While some bike brands are divvying their dirt road, drop bar bike lineup into countless categories like gravel riding, gravel racing, gravel touring, or bikepacking, Pivot updated the Vault with one thing in mind: it should be a drop bar bike that can do everything.
To be clear, Pivot doesn’t call the Vault a gravel bike, but rather a “multi-dimensional drop bar road bike.” Don’t get too hung up on the “R” word though. The Vault is intended to be stiff enough for pros to put massive watts down at events like the Dirty Kanza, but versatile enough for bikepacking and singletrack, with the ability to run 650B wheels with two-inch wide tires, or 700c X 45 tires.
Let’s talk about the versatility of the Vault. Riders are using this category of bike — the cross or gravel bike — in a variety of ways. Some want the maximum amount of comfort in a gravel bike for long days in the saddle. That means running a 27.2mm rigid post that will flex a little bit over bumpy stuff for a comfy ride.
Others want seat clearance so they can take a gravel bike down some sketchy singletrack. That means running a 30.9mm dropper post.
To satisfy the desires of both, Pivot came up with Iso Flex. The Iso Flex is essentially an uber-durable seat post shim that fills seat tube space between 27.2mm and 30.9mm seat post and tube diameters.
It’s rubberized on the outside of the shim to reduce any slippage between the Iso Flex piece and the seat tube. Then there is a collar on the Iso Flex to clamp in a 27.2mm-diamter seat post.
The suspension fork is another component of the Vault’s versatility and something that gravel bikes are seeing more of. The Vault can be run with a fork like the Fox 32 Step-Cast AX (Adventure Cross). The Step-Cast AX is a 40mm travel Fox 32 with Fit-4 damper that will work with 27.5- or 29-inch wheels.
The Vault frame is full carbon and has been designed with 1x or 2x drivetrains in mind, it has hidden top tube bag and fender mounts, a BB386EVO bottom bracket for torsional stiffness, weighs 998g, and is sized from XS to XL, which will fit riders from 5-feet to 6’5″. There’s also internal cable routing and a battery port for Di2 above the bottom bracket on the downtube.
The removable front derailleur mount can be covered up with a classy Pivot-branded cover, or used with a front derailleur. The Vault has room to clear a power meter on the crank arm and room for sub-compact chain rings.
Geometry varies based on size. On an XS frame, the head angle is 70°; a S is 71.5°; and sizes M through XL are 72°. For the respective sizes, the seat angle leans at 74.8, 74, and 72 degrees. Chainstay length measures 420mm across all sizes.
The Vault is available in a frameset for $2,700 or a Shimano Ultegra or SRAM Force build.
The Ultegra build is priced at $5,200 for a Vault with 11-speed Shimano Ultegra drivetrain, DT Swiss CR 1600 wheels, a rigid 27.2mm seatpost, and Maxxis Rambler tires.
The SRAM Force build includes a 12-speed SRAM AXS e-Tap drivetrain, Reynolds TRx wheels, Maxxis Rambler tires, and a rigid 27.2mm seatpost and sells for $6,700.
For more information, visit the Pivot Cycles website.
