The new Vitus Vitesse EVO is a pro bike you can actually afford

Following the launch of its heavily revamped Energie EVO 'cross racer, Vitus has updated its Vitesse EVO road race bike, shedding weight, adding aero profiles and upping stiffness throughout.

The new Vitesse EVO is disc-only and sports a frame weighing a claimed 840g or 910g with paint.

According to Vitus marketing manager Chris McGlinchey, the new bike represents “a step back into high end pro level race bikes” and it will be raced by UCI Continental team Vitus Pro Cycling p/b Brother UK.

The Vitesse EVO will be available in five builds ranging from a £1999.99 / $2,599 option with Shimano 105 up to a £4,799.99 / $5,999.99 model with SRAM Red eTap AXS.

Read on for full details of the new bike and don't miss our detailed review of the Vitus Vitesse EVO CRS with Ultegra Di2.

Vitesse Vitesse EVO: stiffer everywhere and lighter too

The Vitus name was once associated with lugged and bonded aluminium frames, but the Vitesse EVO is distinctly modern, with a slender carbon frameset that uses aero tube profiles and features those now-ubiquitous dropped seatstays.

Vitus says the new Vitesse EVO is the result of two years of development work in collaboration with the pro team, and it’s 10 per cent lighter than its predecessor, with a painted medium frame weighing a claimed 910g and a fork coming in at 370g.

Cable routing into non-drive side — Vitus has opted for refined cabling but hasn't gone fully integrated. - Matthew Loveridge / Immediate Media

The frame’s construction is described as being a “one-piece monocoque” meaning that, unlike some, it doesn’t comprise multiple sub-assemblies, instead being made as a single unit.

Stiffness has been boosted across the board, with claimed increases of 11 per cent at the head tube, 50.2 per cnt at the bottom bracket, 8.9 per cent at the rear triangle and 69.5 per cent for the fork.

Rear axle and brake caliper — The new Vitesse EVO features the usual flat-mount brakes and 12mm thru-axles. - Matthew Loveridge / Immediate Media

Disc rub was apparently an issue with the original Vitesse EVO’s fork, and a new design aims to address that.

While Vitus doesn’t make any specific claims about the Vitesse EVO’s aero credentials, it does feature truncated aerofoil tube sections and, based on CFD (computational fluid dynamics) analysis, the brand reckons it’s actually slightly quicker than the current ZX1 aero bike.

Bike resting against guardrail in the mountains — The slender Vitesse will appeal to riders who identify as climbers. - Vitus

Where many newly released bikes have gone to full cable integration, the Vitesse EVO takes a halfway-house approach, with all cabling routed to the non-driveside and just two points of entry: one on the fork for the brake hose and one on the frame for all the rest.

This was a conscious choice apparently, allowing the use of a standard sized steerer with a 1 1/8in upper bearing. Vitus says fully integrated routing would have meant moving to a 1 1/2in upper bearing and adding weight.

The Vitesse EVO’s geometry is pretty standard race bike stuff. A medium has 547mm of stack and 387mm of reach.

Front tyre clearance with 25mm tyre fitted — The new model ups tyre clearance to at least 30mm, no matter the rim used. - Matthew Loveridge / Immediate Media

Vitus has tweaked things here and there to improve handling and increase tyre clearance, and the two smallest sizes get a slightly longer fork offset (51mm instead of 45mm) to keep things consistent across the range.

Official tyre clearance is 30mm on all rims, but in practice it’s apparently more like 32mm.

Vitus considers its bikes to be unisex and the Vitesse EVO will be available in six sizes from XS to XXL, covering rider heights of approximately 160cm to 2m.

The brand supplied us with a Shimano Ultegra Di2-equipped Vitesse EVO CRS ahead of the launch, make sure you read the full review here.