Advice for buying my first mountain bike

squid-burger

Hello,

I'm looking to buy my first mountain bike soon, mainly for riding trails so I want to avoid XC bikes. I have come across the Vitus Nucleus range of bikes (VR, VRS, VRX) which all look like really good bikes.

VR (£499) - http://vitusbikes.com/products/nucleus-vr-2018/
VRS (£599) - http://vitusbikes.com/products/nucleus-vrs-2018/
VRX (£699) - http://vitusbikes.com/products/nucleus-vrx-2018/

Vitus Nucleus VR:
Fork - Suntour XCR Air
Shifters - Shimano Altus
Rear Derailleur - Shimano Altus
Casette - Shimano HG-200
Brakes - TEKTRO M290

Vitus Nucleus VRS:
Fork - Rockshox 30 Silver TK Air
Shifters - Shimano Acera
Rear Derailleur - Shimano Acera
Casette - Shimano HG-201
Brakes - TEKTRO M290

Vitus Nucleus VRX:
Fork - Rockshox Recon RL
Shifters - Shimano Alivio
Rear Derailleur - Shimano Alivio
Casette - Shimano HG-201
Brakes - Shimano M395

I really don't know enough about bike parts to know if the components on the more expensive bikes are worth the extra £100 - £200.

If it turns out the components on the VRX make it a substantially better bike than the other 2, I'll buy it. However, I don't want to spend unnecessary money when the VR or VRS would be more than adequate. Bear in mind I don't want to have to upgrade any components on my new bike too soon after buying it!

I would really appreciate any thoughts or advice from more knowledgable mountain bikers!
And if you have any other recommendations for trail oriented hardtail bikes around this price range I would love to hear them.

Thanks a lot.

cooldad

The fork and brakes on the VRX are worth the extra.

squid-burger

cooldad wrote:

The fork and brakes on the VRX are worth the extra.

How come? What makes them better than the others?

JBA

As you go up the grades VR-VRS-VRX the components get better. They come from higher level groupsets in respect of the drive chain. Shimano brakes on the VRX are better quality than the Tektro brakes on the VR and VRS.
The forks on the VRX are a big increase in spec. They have 32mm stanchions, so less flex, and a decent damper.

supersonic

The XCR Air fork is hit and miss. They can be very harsh out of the box, and take a while to free up - are also very progressive, meaning they ramp up hard from half way in the travel, though some internal tinkering can help.

As mentioned above, the Recon is a better fork all round and will make a noticable difference. The XC30 is ok, but not as well made as the Recon and starts to stutter over rougher terrain.

The Rookie

The later XCR air is probably a better fork than the XC30, with the caveats mentioned by SS, so for me it would be the VR or VRX, I don't think the VRS offers much over the VR and not enough to justify the price increase but the VRX does.