Whyte are celebrating 10 years of making bikes with their most extensive range to date. There is a new sub 5k mountain bike, their first ever 29er and three new cyclocross bikes, plus upgrades to their acclaimed T120 full-susser and a carbon hard XC tail racer.
First up is the 146 X, the ultimate mountain bike which Whyte claim descends like a downhill bike and climbs like a cross country bike. It costs £4999, weighs 24.8lb and here’s the techy stuff: Kashima equipped, 1 x 10 speed, Monocoque frame, 150 mm of travel, Easton Haven Carbon wheels, reverb post and new e-13 light weight trail chain device.
Excitingly, the 829 is Whyte’s first ever foray into 29 inch wheels which offers “all the traction benefits of larger wheels but without compromising on stability and handling,” they say. It’s an aluminium bike (carbon 29er to follow soon) with a trail geometry, excellent mud clearance, rear adjustability and crud catcher mounts. Tech spec: new XT 3 x 10 groupset and Fox f100 RL evolution fork.
Building on the success of previous urban bikes, now Whyte have added three cyclocross bikes, to their range, all with disc brakes - the Saxon Cross, Charing Cross and Kings Cross.
The £1299 Saxon Cross is the cyclocross race bike with knobbly tyres and race ready equipment. You can see Whyte’s racers at The Peaks this year competing on these.
The £999 Tiagra equipped Charing Cross and £799 Sora equipped Kings Cross bikes are urbanised with rack and guard mounts for commuters, tourers or utility riders who want a speedy, comfy and capable bike for all terrains. The relaxed geometry is not typically cyclocross in style and comes from Whyte’s mountain bike heritage. They believe that mountain bikes “are bikes you can truly ride off-road on technical terrain!”
The acclaimed T120 full suspension mountain bike has some excellent upgrades including a larger rear shock for a more linear ride and a 30.9 seat tube for greater gravity dropper choice. The upgraded m6 front triangle shaves 680g off the 2011 model - all for just under 2k in price.
The 20c carbon hardtail continues Whyte’s tradition of making super lightweight and strong XC race bikes but with geometry that can be ridden with confidence on the trail. Whyte say it is “strong and compliant, stiff yet comfortable. Slimmed down rear seat stays offer comfort and by housing the rear caliper inbound we have made the rear stays thinner in order to save weight.” The 20c is even lighter than its previous incarnation the 19c and will be raced by the Whyte team and Billy Whenman across the season.
Posted on Thursday, 18 August 2011
