Kyle Strait's prototype Vitus DH bike built for Red Bull Rampage 2023 is a thing of beauty

A hand-painted downhill bike on a Utah hillside
The custom finished and built Vitus VT-01 Prototype (Image credit: Vitus Bikes)

Kyle Strait is one of the favorites for this year's Red Bull Rampage competition that kicks off a week today. The riders, builders and race mechanics are already hard at it in the Utah mountains. This year Strait will be competing on a very special one-of-a-kind bike. Dubbed the Vitus VT-01 Prototype, not only is it a completely custom-built Vitus development model, but it's also been stunningly hand-painted by Jake Wilkins of Cathedral One designs, who's worked on Kyle's Rampage frames in the past.

The paint job is inspired by Kyle and his family's love of classic country and western music, while the components were all selected by Strait himself. Let's take a look at this stunning mountain bike...

A man inspects a mountain bike frame

Kyle Strait admiring the VT-01 frameset with Jake Wilkins (Image credit: Vitus Bikes)

A beautiful mountain bike on a hillside

Strait's Vitus VT-01 Prototype has 200mm travel via a RockShox Ultimate pairing of a Boxxer fork and Vivid Air shock (Image credit: Vitus Bikes)

Close up of a bike frame

The classic country design is a homage to the Strait family's love of C&W music (Image credit: Vitus Bikes)

Close up of a bike frame

The hand-painted finish also features references to the Strait family themselves (Image credit: Vitus Bikes)

A man with a mountain bike on a hillside

The man himself with his stunning custom bike (Image credit: Vitus Bikes)

Tech specs: Kyle Strait's Vitus VT-01 Prototype

  • Frame: Vitus VT-01 Prototype [200mm travel, custom 435mm chainstay, flip-chip in high/progressive setting]
  • Fork: RockShox Boxxer Ultimate 200mm travel
  • Shock: RockShox Vivid Air Ultimate
  • Wheels: Stan's Flow
  • Tires: Kenda Prototype 27.5x2.45-inch front and rear
  • Bar/stem: Deity Blacklabel 38mm rise, Intake direct mount
  • Saddle: SDG Patriot I-beam
  • Grips: Sensus Meaty Paw signature model
  • Pedals: Sensus Crue
  • Drivetrain: SRAM X01-DH 7-speed
  • Cranks: SRAM X0-DH 36T chainring
  • Brakes: SRAM with 220mm HS2 rotors

Red Bull Rampage takes place on October 13. You can watch the action unfold in various ways depending on where you live. ESPN+ will exclusively stream the event in the U.S., and the competition will be available live on Red Bull TV in all other countries. To stay up to date on the latest Red Bull Rampage information, including venue details, ESPN+ and Red Bull TV tune-in times, and spectator info, visit Redbull.com

Richard Owen
Editor, Bike Perfect

Rich has been riding mountain bikes for over 30 years and mostly likes hitting flowy yet technical trails that point downhill. A jack of many trades, he has competed in cross-country, enduro and long distance MTB races. A resident of North Devon, Rich can mostly be found pedaling furiously around his local trails, or slightly further afield in the Quantocks, the Mendips or Exmoor. 

Current rides: Merida One-Forty 6000, Banshee Paradox

Height: 175cm

Weight: 68kg