New Vitus Venon Evo hides a gravel bike behind racy angles and sleek looks

New Vitus Venon Evo hides a gravel bike behind racy angles and sleek looks

Brand's first endurance road bike has clearance for 45mm gravel tyres

Vitus Venon Evo.

Christopher Lanaway / Vitus

Warren Rossiter

Published: May 12, 2023 at 8:00 am

Vitus has resurrected the Venon, transforming it into a one-bike-for-all that comes in road and gravel bike builds.

Vitus says the Venon project has been three years in the works. What started out as a unique proposition in road bikes is said to have turned into a high-performance endurance road bike with enough tyre clearance to be considered a gravel bike.

This one-bike-for-all idea is one that has grown in popularity with bike manufacturers. The likes of the new Ridley Grifn and Cannondale’s Synapse are typical of a new generation of capable endurance bikes that could be considered all-road bikes.

The new Venon is arguably a big step for Vitus. It is the first high-performance bike Vitus has made without the sole purpose of winning races. Vitus says the Venon is about bringing racing DNA and technology to riders who just want to enjoy the ride.

Vitus’ global marketing manager Alex James says Vitus is “all about giving real, everyday riders access to performance bicycles”.

James says Vitus want people to enjoy riding the Venon “no matter where or how they want to ride it”.

A versatile frame

The bike can be set up as an endurance bike or gravel bike. - Christopher Lanaway / Vitus

The Vitus Venon Evo’s frame details are all about versatility.

A bridge on the rear stays provides mounts for fitting mudguards, but it can be removed to make way for gravel tyres up to 700x45mm in width.

The front derailleur mount is removable, so the bike can be run with either a 2x or 1x drivetrain.

You can also remove the seatstay bridge for greater tyre clearance. - Christopher Lanaway / Vitus

There are two bottle mount positions on the down tube. This means you can fit a bottle cage lower down to make space for a large frame bag.

Like the brand's premium aero road bike, the ZX-1, the Venon employs FSA’s fully internal cable routing using the ACR system, so the bike looks very clean.

The bike has internal cable routing for clean looks. - Christopher Lanaway / Vitus

The tube profiles of both the top and down tubes are based on the aerodynamics of the ZX-1.

Vitus says CFD (computational fluid dynamics) engineering was used to ensure the new Venon offers greater drag savings on key areas of the frame compared to the brand's lightweight race bike, the Vitesse.

The BB386 Evo bottom bracket and head tube are optimised for stiffness.

The Vitus Venon Evo in a gravel bike build with 1x SRAM Force eTap AXS. - Christopher Lanaway / Vitus

The ovalised, flattened and dropped seatstays combined with a slender 27.2mm seatpost and a cutaway seat tube are all intended to bring compliance and therefore comfort to the endurance bike.

Vitus has worked extensively on the Venon’s carbon construction, mixing uni-directional carbon – T700, T800 and high-mod T1000 fibres – to minimise weight and maximise stiffness where needed.

Vitus claims an unpainted Venon Evo frame weighs between 778g for the XS and 856g for the XXL.

Vitus Venon Evo geometry

Fitting gravel tyres increases the trail figure, creating a more stable ride. - Christopher Lanaway / Vitus

The Venon’s geometry shows the versatility of the frameset.

The 58cm frame has a standard 73-degree seat tube angle and a 72.5-degree head tube angle. The stack height (including the aero-headset cap) is 606.7mm. This is combined with a long reach of 403.3mm.

The wheelbase is longer than most endurance bikes at 1,039.13mm, to take into account the tyre clearance.

The long wheelbase aids stability, but Vitus has been keen to keep the Venon’s handling on the quick side. Fit a 30mm road bike tyre to the Venon and it has a quick 56mm trail figure. With wider gravel tyres, the trail can reach a more stable 60mm.

XSSMLXLXXL
Seat angle (degrees)74.674.273.873.47373
Head angle (degrees)70.771.171.572.172.572.7
Chainstay (mm)420420420420420420
Seat tube (mm)460480500520540560
Top tube (mm)515.1531.4551.2570.9588.8604.6
Head tube (mm)102.18120.02142.7168.18187.02206.11
Fork offset (mm)505050505050
Bottom bracket drop (mm)717070707070
Wheelbase (mm)1,001.521,006.581,019.471,029.621,039.131,052.92
Stack (mm)508527550576596614
Reach (mm)372.2379.4386.9395.8403.3414.2
Crank length (mm)165170172.5172.5175175
Stem length (mm)80-9090-100100-110110-120120-130130 Max

Vitus Venon Evo specs and prices

The Vitus Venon Evo range consists of the RS and GR builds. The RS bikes are built as endurance bikes and the GR builds as gravel bikes.

The RS builds with Prime aero wheels will be released in the future (dates TBC).

Vitus Venon road builds

Vitus Venon Evo-RS AERO 105 Di2

  • Frameset: Venon Evo Carbon SL
  • Groupset: Shimano 105 R7150 Di2
  • Wheelset: Prime Primavera 44 Carbon Disc
  • Tyres: Michelin Power Cup Classic TS TLR 700x28mm
  • Handlebar: Prime Doyenne Lightweight Aluminium
  • Stem: FSA NS SMR Aluminium
  • Saddle: Vitus Race Performance
  • Price: £3,899.99/$4,299.00/€4,399.99/AU$6,999.99

Vitus Venon Evo-RS AERO Ultegra Di2

  • Frameset: Venon Evo Carbon SL
  • Groupset: Shimano Ultegra R8170 Di2
  • Wheelset: Prime Primavera 44 Carbon Disc
  • Tyres: Michelin Power Cup Classic TS TLR 700x28mm
  • Handlebar: Prime Primavera Carbon Aero UD Carbon
  • Stem: FSA NS SMR Aluminium
  • Saddle: Vitus Race Performance
  • Price: £4,399.99/$4,999/€4,899.99/AU$7,999.99

Vitus Venon Evo-RS AERO Rival eTap AXS

  • Frameset: Venon Evo Carbon SL
  • Groupset: SRAM Rival eTap AXS
  • Wheelset: Prime Primavera 44 Carbon Disc
  • Tyres: Michelin Power Cup Classic TS TLR 700x28mm
  • Handlebar: Prime Primavera Carbon Aero UD Carbon
  • Stem: FSA NS SMR Aluminium
  • Saddle: Vitus Race Performance
  • Price: £3,999.99/$4,499/€4,499.99/AU$7,199.99

Vitus Venon Evo-RS AERO Force eTap AXS

  • Frameset: Venon Evo Carbon SL
  • Groupset: SRAM Force eTap AXS
  • Wheelset: Prime Primavera 44 Carbon Disc
  • Tyres: Michelin Power Cup Classic TS TLR 700x28mm
  • Handlebar: Prime Primavera Carbon Aero UD Carbon
  • Stem: FSA NS SMR Aluminium
  • Saddle: Vitus Race Performance
  • Price: £3,699.99/$4,099/€4,099.99/AU$6,699.99

Vitus Venon Evo-RS Ultegra Di2

Vitus Venon Evo RS Ultegra Di2. - Vitus
  • Frameset: Venon Evo Carbon SL
  • Groupset: Shimano Ultegra R8170 Di2
  • Wheelset: Prime Attaquer V2 Aluminium Clincher Disc
  • Tyres: Michelin Power Cup Classic TS TLR 700x28mm
  • Handlebar: Prime Primavera Carbon Aero UD Carbon
  • Stem: FSA NS SMR Aluminium
  • Saddle: Vitus Race Performance
  • Price: £4,099.99/$4,599/€4,599.99/AU$7,399.99

Vitus Venon Evo-RS 105 Di2

Vitus Venon Evo RS 105 Di2. - Vitus
  • Frameset: Venon Evo Carbon SL
  • Groupset: Shimano 105 R7150 Di2
  • Wheelset: Prime Attaquer V2 Aluminium Clincher Disc
  • Tyres: Michelin Power Cup Classic TS TLR 700x28mm
  • Handlebar: Prime Doyenne Lightweight Aluminium
  • Stem: FSA NS SMR Aluminium
  • Saddle: Vitus Race Performance
  • Price: £3,599.99/$3,899/€3,999.99/AU$6,499.99

Vitus Venon Evo-RS Rival eTap AXS

Vitus Venon Evo RS Rival AXS. - Vitus
  • Frameset: Venon Evo Carbon SL
  • Groupset: SRAM Rival eTap AXS
  • Wheelset: Prime Attaquer V2 Aluminium Clincher Disc
  • Tyres: Michelin Power Cup Classic TS TLR 700x28mm
  • Handlebar: Prime Primavera Carbon Aero UD Carbon
  • Stem: FSA NS SMR Aluminium
  • Saddle: Vitus Race Performance
  • Price: £3,699.99/$4,099/€4,099.99/AU$6,699.99

Vitus Venon Evo-RS Force eTap AXS

Vitus Venon Evo RS Force AXS. - Vitus
  • Frameset: Venon Evo Carbon SL
  • Groupset: SRAM Force eTap AXS
  • Wheelset: Prime Attaquer V2 Aluminium Clincher Disc
  • Tyres: Michelin Power Cup Classic TS TLR 700x28mm
  • Handlebar: Prime Primavera Carbon Aero UD Carbon
  • Stem: FSA NS SMR Aluminium
  • Saddle: Vitus Race Performance
  • Price: £4,299.99/$4,899/€4,799.99/AU$7,699.99

Vitus Venon gravel builds

Vitus Venon Evo-GR Rival 1x

Vitus Venon Evo GR Rival. - Vitus
  • Frameset: Venon Evo Carbon SL
  • Groupset: SRAM Rival 11-speed
  • Wheelset: Prime Attaquer V2 Aluminium Clincher Disc
  • Tyres: Michelin Power Gravel TS TLR 700x40mm
  • Handlebar: Prime Orra Gravel Handlebar
  • Stem: FSA NS SMR Aluminium
  • Saddle: Vitus Race Performance
  • Price: £2,999.99/$3,399/€3,399.99/AU$5,399.99

Vitus Venon Evo-GR Rival eTap AXS 1x

Vitus Venon Evo GR Rival AXS. - Vitus
  • Frameset: Venon Evo Carbon SL
  • Groupset: SRAM Rival eTap AXS
  • Wheelset: Prime Primavera 44 Carbon Disc Wheelset
  • Tyres: Michelin Power Gravel TS TLR 700x40mm
  • Handlebar: Prime Orra Carbon Aero
  • Stem: FSA NS SMR Aluminium
  • Saddle: Vitus Race Performance
  • Price: £3,499.99/$4,099/€ 3,899.99/AU$6,299.99

Venon Evo-GR Force eTap AXS 1x

Vitus Venon Evo GR Force AXS. - Vitus
  • Frameset: Venon Evo Carbon SL
  • Groupset: SRAM Force eTap AXS
  • Wheelset: Prime Primavera 44 Carbon Disc Wheelset
  • Tyres: Michelin Power Gravel TS TLR 700x40mm
  • Handlebar: Prime Orra Carbon Aero
  • Stem: FSA NS SMR Aluminium
  • Saddle: Vitus Race Performance
  • Price: £4,299.99/$4,899/€4,799.99/AU$7,699.99

Vitus Venon Evo Frameset

  • Frameset: Venon Evo
  • Price: £1,799.99/$1,999/€1,999.99/AU$3,299.99

Warren Rossiter

Senior technical editor

Warren is our senior technical editor for road and gravel. With 27 years of experience, he’s been testing bikes since before BikeRadar and the internet existed! With an encyclopedic knowledge of bikes and what some would consider an excessive bike collection, Warren has been the mastermind behind our road Bike of the Year tests for over a decade. He has penned more than 2,750 bike tests. His words have been published in Cycling Plus, Bikeradar, Mountain Biking UK, What Mountain Bike, Urban Cyclist, Procycling, Cycling News, Total Bike, Total Mountain Bike, T3 and a whole host of other publications. You’ll also find Warren as a regular on the BikeRadar Podcast and our YouTube channel. He’s covered all the 21st-century innovations in cycling and ridden in Europe, Asia, Australasia, America and Africa. He’s been a judge for the Eurobike awards and judged handmade bikes at Bespoked.

  • Height: 6’2”/188cm
  • Bike size:58cm/L/XL
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