London Bike Show Bite – Empire VX8
Exactly one year ago, we were at the London Bike Show checking out a brand new bike from Empire, so it’s pretty refreshing to be standing in the same spot checking out another new bike from the UK brand.
The Empire Ap-1 DH bike was, to be honest, quite dated. In angles, weight and arguably its price (down to production costs) it had been left in the background as a new era of DH bikes have been released in the last few years. Empire have accepted this and created their new concept of DH bike surrounding the manufacturing process found on the MX-6 Enduro frame.
The old Empire DH bike naively came in one size, the new VX8 comes in two – short or long. To create this bike the guys at Empire have actually only re-designed a new front end. The cast swing arm and seat tower are identical to that on the MX6 enduro bike. From a manufacturing point of view, this keeps costs down hugely and is reflected on the end price for us riders. £1399 for a frame with Vivid shock. That’s impressive for a product made entirely in the UK.
The front end of the bike takes on all the DH traits, following its older counterpart the VX8 has a high pivot point with a dedicated chain device to help avoid pedal feedback.
Following the lines of the MX6, the VX8 is designed to take 26 or 275 wheels with a different shock mount and adaptors in the head tube to bring the geometry in line.
Keeping with their history, the Empire still has some cast construction, seat tower and swing arm.
Included in the price of the frame is this specific chain device for the VX8.
It’s surprising Empire can keep the costs so low with all these manufacturing processes, this headtube is machined from one piece of billet.
The geometry looks pretty good on this new bike and on paper it matches up with many other modern DH bikes with a 63 degree head angle for starters.
The bike is still in testing at the moment, but we expect to see it available in the next couple of months. As soon as we can, we will be getting our leg over one of these UK made DH bikes to make sure it’s on track.
Empire VX8 with Vivid £1399
Empire VX8 with Cane Creak DB £1599
