Vitus Razor Triple

deisebeh

Hi all i have been pondering getting a new bike for a while now and just found a very cheap bike on chainreactioncycles. its a vitus razor triple and there is no description or anything
Does anybody have any info on this bike or first hand experiance from buying it?

Yes actually, CRC sent me the specs, will throw them up at lunchtime.

stopped_clock

I thought it was a leg shaving thread! Vitus Triple vs Mach 3!

sorry

Voilà!

lcb

I'm looking at the Vitus bike on The Web. The few reviews which Chain Reaction Cycles, the shop, have published look favourable.

I want to ask the poster, and anyone else - if they have bought or tried out the Vitus Razor Triple, to post their independent of this cycle. I guessed the company was in England when I first found the Vitus bike, now I see they're in Northern Ireland, near me. I hope I can go and try the cycle. As they're a mail delivery company they may or may not have a trial bicycle of each model available. The bike I had was stolen last weekend, and that was a low cost replacement for my beloved Canondale R400 that was stolen last summer.

It's poor fortune that I find this bike on a Saturday afternoon, when the shop isn't open at weekends and the 12 July celebrations have shops closed on Monday and Tuesday at least, if not most of the next week. But if it rides well and is a good quality model, at the price, I'd be glad to have this cycle.

Please post if you have experience.

ednwireland

dont forget crc are open late on a thursday
, ring them first if you want to see bikes as they dont have everything assembled they will get stuff out of the warehouse if you give them a days warning

cunnins4

a friend new to cycling got this 2 weeks ago and i put it together for him. if i had the money i'd get one for myself, but would prefer tiagra or better shifters-don't like sora at all because i'm used to the other type, but for the money they're fine.

it's light, good looking aand a good bike. very impressed with it.

but......

there's a lot to do putting it together-fine for anyone with a bit of experience but a total newb would struggle:

• the bars have to be aligned [easy, but it's to be done]
• the bars have to be taped
• both sets of brakes had to have the cables installed
• both wheels were well out of true-easily fixed if you know how, but daunting if you don't
• both deraillers needed a lot of adjusting
• saddle had to be attached to the seat post and adjusted
• pedals needed to be attached
• tyres were completely flat

a lot of work when compared to my focus which i just had to line up the bars and put on the front wheel and pedals. that said, it comes with a set of basic lights and the pedals are decent standard for beginners.

overall a great entry level road bike. he got 10% off thanks to someone on here so only paid €350.

lcb

I got this bicycle a couple of weeks ago from the shop store itself.


Verdict: I'm pleased at the price, £325, and I didn't have to put the cycle together, I took one that was all done in the store, a much better deal to me than posage costs and putting it together yourself.

The bicycle is so light. I'm really, really surprised for an aluminium bicycle, and at this price. Would be excellent for people road touring with luggage, carrying the thing (I used to say "bloody thing" when having to carry an old Raleigh bike while touring), up and down railway station bridge steps, train station stairs, etc.

It's quite a decent bike. There are some gears it seems to excel in, and others are only reasonable. On the flat, highest couple of gears, it is hard to start, so there's likely to be some changing, but on the flat it is more or less very good just after that. In the highest gears on the flat wen going some time there is quite a lot of pedalling to do to maintain what is quite a good velocity. It's certainly not exceptional on the flat in highest gears at speed, but it's not bad, lends to really exercising yourself, is enjoyable to exericise on, and it takes it. As I think someone mentioned here before, it does take a lot and it's enjoyable to give this.

With the lower gears the story so far seems to be good 30 percent of the time, good to very good 35 percent, and reasonable the rest - about 35 percent.

The only disappointment is the bikes handling when you're not giving many revs in the higher hill gears - when coming up a significant hill (say a little short of steep) onto a long flat, it's just as hard, no harder for a while after the hill on the flat. I'm used to this on my last mountain bike - and I hated it on that bike. The flat seemed to get steeper even after 20 seconds on that old bike. The Vitus is not as bad as that, it's significantly better which means I'm nearly smiling when I encounter this now, but it's still certainly a problem which I didn't have on an old Canondale that I miss much, or 2 previous Raleigh road racers.

This is not a bike that does everything for you, but it's pleasant. It's well made - it's so light yet going at speed on an emtpy road at long (smooth) road ramps, this bike handles very well. Adjusting the bike weight in advance, I'm not frightened of it flying up in the air or off to one side. This is a good test for control purposes in sudden situations. Despite the lightness there's no need to fear having to concentrate on controlling it too much for example at sudden ramps or bumps.

The turning is little worse than I expected, but more than half of that is just getting used to how to turn, and to turn well at speed, from previous bikes I've ridden. It does require control which I'm not used to. And it's not bad this far, and I think it could be reasonable to quite good with some more experience - I won't quite be giving it 7 out of 10 for this, maybe 6 though - I don't know.


I telephoned C.R.C. first to ask if they had a trial model. The man who answered said this was a good idea as they only have some of their stock bikes available to view and try in the store.

They had the largest size put up and said I could ride it around their car park (which is much bigger than you'd guess for a bicycle shop). When I got there a young man told me I couldn't try the cycle because the ground was wet. ???!!!??? Wet ground in Northern Ireland and a trial model. There you go.

Anyway I said naturally I'm not going to buy if you're not going to let me try, and I came all the way from Belfast subsequent to a phone call telling me I could come out and try the bike. I left quite quickly, and was there just over an hour later.

The young assistant "gave in" (???!!???) and I had a go and I liked the bike based on a trial. And now I have the Vitus Razor Triple from Chain Reaction Cycles. This man was vey strange though, I'm just over 6 feet and since I've been about 15 years old I've always taken the largest sized bikes available. I don't know if this man was making fun of me because I went out there with my parents that day, but he kept saying that that bike was too big for me, and I should try the smallest size. It is smaller than any road racer I've had. Bloody odd.

Anyway, I'd certainly not recommend the shop much itself, Chain Reation Cycles, though it won't be relevant to most people buying as most of their business is online (they claim they're the world's largest online cycle store). And money, £325 was swapped for something I wanted at that stage - a cycle I'm pleased with for the money.

Is this bike worth £400?
I'd pay that. I think I'd stop around £450, but it should match bikes at that price and above. The other budget offer in and around Belfast at the moment is the Merida at BikeIt cycles in the city. At £400, they're selling this bike for significantly less than other stores I've seen. And this Merida gets very good reviews in cycle mags, when the standard price would have been around £500. But my finances book actually bites me at the moment, and I'm pleased with the Vitus anyway.

lcb

One more thing I wanted to say is that you won't need a seatpost to heighten the saddle, as I'm used to on previous road racers I rode.

The native Razor Triple seatpost goes away down most of the vertical shaft of the cycle frame. It will serve people inches taller than me who like their legs to straighten - I'm 6 foot 1 inch.

I need advice about heightening the handlebar. Has anyone done this? I remember I found a shop in America who would do it for an old Raleigh racer, just before I lost that Raleigh. Great value shop, cheap postage, I send the specs. of the bike and they said they'd a handlebar extension to fit. I don't know if I'll find them again.

Has anyone heightened their racer handlebar to their satisfaction, for less than £40 or so?

Lumen

lcb wrote: »

I need advice about heightening the handlebar. Has anyone done this? ... Has anyone heightened their racer handlebar to their satisfaction, for less than £40 or so?

Just flip the stem, only takes a couple of minutes with an allen key.

I'll PM my Paypal details for the €40. :pac:

lcb

Oh come on. Really, please. Silly advice appreciated!? In the past.

You know I actually flipped the handlebar up the other way on an old Raleigh racer a few years ago. I was aware that it looked stupid, but one day, I'd put the saddle up to full height a while before and I was sick of meeting the low handlebars. And it felt great. The marketplace has improved so much within a couple of years, I guess it's not too hard anymore. Anyway the problem back then was that was an old racer of mine, and it didn't seem to meet with the specs. for the few handlebar extender bars. Oh, I forgot and the ones in U.K. were expensive. Seatpost - less than a tenner in the bike shop around the corner. Similar thing for handlebars - 50 pounds or more and tenner postage! Prices are more reasonable these days, I'll have a look.

The Razor Triple I have, which the shop put together, has gear and brake cords from the handlebars which are too short at the moment anyway. Hassle.

Lumen

lcb wrote: »

Oh come on. Really, please. Silly advice appreciated!? In the past.

You know I actually flipped the handlebar up the other way on an old Raleigh racer a few years ago. I was aware that it looked stupid, but one day, I'd put the saddle up to full height a while before and I was sick of meeting the low handlebars. And it felt great. The marketplace has improved so much within a couple of years, I guess it's not too hard anymore. Anyway the problem back then was that was an old racer of mine, and it didn't seem to meet with the specs. for the few handlebar extender bars. Oh, I forgot and the ones in U.K. were expensive. Seatpost - less than a tenner in the bike shop around the corner. Similar thing for handlebars - 50 pounds or more and tenner postage! Prices are more reasonable these days, I'll have a look.

I'm sorry, but I have absolutely no idea what any of that means.

lcb

That's O.K. What don't you understand?

Lumen

lcb wrote: »

That's O.K. What don't you understand?

The bit that started "Oh come on. Really, please. Silly advice appreciated!? In the past."

I just suggested flipping the stem rather than using a steering tube extension, but then you were talking about putting the handlebars upside down and a bunch of other stuff I couldn't fathom.

petethedrummer

You have a threadless stem. If it has an angle on it, you can turn it upside down to raise the handle bars slightly. The amount depends on the angle of the stem.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stem_(bike)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_bicycle_parts

http://bicycletutor.com/adjust-threadless-headset/

Lumen

The Vitus apparently comes with a 7 degree ITM Racer stem.

For a 100mm length stem this will raise the handlebars by about 27mm when flipped, depending on exact head tube angle.

t0mm

lcb if you have your seat up very high and you have to reach far down to get to the handle bars, then you prob want to to go up a size in frame. Contrary to popular belief, the reach (from seat to handlebars) is more far important than standover height (distance from ground to top tub; you'd want about and inch or two here between tt and crotch, but on a road bike when you'll be in the saddle for long streches this isn't hugely important. It only makes a difference on mountain bike and commuters where you'll stop and start a lot, and its easier to put your foot down if you have more room.)

If you seat isn't up very high and you still have to reach down then try getting a new stem with a steeper angle. Maybe having a slightly short stem if it is a great angle. For me a steerer tube extension would be a last resort, they change the geometry of the bike.

lcb

Sorry Lumen - thought you were joking actually - meaning to have the drop handlebars going up. That's why I wrote that at the start - then I was talking about when I actually did that for a short time on an old bike which worked fine for slower, controlled riding around town, and saved my aching back.

I can't try even heightening the handlebars by any method at the moment as the cords basically won't let it go higher. But the bar seems to be at the full height anyway.

I'm no bike technician. The handlebar is connected with the frame by one screw alone (& 2 other screws keep it aligned with frame & wheels). There's no potential to higher it in the state the cycle was bought in - methinks - unless the bar at the top of the frame extends but it's just not budging and I think W.Y.S.I.W.Y.G there - no extension possible - need a post which accepts the handles screw fix like the bike frame bar, and goes into the frame bar at the bottom itself like the native handlebar stem. Can these be gotten?

lcb

tOmm: As I mentioned in the first impressions review of the Vitus Razor Triple above, I've always bought the tallest frame available on any model. I guess you'll make out what I wrote, and what others are writing, the interest in this bike is the reliable quality and pretty good performance at the price. Budget is key. To go looking for specialist large frames, I doubt I can extend to right now in terms of handing over rectangular notes with well known persons' heads on them.

What do you mean that this reach is the most important - for comfort, speed, or both, or handling? It would be a significant adaption for most people to take the bars up a lot in terms of balance and what they're used to, but I guess the comfort would be much improved.

There is the element of riding a racing bike where the actual position, bending over, can have a rider forget about comfort totally in favour of peformance. But bending over generally helps for riding comfort too - short and longer term, though tall people who can't modify the cycle when needed can easily fall away out of this ideal comfort zone going way into negative positions. Ideal is, taking the saddle and handlebars at their lowest level, the saddle is not raised and the bars are raised a few inches. So, having the bars significantly below the saddle is not what you want to aim for. If the saddle is raised over half a foot, like mine is, I think it's something of need after a couple of months of riding to bring the bars up at least a bit.

Lumen

lcb wrote: »

I'm no bike technician. The handlebar is connected with the frame by one screw alone (& 2 other screws keep it aligned with frame & wheels). There's no potential to higher it in the state the cycle was bought in - methinks - unless the bar at the top of the frame extends but it's just not budging and I think W.Y.S.I.W.Y.G there - no extension possible - need a post which accepts the handles screw fix like the bike frame bar, and goes into the frame bar at the bottom itself like the native handlebar stem. Can these be gotten?

The single screw keeps your headset together (i.e. all the stuff inside the your head tube at the top of the forks).

The two screws attach the stem to the steering tube. There are another two (or four) holding the handlebars to the stem.

To flip the stem, you just remove the handlebars from the stem, remove the the top cap, untighten the two screws holding the stem to the steerer, flip the stem, and re-attach everything, doing the top cap (with not too much force) before tightening the stem.

If in doubt take it to a shop. It's a trivial procedure.

lcb

I'll have a look, but I need a post. 2 cm is not enough and not worth it right now, even if the cords let me before I get longer cords.

petethedrummer

You have 4 options.

1. Riser Stem:


2. Adjustable Stem:


3. Steerer Tube Extender:


4. Custom built frame with the tallest headtube in the world:

Yes, that is Conan O'Brien.