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Vitus Razor - anyone tried one?

by steviewevie
Thu, Jul 17, 2014 13:18
7

I'm looking around for my first road bike, and amongst others I spied the Vitus Razor and Razor VR. They seem to have a very good spec for the money (£370 for Razor, £420 for Razor VR, with Claris/Sora respecively, and both with carbon fork), but whilst the Razor is mentioned in road.cc's shortlist of bikes under £500 I can't find any actual reviews. Also, I would have to buy it over the Internet without sitting on it, because they're only (I think) available from Chain Reaction whose showrooms are in Northern Ireland and I'm in SE England. Though being a newbie I would have difficulty judging how well it fits me by just sitting on a bike in a shop anyway.

Any opinions? Also looking at the B'Twin Triban 500 and 500 SE, Felt F95 Wiggle edition, and Boardman Road Sport.

If you're new please join in and if you have questions pop them below and the forum regulars will answer as best we can.

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7 comments

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Binky | 10 years ago
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Oh the joys of a new bike 16

Hope you have many happy and enjoyable miles with your new steed 1
Don't put your credit card away just yet. The law requires that all new bikes get blinged with add-ons for the next 12 months

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steviewevie | 10 years ago
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Thanks for the input, folks, it was very useful. I just thought I'd update this thread to say that I bought a Vitus Razor VR and I absolutely love it. I'm only a newbie, but Sora and carbon forks for 420 pounds seems like a pretty good deal to me. I asked Chain Reaction to help me choose the appropriate frame size (56cm) given my height (179cm, 5'10 1/2) and inseam (82cm), and from what little I can tell so far it feels about right. It came in a huge, well-packaged box, along with the goody bag mentioned by Esper, with only the handlebars to straighten and pedals to attach. The gears seem to shift well straight out of the box, I haven't needed to adjust anything else yet.

I haven't ridden a bike properly for ... erm ... over 30 years, but luckily I seemed to have remembered how to stay upright. I haven't been far as yet, since I'm totally unfit, but am aiming to go out regularly and try and build up some distance. Even on the couple of short rides so far it was so much fun.

I've bought some Tenn Outdoors cycling shorts (which seem pretty decent for the price) and so far the saddle isn't quite as painful as I was expecting (though as I said, I haven't been far yet).

I've decided to start off with toe clips (no straps yet, but I'll introduce those once I'm totally comfortable with the clips), and perhaps next year I'll move to clipless pedals.

Looking forward to another ride tomorrow!

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ch9houly | 10 years ago
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Its a shame that reviews for these bikes are hard to find as they really are a great entry level bike.

I purchased a Vitus razor 2 weeks ago as my first bike. Haven't had a problem to date apart from my legs struggling to adapt.

I purchased the bike instore in Northern Ireland and as such it fits me perfectly. Being roughly 5'8 I got a 52cm frame which might give you an idea about sizing for yourself.

I looked into the bikes you mentioned as well. The decathlon triban 500 really tempted me but just over stretched my budget for my first bike.

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Graham Simmons | 10 years ago
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Any bike with a carbon fork at that price is a good bike, honestly. You can't go far wrong with Sora either - it's a lot better than it used to be!

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Esper | 10 years ago
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No, just the vanilla Razor.

This one....

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/vitus-bikes-razor-road-bike-2014/rp-p...

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steviewevie | 10 years ago
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That sounds promising, thanks. I'm guessing you got the VR as opposed to the plain Razor, judging by your comment about the paint job?

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Esper | 10 years ago
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I got one about 6 weeks ago and am loving it. As it's my first road bike (indeed my first bicycle in 15 years) I can't compare it to anything else so take my endorsement with a pinch of salt.

Like yourself I looked into the Tribans but the components appeared better on the Razor so that's what I went with. I'm 5'8" with a short inseam and have the 54cm frame. If I was to buy again I'd have got the 52cm but since I fitted a shorter stem it all fits like a glove.

My arse was in agony the first couple of rides so I bought a Charge Spoon saddle as it got good reviews. Turns out the Razor is already fitted with a Spoon clone! Ah well, thankfully my bum is adapting nicely and I'm able to ride daily and for increasing periods.

The shifting is smooth and reliable and the wheels have gone through some serious pot-holes without complaint. They are probably heavyweights but they have taken everything I've thrown at them. The tyres seem OK, too. No punctures so far - although that might just be luck.

The merits of the carbon fork are beyond my ken. As I've no frame of reference I can't say whether it absorbs road buzz any better than an alloy equivalent. The only thing I don't like is the paint job, a bit too dark for my taste but then that's the last thing I was thinking about when I bought it.

Also if you buy from Chain Reaction you'll get a free bottle, multi-tool, paint touch-up, reflectors, bell....(at least I did). So would I buy again? Yeah, probably.

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