New bike - Vitus Dark Plasma

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barnesy

Well-Known Member
I have been cycling for 3 years now and was using a Bianchi Via Nirone with full Veloce groupset.

Chain Reaction Cycles has just opened a new store under a mile away from me so on opening day i went for a visit. I was immediately drawn to the Vitus Dark Plasma, full carbon bike for £800 down from £1149

Vitus is a brand re-released by CRC in conjunction with Sean Kelly who used to ride the french manufactures frames.

The bike came as standard with Tiagra groupset, i seen this as a downgrade from the Campag Veloce which i was used to. I also fancied trying our the SRAM groupset. I went for a test ride and was impressed with the lightness of the frame and also the stiffness.

So i had a chat with the salesman, i asked if i got a SRAM groupset would they be able to fit it to the bike which he said they could, so i placed my order on the vitus dark plasma, with sram apex for £800, and £399. They had a further 10% off so i got the bike and groupset for £1079, i can then sell on the tiagra groupset which brings the bike to a price which i think is very good value.

Chain reaction were very helpful, everybody i dealt with knew their stuff and i was impressed with the service from them. They fitted the SRAM groupset free and also fitted my FSA bars from my Bianchi as I preferred them to the ones that came on the Vitus.

They were slightly poor on pick up of the bike though when they wheeled the bike out with no sign of the original bars and tiagra groupset, when i asked them where they were the guy said "well i suppose they are yours, i will get them now" Theres no suppose about it, they are mine.

I did have a nice surprise aswell when they told me they had no apex brake calipers so they upgraded me to Rival brakes.

Anyway onto the pictures:

The new store:

StoreOpenAug2011_1.jpg


How it looked in the store:

photo.jpg


As it stands today:

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I love the matt black frame and the black SRAM groupset looks much nicer than the grey Tiagra it came with originally.

Future plans are to fit my carbon wheels which i got from Carbonzone, that will save me 300g on the already nice Pro-Lite wheels which came on the Vitus

Thanks for looking
 

potsy

Rambler
Location
My Armchair
Lovely bike, sort the chainline out though :tongue:
 

beastie

Guru
Location
penrith
I knew somebody would pick on the fact the chain line isnt horizontal lol
He means you have the chain on the big ring and the big cog. The angle puts strain on the chain, and wear on the teeth. Try and avoid this and also the reverse, ie small chaining and small cogs for the same reason.
What a nice bike though!
 

raindog

er.....
Location
France
Vitus have always made nice bikes, but the new range is supposed to be really good.

Let's not forget Sean K got alot of his wins riding Vitus.
 
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OP
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barnesy

Well-Known Member
They have 2 shops, both in Northern Ireland

The main warehouse in Doagh, about 20 minutes from Belfast has a showroom and computers so the guys can bring anything out to show you if you see it online.

They have also just opened their first retail premises in Belfast itself, its a cracking store with plenty on offer to suit all sorts of riders, 4 computers to order from the site and a chill out area with free tea and coffee
 

Garz

Squat Member
Location
Down
Great bike with nice deal on the groupset, shame about the spare parts but decent enough. Hope they open a store up over the water some day...
 

Jezston

Über Member
Location
London
Like the styling - there's something kind of like a 90's 'retro' about the styling which I find myself appreciating.

HOWEVER ...

The chainline.

Someone who knows their onions I'm sure will correct me on this, but it looks like the line is so high, because the rear cassette might be wrong.

That looks like a big cassette for a road bike, and something more suited for a tourer or hybrid.

My suspicion is its that which is throwing the chain line out so much - the crankset is designed for a much smaller ranged cassette.

If it's not something that would actually cause any technical problems and it's purely an aesthetic thing, then carry on ;)

WHOAH I just looked at the rear derailleur again. On big-big it shouldn't be pulled forwards THAT much should it? That's further reaffirming the idea in my mind that the cassette is not appropriate.
 

gaz

Cycle Camera TV
Location
South Croydon
Like the styling - there's something kind of like a 90's 'retro' about the styling which I find myself appreciating.

HOWEVER ...

The chainline.

Someone who knows their onions I'm sure will correct me on this, but it looks like the line is so high, because the rear cassette might be wrong.

That looks like a big cassette for a road bike, and something more suited for a tourer or hybrid.

My suspicion is its that which is throwing the chain line out so much - the crankset is designed for a much smaller ranged cassette.

If it's not something that would actually cause any technical problems and it's purely an aesthetic thing, then carry on ;)

WHOAH I just looked at the rear derailleur again. On big-big it shouldn't be pulled forwards THAT much should it? That's further reaffirming the idea in my mind that the cassette is not appropriate.
as stock the rear cassette is a 12-26.

The problem here is big ring + big ring. that is something that shouldn't be done!
 
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OP
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barnesy

Well-Known Member
Yes i know it shouldnt have been done and i would never leave a chain not in a straight line.

I was flicking through the gears before taking the picture, new to the SRAM system so i went to the extremes of each.

The cassette is a shimano 105 11-28, nice wide gear range, a 32 low gear can actually be fitted with Apex if i were to go for the long cage derailleur


Id like to see them open up a few more stores, i suppose time will tell on this one if it is to work for them or not.


Its always good to call in to have a look at some bikes or chat to some of the guys
 
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