First look: The Velduro Vandal revealed at Shanghai 2026
The Velduro team unveiled the Vandal all-mountain emtb at Shanghai Cycle Expo 2026 last week, and mountain bike YouTuber Andy Sykes was one of the first people to get eyes on it, sitting down with our co-founder Dan Wallace for a full booth tour.
It is a 3D printed prototype at this stage, but it gives a clear picture of what we have been working on.
The Vandal is our all-mountain bike, designed to sit alongside the Rogue rather than replace it. Not every trail system in the world calls for a full-on enduro build, and not every rider wants one. As Dan explained to Andy at the show:
"Not every rider needs that amount of travel. Not every place in the world has that kind of terrain. We wanted to create an all-mountain that was just as capable, just as performance-based, but suited to more flowing trails and less mountainous regions."
That said, it is still built to shred. Travel is 160mm up front and 150mm at the rear, adjustable down to 145mm. Flip chips let you run it as a mullet or a full 29er, and a second flip chip changes the suspension progression to keep the ride feeling playful, whether you are on air or coil.
The ITRA mid-pivot idler suspension system carries over from the Rogue, sitting 4mm higher on the Vandal. It is a design we have a lot of confidence in, and Dan was pretty straightforward about why it stayed: "It's working. So if it works, keep it." Andy noticed the slimmer profile straight away in person, pointing out the down tube is 5mm narrower than the Rogue's, yet the Vandal still fits both a 700Wh and an 800Wh battery. Power comes from the DJI Avinox M2S motor system and we are targeting a finished weight of 20.6 to 20.8kg.
One of the most requested changes from Rogue riders building up framesets was the charge port position. On the Rogue, it restricted which coil shocks you could run, which was a real frustration for custom builds. That has been sorted on the Vandal:
"One of the barriers we had with the Rogue was where our charge port was. It meant we were restricted on certain coils. This time around, we have moved it."
Like the Rogue, the Vandal will be available as a complete bike or a frameset for riders who want to build it their way. Two production models and two spec levels are planned.
Back home, Brook McDonald has been doing what Brook McDonald does on the Rogue. Dan summed it up well:
"We give him the bike. We ask him to break it. If he can't break it, we're stoked."
That same approach is going to carry through to the Vandal. Frame samples are due by the end of July 2026, and from there, they will head out for real-world testing across a range of conditions and climates. We learned a lot putting the Rogue through its paces on New Zealand trails first, and we are taking the same philosophy into the Vandal's development.
The Rogue also picked up the Gold Award in the creative competition at the show, with bikes now in 12 countries. Not bad for a brand that started right here in NZ.
Andy's verdict after seeing the Vandal up close was short and sweet: "It looks sick. I can't wait to try it." We will keep you posted as testing gets underway.
