Marketed as an aggressive trail hardtail, the 27.5" wheeled Vitus Sentier is made from triple butted 6061 aluminium for a light and stiff build, featuring a Rock Shox Recon fork and Shimano Deore groupset for functional shifting and braking. A 180mm front rotor betrays the extreme target audience for this bike - big rotors for big braking requirements.
Not only is it equipped for steep and choppy riding, the frame itself is sporting bang up-to-date geometry to tackle this kind of ground with confidence and not a little bit of fun. A very slack head angle, low bottom bracket height and long front end immediately give the sense of stability when tackling technical ground, while the excellent short 50mm stem and wide 740mm bar help keep things under control.
In fact, very unusually, there wasn't a great deal we would be itching to change straight off the shelf with even the WTB Vigilante and Trail Boss tyres being models we would happily choose as after market models. Bolt through 15mm front and 142x12mm rear axles are stronger and stiffer than their QR cousins, another intelligent bit of specification on an aggressive trail bike, and we were more than happy with the performance of the Shimano disc braking.
For £850 you are getting a genuine off the peg bike capable of ragging round your local trails, tackling just about any terrain you care to point it at. It is fun, confident and will extend your riding levels if you are coming from anything more conservative.
