New Vitus Vitesse Evo gets complete redesign to go lighter, stiffer, faster

Vitus has given a wholesale redesign to its Vitesse Evo race bike, the 2021 version being lighter and much stiffer than previously, according to the brand. Vitus has also dropped the seatstays for additional comfort, and altered the geometry. The designers have been busy, then!

Vitus says that its road bikes are becoming far more focused for 2021 as a result of feedback from Vitus Pro Cycling p/b Brother UK 

“Scott Thwaites came on board, previously a WorldTour rider with Bora and Dimension Data [he has raced in both the Tour de France and the Vuelta a Espana] and he’s very demanding in terms of what he wants from his equipment,” said Jodie Shann, road product manager at Vitus.

“Scott was able to give us some amazing insight into how to develop our bikes. Alongside him we had Ed Clancy on the team who was able to bring his huge amount of experience too. Ed is a big, heavy guy and when he is stamping down on the pedals he can get a bike flexing!”

The result is a complete redesign of the Vitesse Evo. 

“We've now dialled in the focus, so the new Vitesse Evo is all about weight. We've got it as light as possible, and added in a massive amount of stiffness where the likes of Scott Thwaites wanted it. There is a huge difference when you get out of the saddle and put the power down.”

The new Vitesse Evo bike has a claimed frame weight of 840g (size medium).

“The original Vitesse Evo had power transfer at its heart – the number one request from Sean Kelly and his An-Post team,” says Vitus. “The new Vitesse Evo went through endless layup iterations to arrive at a frameset that blows its predecessor out of the water with an average stiffness increase of 34.9%.”

Vitus says that bottom bracket stiffness has been increased by over 50% while the rear triangle is 8.9% stiffer than before. The Vitesse Evo certainly looks beefy, with a big down tube at the heart of things and a purposeful head tube.

“The front of the frameset also sees some significant improvements with stability and steering improved though a 11% stiffness increase in the head tube and, more noticeably, a 69.5% increase in the fork, virtually eliminating disc rub in all but very extreme conditions.”

Vitus says that these increases have not been achieved at the expense of comfort. The seatstays are now dropped (they meet the seat tube far lower than its junction with the top tube) and the internal seat clamp is positioned low, the idea being to allow more downward movement at the saddle.

“We've not made a bike that's stiffer and harsher, we’ve kept the same level of comfort so guys can ride five or six hour days,” says Jodie Shann.

Vitus has altered the Vitesse Evo’s geometry. 

“We wanted to deliver a rider position capable of winning the world’s biggest races [so the new range] sees longer top tubes and lower head tubes for a more aggressive position,” says Vitus. 

The medium sized Vitesse Evo, for example, now has a stack height of 547mm (it was 548mm previously) and a reach of 387mm (it was 382mm previously). The stack/reach for that particular size is 1.41, compared with 1.43 previously.

Chainstays have been shortened from 415mm to 410mm across all frame sizes (six frame sizes are available, as before).

Vitus says that the Vitesse Evo is more aerodynamically efficient than previously, but doesn’t offer statistics on that.

Cables/brake hoses still run external between the handlebar and the down tube and fork crown.

The Vitesse Evo is a disc brake-only platform and there are five models in the range for 2021, equipped with groupsets from Shimano and SRAM. 

“The specs are all about light weight too,” says Jodie Shann. “We have carbon seatposts [on all models], carbon handlebars [the Prime Primavera X-Light Carbon bar on all but the cheapest model] and an ultralight aluminium stem [Prime Doyenne Lightweight 6061 Aluminium across the board]. Everything is designed to make that bike as light as possible.”

All wheels and 25mm tyres are tubeless.

Vitesse Evo CR £1,999.99
Groupset Shimano 105 
Wheels Prime Baroudeur Disc aluminium clincher
Weight 7.8kg

Vitesse Evo CRS £2,999.99
Groupset Shimano Ultegra
Wheels Reynolds AR 29 DB carbon clincher
Weight 7.65kg

Vitesse Evo CRS Di2 £3,699.99
Groupset Shimano Ultegra Di2
Wheels Reynolds AR 29 DB carbon clincher
Weight 7.5kg

Vitesse Evo CRS eTap AXS £3,749.99
Groupset SRAM Force AXS
Wheels Reynolds AR 29 DB carbon clincher
Weight 7.6kg

Vitesse Evo CRX eTap AXS £4,799.99
Groupset SRAM Red eTap AXS
Wheels Reynolds AR 29 DB carbon clincher 
Weight 7.4kg

Vitus bikes are available through Chain Reaction Cycles and Wiggle. Stock of the 2021 Vitus Vitesse Evo will arrive at the end of September or early October.

Get more info at vitusbikes.com.