider range of riders & riding styles, Vitus designed the Mythique to work with two rear shock stroke lengths. A 200x51mm shock gives the bike 130mm of rear wheel travel (VR/VRW) and 200x57mm gives it 140mm of travel (VRS/VRX), and both options get matching fork travel.
Mythique 27 VR & VRW 130mm geometry
Mythique 29 VR 130mm geometry
Mythique 27 VRS & VRX 140mm geometry
Mythique 29 VRS & VRX 140mm geometryThen, two different frames with the same angles, but different front & rear center measurements offer rider the choice of smaller, more playful 27.5″ wheels or larger, faster rolling 29″ wheels – both with the same 130 or 140mm travel options.
Tech details
The 6061 frames are made in Cambodia and all share the same general details.
That includes: Boost spacing, tapered 1.5″ headtubes with internal headsets, threaded 73mm bottom brackets, 31.6mm seatposts with internal dropper routing, external cable routing for everything else, and a single set of water bottle bosses in the middle of the cable on the top of the downtube.
Frame clearance will fit up to 2.6″ tires for the 27.5 bikes and up to 2.5″ tires for the 29ers.
Pricing, availability & options
2020 Vitus Mythique 27 VRWThree different spec options are available in each travel & wheelsize combination (VR, VS & VX) starting at just £1250 / $1500 / 1450€. The entry spec also offers a 27.5″ VRW women-specific model that is otherwise the same components, pricing & geo but with one size shorter stem & a narrower bar.
2020 Vitus Mythique 27 VR
2020 Vitus Mythique 29 VRFor that entry £1250 price point you get to pick the 130mm travel Mythique 27 VR/VRW (14.0kg, all weights set up tubeless) or 130mm Mythique 29 VR (14.35kg) with an X-Fusion RC32 fork & matching 02 Pro rear shock, plus a Shimano Deore 1×10 drivetrain & MT-401 brakes, WTB tubeless-ready i30 rims & tubeless-ready Schwalbe Magic Mary/Hans Dampf tires.
2020 Vitus Mythique 27 VRS
2020 Vitus Mythique 29 VRSAbove that, you step up to 140mm of travel with the £1450 / $1800 / 1700€ Mythique 27 VRS (14.67kg) or Mythique 29 VRS (14.97kg). Both get longer X-Fusion Sweep forks & a longer stroke 02 Pro rear shock. Build spec for either VRS bike is a mix of SRAM SX Eagle 1×12 drivetrain, the same Shimano hydro brakes, WTB rims & Schwalbe tires, plus a Brand-X dropper seatpost.
2020 Vitus Mythique 27 VRX
2020 Vitus Mythique 29 VRXLastly, the top spec Mythique 27 VRX (14.4kg) & Mythique 29 VRX (14.76kg) also get 140mm of travel, moving up to Marzocchi Bomber Z2 forks & RockShox Monarch R rear shocks. The £1600 / $2000 / 1900€ VRX bikes still keep the same SRAM SX Eagle, WTB i30 rim & Schwalbe tire combo, and Brand-X dropper, but get higher spec Shimano MT-501 hydraulic brakes.
c. VitusThe new Mythique bikes will be in stock starting in the second half of November 2019, and are available consumer-direct exclusively through Vitus online retail partners Wiggle and Chain Reaction Cycles. Details ore online with both as of today, with Wiggle taking pre-orders ahead of their availability.
