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2021 Vitus Vitesse Evo re-evolves lightweight road with <840g carbon frame in a £2000 bike

2021 Vitus Vitesse Evo road bike, affordable lightweight aero carbon race bike, mountains
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Vitus’ all-new carbon Vitesse Evo completely reimagines road performance for the affordable consumer-direct brand. Significantly lighter, more aero, and more comfortable  than ever before, the evolved Vitesse Evo road bike delivers a race-ready ride that won’t break the bank.

2021 Vitus Vitesse EVO race-ready, light & aero carbon road bike

Much like the recent Evo overhaul of their popular Energie cyclocross bike, the new Vitus Vitesse Evo is a ground up redesign to create a high performance all-rounder road race bike, but on a budget. Again, Vitus focused that last two years on R&D together with their Vitus Pro Cycling team to create a bike ready for top UCI Continental level racing, blending comfort, aerodynamics & lightweight in a frameset that privateers could afford too.

Vitesse Evo – Tech details

2021 Vitus Vitesse Evo road bike, affordable lightweight aero carbon race bike, complete
c. Vitus, photos by 4Season Collective

Light weight was obvious a big target. Then, hitting 840g for a medium frame makes it 15% lighter than the previous Vitesse, and pretty comparable with many, much more expensive all-rounder race bikes. But it wasn’t all weight savings, the new bike also incorporates a number of aero design details, and Vitus says it is still stiff enough for pro racing.

2021 Vitus Vitesse Evo road bike, affordable lightweight aero carbon race bike, angled

Originally developed with Sean Kelly and his An-Post team, stiff power transfer was always the first characteristic that needed to be met. But even shedding almost 150g off the old Vitesse, this new bike is said to get an “average stiffness increase of 34.9%”. That essentially came down to more careful analysis of the Vitesse Evo’s carbon layup to increase bottom bracket junction stiffness by more than 50%, and fork stiffness by almost 70%. Throughout the rest of the frame, more incremental stiffness gains in the headtube boost steering precision, and added chainstay stiffness boosts power transfer & handling.

2021 Vitus Vitesse Evo road bike, affordable lightweight aero carbon race bike, non-driveside

But paired with a new set of dropped seatstays, sticking with a 27.2mm post, and the lowered integrated seatpost clamp, there is still said to be more bump-eating smoothness for the rider.

2021 Vitus Vitesse Evo road bike, affordable lightweight aero carbon race bike, frame details

The bike does incorporate most of the latest standards – internal tapered headset, flat mount discs, 12mm thru-axles, a BB386EVO bottom bracket & 30-32mm tire clearance. But it doesn’t go full aero, instead keeping conventional cockpit setups and simple internal routing through a modular cable port on the left side of the downtube.

Update, race-ready road geometry

2021 Vitus Vitesse Evo road bike, affordable lightweight aero carbon race bike, geometry

Again, working with the Vitus Pro Cycling Team, the Vitesse Evo got a race-ready geometry overhaul. Moving to longer frame reach but lower stack heights, the fit is more aggressive than before. But with a wide six size range (XZ-XXL) and a greater offset fork for the two smallest sizes, there still should be plenty of options to fit most road riders with budding race ambitions – without sacrificing on handling.

2021 Vitus Vitesse Evo – Options, pricing & availability

2021 Vitus Vitesse Evo road bike, affordable lightweight aero carbon race bike, descending

Maybe the most important standout feature of the direct-to-consumer Vitesse Evo bikes are the affordable prices – sold exclusively through online partner shops Wiggle & Chain Reaction Cycles. Seen as a race bike, the disc brake Vitesse Evo doesn’t actually skimp on any builds.

2021 Vitus Vitesse Evo road bike, affordable lightweight aero carbon race bike, 105
2021 Vitesse Evo CR

The most affordable Vitesse Evo CR £2000 / $2600 / 2300€ still gets a full Shimano 105 mechanical/hydraulic mid-compact groupset and tubeless-ready alloy wheels to come in at a claimed 7.8kg complete (only 400g claimed heavier than the most expensive build at double the price!)

2021 Vitus Vitesse Evo road bike, affordable lightweight aero carbon race bike, Ultegra
2021 Vitesse Evo CRS & CRS Di2

All the builds use the same SL UD carbon frameset, with the next model up brings the 7.65kg Vitesse Evo CRS for £3000 / $3700 / 3500€ with a Ultegra mechanical group & tubeless Reynolds AR 29 carbon wheels. Add on a bit more to Vitesse Evo CRS Di2 £3700 / $4500 / 4200€ for an electronic Ultegra Di2 build at 7.5kg.

2021 Vitus Vitesse Evo road bike, affordable lightweight aero carbon race bike, eTap AXS
2021 Vitesse Evo CRS eTap AXS & CRX eTap AXS

Two wireless AXS builds are offered. The £3750 / $4700 / 4300€ Vitesse Evo CRS eTap AXS gets a Force 2x and the Reynolds carbon wheels at 7.6kg claimed. And the £4800 / $6000 / 5500€ Vitesse Evo CRX eTap AXS takes it one step further to SRAM Red to trim a few extra grams off to 7.4kg.

2021 Vitus Vitesse Evo road bike, affordable lightweight aero carbon race bike, climbing

All of the new Vitesse Evo road bikes are said to be available between now and the first weeks of October, depending on spec & size.

VitusBikes.com

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Ron
Ron
3 years ago

Is this compatible with mechanical 2x groupsets? I don’t see that the one cable port on the left side is enough to run 2 derailleurs and 2 brake lines through.

TheKaiser
3 years ago
Reply to  Ron

One of the brake lines enters the fork directly, so you’re overcounting the requirements.

Joenomad
Joenomad
3 years ago

34.9%, 50%, and 70% stiffer. The previous version must have been a wet noodle!

blahblah1233445
3 years ago

I wish they made them more colourful. We got grey, sparkly grey, black, dark blue (almost black) and red…

Bryin
Bryin
3 years ago

Interesting… the 105 model is 17.16lb and $2600 USD… the Trek Emonda SL 105 bike is $3300 USD and is 18.18lb… so 1lb and $700 more…

Kevin
Kevin
3 years ago

No silly stem routed internal cables, normal bar/stem and 27.2 seatpost? Thank Jeebus!

Bryin
Bryin
3 years ago

Even more interesting… the Cervelo Caledonia 5 comes in at 19lb and $6500 (no pedals or whatnot)… or 1.84lb more than the $2600 Vitus 105 model. The Cervelo marketing model must be to sell to the least educated consumers. $1900 and 1.84 POUNDS more. That is crazy.

Robin
Robin
3 years ago
Reply to  Bryin

Who know that weight was so critical to pricing!

Bryin
Bryin
3 years ago
Reply to  Robin

Would you pay $1900 more for the Cervelo?

laurence
laurence
3 years ago

Carbonda CFR 1056?

Veselin Mandaric
3 years ago
Reply to  laurence

No

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