Hello all,

I’m considering buying a Whyte G-160 RS. The bike feels great to me in the car-park test and the kit seems good also (£250 cassette notwithstanding).

I’m concerned about the bearing life of Whytes. A friend has a G-150 and goes through ~3 sets of bearings a year, all replaced under warranty of course (he does the removal/installation as apparantly this isn’t included on the warranty?!). The frame design seems to be fundamentally the same as the G-160, with the lack of seatstay bridge and weedy little rocker contributing to the demise of the bearings. He loves the bike but cites this bearing issue as a big downside.

Does anyone have any experience of these bikes and any issues e.g. bearing wear & Whyte’s service?
The other bike in the frame is a Giant Reign 1, the shorter frame reach and longer stem of which gives a different feel in the car-park. Experience says it’ll be rock-solid for years though. Its a head vs. heart decision.

Cheers.

I have a 160rs and owned it from May this year, the main reason I changed from Orange to Whyte was costing. I paid £2900 for mine where the same specced Five was closer to £4300,so for the £1400 saving a few problems were always going to be offset.

The bike itself , after a few days backing to forthing to the locals bikeshops fingerbanging the RS I decided to get a leg over one and to be fair I have not been disappointed at all. Its hard 5 hard days in the Lakes in the rain mud and rocks and from the group who went up (6 of us and 5 rode alpines !!) only the Whyte kept its rider 🙂 Ok its a little heavy at 14kgs for the large but I really didn’t feel that on the climbs the suspension tune was bang on almost hardtail like and that 50t on the rear helped on Helvellyn . Pointing it down was the best part, low bb means it really gets nice and low and the Lyriks are brilliant now with a few tokens in. Its also had a tough weekend at the Ardrock were after a miss route on stage one I had to ride it like it had been left outside the local Spar unchained, again wheels bearings and bike came away un scathed.
As for bearings well cleaning the bike and looking after it are part of the course and touch wood the only thing ive changed was the Headset to a Hope as it was a little gritting ,I spoke to the lbs who did the headset at £30 to offset the warranty that’s a win. and that’s the thing its warrantied, these bikes scream ride me hard and up to now its not disappointed.

Three of my mates have them and they’ve had no issues at all with bearings.

Strangely all three of them took ages to get to like the bike, one of them has just sold his as he couldn’t get on with it.

No idea about the bearings, but having ridden a friend’s I really liked it, but it feels a bit dull unless ridden aggressively. You probably know that though.

I’ve had mine since August 2016 and had no issues with bearings at all. I did have problems with the shock but that was replaced with an upgraded model after the second return and the dropper but that was fixed and it’s been spot on ever since.

I also took a long time to get used to it but do like it (very low BB so lots of pedal strikes). It needs to be ridden faster than I can do it justice but every now and again I get up to enough speed and suddenly it all makes sense and feels amazing. Trouble is that’s the same point my brain shouts “too fast” and I jam on the brakes, invariably falling off in the process.

my G150 seems to go through bearings quite quickly, uasually the ones at the back of the chain stays. those 2 have just been changed again only a couple of months since it had a full set fitted, hoping that was a one of as they normally last a bit longer than that.

also thinking about the G160RS, anybody seen any mediums at a good price?

Thank-you for the replies, all, and your detialed response, stevedoc.

It’s encouraging to hear that bearings on these newer models seem to be better on the longevity fornt, even if the design is broadly similar to that employed in the past.

I’m aware that the geometry of this bike is relatively extreme and as such it responds best to an active riding style, as well as steeper and rougher terain. My current bike is a smaller and steeper bike. Whilst it is really good in the situations it’s designed for (and pedals really well) I’m finding my preferences shifting, so I thought I’d try something a bit bigger this time around. I’m slightly wary of the low BB and carbon cranks though. It’ll be interesting to see how the two go together.

toomba, I am collecting my G-160 from Winstanleys later tonight. Mediums seem to be in stock:
https://www.winstanleysbikes.co.uk/product/80778/Whyte_G160_RS_275inch_2017_Bike

huckersneck ..Crankboots are a must for the crank arms, even after 4 months I managed to clip a rock yesterday on mine the boot saved it .I also changed the shock to a rc3 plus (piggy back ) which changed the ride enormously from the original shock. Its a long bike and my biggest worry is its going to cost me a fortune in brake pads because pointing it down hill the faster you go the better it gets ..and Im sure that’s been said in reviews too ..love mine

also thinking about the G160RS, anybody seen any mediums at a good price?

YGM

I’m concerned about the bearing life of Whytes. A friend has a G-150 and goes through ~3 sets of bearings a year, all replaced under warranty of course

As someone who sells Whytes (amongst other bikes, but we sell a lot more Whytes than anything else) I can tell you that the only issues with bearing life come from those who are a little too au fait with Muc-Off… Muc-Off is nasty stuff, very acidic and will eat your paint even if left on long enough! So it gets to work rather quickly on poor old bearing seals… Wash your bike with soapy water, or use a PH neutral cleaner, and you won’t have any problems!

Mboy,

While you’re in here on the bearings discussion. Is it for any dealer to replace or just the one you bought from ? I don’t have an issue currently on my T130, but just wondering if/when it ever happens.

I’ll happily change them myself if needed but nice to have someone else do it.

stevedoc, I am definately getting some protection on them! Both on the ends for strikes as well as faces for rub. I had it suggested to me that the bike would come with them (as well as tubeless valves) but I guess I’ll find out tonight what the deal is.
I would be tempted by a reservoir’d shock but suspect that there’s definately no way to get a cage in the front tringle with one fitted. I haven’t used a bag for years on my regular routes and won’t be going back, so that sort of settled things. I have read about the lack of progression in the stock set-up however, so will have a fiddle with the shock almost immediately I should think.

mboy, thanks for the insight on cleaning agents. I have Fenwicks and tried to find some pH info or the MSDS but haven’t managed yet. Any impression of how it performs?

Mboy

bearing life on mine doesn’t seem that good particuly for the chainstay rear ones and i don’t generally clean it with anything but a gentle hose down and then usually only if the bike is still wet when i get home.
as i live in the lakes it does spend most of its time being ridden through losts of water and down trails with rivers running down them as well as the muddy boggy ones so i guess that plays a part on bearing life.

hasn’t put me of the bike though and would have another one but as my next bike will be used with the G150 as a spare bike i’ll probably go for something else.