Road Test Review

Dunnville ON, Canada: 19.07.10
Test Drive feedback, by Dr. Sajid Syed

Tester: Dr. Sajid Syed, Owner of Dentistry Dunnville

I am an amateur cyclist at best, one of the reasons I haven’t gotten any better since I got into it two years ago is because I have been having problems fitting on my bike, I have been struggling with lower back pain constantly.

This being my third year and having seen people at two shops so far and finally a specialist and after some chiropractic treatment, things are finally getting better. I had also heard from other cyclists that a full carbon frame is a lot more comfortable, so I had been doing research into which one would be a good bike to upgrade to, my mind was made up on the Specialized SL2 or SL3.

One day at work my colleague and I were chatting, he is into cycling as well and he told me about Vitess, a new Canadian manufacturer who is making headlines in Toronto! Now having a scientific background, I like to do thorough research and even though my mind was made up on Specialized I decided to give Vitess a call and got a chance to speak with Julien who was very good on the phone and we made an appointment to meet and chat about these new bikes. I read a few of the reviews on the website and was intrigued by them, how is it that a new Canadian manufacturer has managed to build something that is Tour De France capable?

So, after two days of waiting the Friday finally came and I drove down to Toronto all the way from Stoney Creek to meet and chat with Julien, I did take my cycling clothes just in case I decided to take a bike for a spin, most likely the only manufacturer who allows demo rides, even over weekends!!

I got to the showroom and loved the setup as soon as I walked in, there were two bikes hanging from the ceiling and pretty much nothing else, no jerseys, shorts, helmets, pedals and bikes on top of bikes hanging everywhere, just two bikes and a couch, a couple on the floor, one from Pfaff and one which belonged to Chris Kirkpatrick , his review is on the website too. I didn’t know it belonged to Chris till later. I liked the set up and knew right away that Vitess has a completely different approach.

I talked to Julien for a bit, he took his time explaining how the bikes are designed and how they take the time to fit every rider, they take three hours to do this, when I bought my bike they took maybe fifteen minutes!

After explaining everything and after I had asked all my questions which Julien answered patiently, it came down to whether I wanted to take a bike for a test ride. For some odd reason I decided not to, only to be back the following weekend to take it for the whole weekend. Jullien probably spent about fifteen minutes to get me fitted on the bike, I took it for a quick spin behind the showroom and took it home.

Once again, I am an amateur cyclist when compared to the reviews from all other experienced cyclists on the website, but here goes.

When I started riding the bike the first time even behind the showroom, right away I felt it was much more comfortable than my Trek 2.3 aluminium bike. On my regular route in Stoney Creek on sunday the first thing which surprised me is that Julien fitted me on the bike pretty darn close, a little more tweaking and the fit would have been perfect.

The next thing I noticed was the power transfer, I didn’t have to fight the bike at all, pedalling was smooth and the bike didn’t resist whatsoever, it moves and is fast!

The bike also likes to stay up, I felt like I could let go of the handle bars and it would keep going straight, it tracks very nicely, its excellent, so much so that when you get off the saddle to pedal up a hill, the bike resists you when you move it from side to side, but once you ride for sometime, you hardly notice it.

Lastly, going uphill, normally I am huffing and puffing when I climb, but with Vitess I noticed that I did struggle a little to get up the hill but at half the cost, I wasn’t tired at all when I got up and kept going. Lower back pain has been a problem with me since I started and I did notice a little bit of it when I was riding but it was a good soreness which went away towards the end of ride, when I got home I wasn’t beat like I normally am, I felt good and realized that I could have ridden a lot more, too bad I didn’t have time.

Sadly, Monday came and I returned the bike to Julien after work and thanked him for giving me the opportunity to test the bike.

One thing I forgot to mention, at my first visit, I did have the opportunity to meet Chris Kirkpatrick when he came down to pick up his bike, there is one thing he said that stuck with me, he said he has six bikes in his garage, the last one being a Specialized Tarmac and after buying Vitess he is ready to sell all those other bikes.

I think Vitess makes a great product, has great customer service, I think this is a brand just waiting to explode in the cycling market, all in due time. When I dropped the bike off, I did tell Julien that I was sold even before taking the demo bike home, especially after talking to Chris, riding the bike was just icing on top.

What can I say, I am going to wait till the new year and I can’t wait to get my Vitess and start getting better at the sport!!

Thanks again Julien

Sajid Syed