I’m selling my two bikes to buy a new bike so it will be my only bike. i need it to do everything i ride well.
I mainly ride xc/trail and all mountain riding. It will occasionly be used for downhill. It will also be my enduro/gravity enduro race bike. It will be pushed hard but i try to stay smooth 🙂
Ive got it down to two bikes, the Whyte 146s or the Nukeproof mega am pro.
My only hang ups on the whyte is the fox 32 rl fit 150 15mm fork. i currently own two sets of revelaton rl 140 20mm forks and they are smooth as butter and very well dampened. How does the fox compare? also i have heard they are mor flexy. I’m pretty sure the lyrik on the mega will be awesome. My hang ups on the mega are how good it will be for fast laps of trail centres and xc and also the shorter 170mm cranks on the medium size bike.
Any sensible advise will be appreciated ,cheers.

Two quite different bikes. The Mega I’d say is more focused on going down and slogging up, the Whyte is a more all rounder so would be a load quicker/easier around trail centres and stuff at the cost of being slightly slower/less suited to pure gravity stuff.

but the mega is under 30lb ,same head angle ,steep seat tube angle.
i currently ride a marin wolf ridge with rev 140mm forks and a reverb and it weighs approx 31lb it and i find spot on for fast trail riding but just slightly lacking for gravity enduro racing.

My mega pro isn’t under 30lb!

i own a mega it can be ridden for everthing.
But it is aimed at the downs. It hard work on the pedaling front

I think the Whyte breaks and the Mega doesn’t (or not since it got new chainstays!)

I could be wrong but I think the Whyte frame will be lighter.

I own a Mega with a decent build and will be perfect for what you describe. Why not buy a discounted frame and strip your current bikes for parts.

I too owned a Wolf Ridge briefly but hated it, the Mega climbs in a way the Wolf Ridge can’t live with and descends even better 🙂

146 is a long travel xc bike.
Mega is a short travel dh bike.

Should also add that I run the standard shock. Lots of folks change it for a coil for DH duty. I mustn’t ride hard enough though…

the whyte is way lighter, its carbon. 26lb claim for full bike.
how heavy is your mega pro then steveh?

sorry chain reaction claims 30.2lb for the mega.

In that case Daveyboywonder has it, they are too different to compare.

my ns surge is a ‘dh hardtail’ but it rides all day xc a dream!

a carbon santa cruz v10 may be 4lb lighter than a alumimium specialized demo. does’nt mean there to different to be compared.

Its not the weight that separates them.
Would I want to race the mega on a pedally course-No.
Would I want to thrape a 146 down a dh course-No.
Horses for courses,thats all.

My Mega is a sensible but not stupid build and is 31.8lbs with a large ano frame, Reverb, Lyrik RC2DH, Flows on Hope and a mix of XT/XTR/SLX with 2×9 gears.

I suspect the weight quoted might not include pedals (add about a pound) as they aren’t in the spec list.

As above, it’s a mini DH bike that pedals really well. I’m faster both up and down than I was on my sub 30lb Commencal Meta 5 – stiffer, more direct, steep seat angle keeps weight over the pedals. I love it but it’s not a fast climber.

As for 170 cranks, just pedal deeper into the turns and you’ll reap the rewards!

As for 170 cranks, just pedal deeper into the turns and you’ll reap the rewards!

Or put 175mm’s on?

serious question, would you think that the 146 is less capable/weaker with it being carbon than my marin wolf ridge because i thrape that down dh courses (with dual ply tyres on) at full pace.

Because I’ve seen 10-12 broken ones so far. 😐

ive snapped a commencal 5 ,but who did’nt 🙂

@rorschach. that is worrying!

I keep reading about them breaking (and I assume they are being used a trail bikes).

Whereas there are plenty using the Mega as a miniDH without problems.

I think it would suit what you described.

so i’m getting the general idea that the mega would suit me better?

Isn’t that 30.2lb for a small with no pedals? My large is about 31.5-32lb in stock spec with pedals etc.

that does’nt sound to bad,around the same as my wolf ridge.

I replaced the Wolf Ridge with the Mega with the same parts (Fox 36’s were dropped to 140 for the Marin, back upto 160 for the Mega).

If you like your Wolf Ridge you will be amazed by the Mega, especially when you hit the first climb.

what is the mega like along technical flat/undulating trails?

technical is fine hit it hard. flat not so you need to put alot of effort in. Undulating is ok as you can keep the speed.

I’ve just thraped my mega to within an inch of its life for 3 weeks on all manner of dh tracks in several European countries. It didn’t really break much at all.
Its also black, which is good.
That’s all.

With the propedal on on the Monarch it’s nice and firm so makes light work of it.

In fact that’s why I don’t want to swap for a coil. I use the bike for everything (same with my c456), so I like the choices the Monarch gives me.
I don’t doubt that the coil will be far better DH but I spend at least as much time climbing. Whereas the RP23 on the Wolf Ridge didn’t seem to make much difference between each propedal setting, the Monarch really does work.

Loving my Mega weighs in at 32 lb on our b-room scales
love how it climbs but then I am no racer and will never use it to its full potential going down ( too old to bike young )

Jason when do you lot get out for rides as could do with getting out more .

Hi Chris

Since the little fella came along its been alot more random. Used to be every Wednesday. Now it’s Mon, Tues or Wed or not…

My missus is starting a Monday to Friday, 9-5 role soon instead of shifts so I’ll hopefully get some rythm back in my life. Poor Simon has broken his hand at the Mega 🙁

What night works for you?

even with a coil shock, the Mega pedals surprisingly well, very little bob. It more depends on how you’ve built it, i.e. I thought I’d try mine on a 4.5hr trail ride yesterday that was much better suited to my short travel 29er, and boy did i feel it by the end of the ride (mine is on 180s, coil, DH rims, V2s etc etc, so weighs a ton!).

But for serious winch up, then have brilliant fun down and along, it is really rather good. Extended ups are brutal though, especially if everyone else is on lightweight kit!

Kev

Jason I am available any evenings if there is a bimble happening
cant yet do keeping up with racing snakes though

I’m running 2×10, 203mm Hope V2s, Flows, Hans Dampfs – still only weighs 32lb and I can pedal it all day round any of the trail centres – in fact I caught some cyclocrossers on a fireroad climb last time.

LMFAO

Go with the Mega, you can always run less sag for shallow trails – plus stans Crest wheels and the light weight Mountain King 2.2 tyres. That’s my trail setup. It really livens the bike up for that kind of riding.

Whereas there are plenty using the Mega as a miniDH without problems.

didnt the first batch need new chainstays after a small snapping issue.

didnt the first batch need new chainstays after a small snapping issue.

Very few people got it, mostly the silvers – and they rectified it for free by sending everyone redesigned chainstays.

Not many companies would do that, they gave me a free headset as well as there was a tiny tiny tiny mark on my frame that was probably done by the shop.

Consequently all my future bikes are going to be from Nukeproof, they’ve been superb in terms of customer service – whether it be the chainstay issue or me asking them questions by e-mail/phone.

consider also:
Spesh Pitch
Titus El Guapo.

this review suggests serious problems with the Whyte
http://www.bikeradar.com/mtb/gear/category/bikes/mountain/product/review-whyte-146s-12-46373

the pitch and el guapo are not options.
the only problem i can see in that review is the rear is not super stiff. the suspension design works fine on my marin and from what i’ve heard about the whyte ,it seems to work well on that aswell.

it is good to hear the monarch has a firm pro pedal setting.