LONG-TERM Rides MBUK
SARAH’S VITUS SOMMET 27 CRX £3,599.99
Our overseas tester’s Vitus is on the sideline for the time being
I had some fun days earlier this summer in Schladming, Austria, and the Portes du Soleil, on the Swiss-French border, riding a mix of bike-park berms, fast sections and techy off-piste trails. The good news is that adding another volume spacer (up from two to three) to the RockShox Lyrik Ultimate I fitted earlier this year seems to have done the trick and reduced fork dive somewhat. However, the first signs of wear and tear elsewhere are starting to appear, with the worn rear brake pads being the easiest thing to fix. Besides that, a couple of other issues are on my to-do list.
The Shimano XT front brake seems to have developed a wandering bite point and could do with a bleed soon. A subtle squeaking noise has started to come from the rear of the bike, too. At first I thought it was caused by a dry chain, but after giving the bike a good lubing, it seems more likely that it’s the hub of the DT Swiss EX 1700 back wheel
