So I have the sign off for a new bike and I’m thinking either:

Stock Whyte G150 with tweaks to the spec, wheels & brakes

or

Orange 5 650b custom build, Pikes, Hope brakes, Hope hubs, Renthal, Reverb etc

All up will have a budget of £3.5 – £4K

Riding is mostly around Winchester, more XC than full on Trail with trips to Wales/Lakes/Debyshire planned. Not much for trail centers but may do BPW during Wales trip.

I’m sure there are loads of other ‘better’ options but I’m looking, ideally, for British, hard wearing, robust and lowish maintenance.

Thoughts from the collective welcomed.

Bump

I’m surprised the Orange 5 = 5-bar gate = filing cabinet collective haven’t picked up this post yet 😀

Deffo the G150. Very fun and capable but at the same time I was impressed with how it went up hills with all that travel. 5 will need more effort pedal wise IMHO. Pikes are fantastic though and a must on either build.

@variflex cheers got a mate who loves his 5 (26″) but seems quite unsophisticated if fully meeting my need for hard wearing and robust.

Fairly big money to drop so demo is a must but that’s hard with custom builds 🙂

I’ve had a couple of 26″ 5’s and now have a 5 29 and can highly recommend them.

What are the 5s like climbing? as I’ve always thought they would struggle!

@chestrockwell Thanks I think a test ride of a 5 Pro would help as most of the spec I’m thinking of will only improve it.

@bikemanspen My riding buddy is rapid up hill on his 5 but he’s very fit and weighs 9 stone soaking wet!

If you’re looking at getting a G150 and upgrading a few parts, then you might as well go for the G150 Works with X01, X0 Trail brakes, Rail 50 wheels, etc for £4k.

I love mine, such a fun bike to ride, capable climber and very quick.

You’re welcome to have a roll on mine sometime. I’m in the Midlands.

@getonyourbike thanks for the offer I’m in Winchester but do occasional visit Stratford-upon-Avon so if I’m up your way in the next month or so I might want to take you up on the offer.

What are the 5s like climbing? as I’ve always thought they would struggle!

They grip very well on the rough stuff so are good for that. On fire roads etc they go up no worries, not great, not bad.

I posted this on another thread, but I guess it’s relevant here too.

I think my 26″ Five climbs pretty well and for me it does. In fact my times up most climbs are not much different whether I’m on the Five or a HT 29er. The HT can be a little quicker if it’s really smooth or really steep (although rarely more than a minute over a 30 minute climb) and if it gets rough the difference becomes much smaller (with the Five winning on some climbs). But I have a Factory CTD shock with 5 different levels of platform, which I’m quite happy to fiddle with on climbs (gives me something to do) and I’m very much a sit and spin climber. For me, climbs are all about measuring my effort out over the whole climb. Somebody with a more aggressive or active climbing style would hate the Five and probably be much faster on the HT.

No contest, Five. Aside from its fantastic handling and fun factor, there’s no better example of a robust, trouble-free frameset designed for UK conditions (but perfectly capable of a trip to the Alps).

owned both – the g150 climbs a million times better than the five could ever dream of doing, and believe me im a climber! multi-pivot = win for climbing ability

fives are nice and easy maintenance, but are fairly horrid looking frames/bikes unless kitted to the max, but whyte offer free bearings for life to original owner so its not as if thats an issue anways, i popped the caps off mine after 3 months and they are still compltetely free of water and still had all the grease nice and clean, so they are obviously well protected/and dont get water ingress the same, have a look at a set of bearings on a five after 3 months use and i bet they are buggered and cracked/rough

fives are good fun d/h but personally i feel absolutly no slower what so ever on the whyte, its just as quick and is more confidence inspiring to me (although my five was 26″)

i wouldnt go back to a five now, not a chance

@wl Thanks and yes I’d love to ride in the Alps more, I did a couple of blue runs in Morzine in the summer on a bog standard hired HT and I can see why people go for a week of uplifts 🙂

@Oscillate Wildly That’s interesting I’d forgotten about the lifetime bearings with Whyte – I assume labour is not covered so if I’m able to do the bearings myself that would be fine. I’ll need to talk to my LBS about that as they are Whyte dealers.

Not sure about the looks issue, I don’t mind the 5 as I’m a fairly function before form guy although great form and great function is the best of all worlds. I’m thinking fairly high end on the spec if I go the 5 route so looks wise it might not be too much like a filing cabinet 😉

Seems like I really need to test ride both

the g150 climbs a million times better than the five could ever dream of doing, and believe me im a climber! multi-pivot = win for climbing ability

My own experience contradicts this with admittedly different bikes, but comparable as they were the T-129 vs the Orange Gyro, the gyro climbed much better for me. I believe it was more about the centre of gravity being lower on the Gyro, than either suspension system working better than the other (though I think the single pivot pulling the rear end up does help).

For some reason, I’m faster uphill on the Five than I was on my multi-pivot Trance. I put it down to the shock being so much better and located in a position where it is easy for me to fiddle with it. But who knows? It could be down to the way the suspension stiffens up in the granny ring or it may just be psychological.

What we can say is that people who own Fives like them and people who own G150s like them too. So, it sounds as though you can’t go wrong.

So now got full approval from budget holder 🙂

LBS too busy to chat about Whyte G150 and they’ve not called, promised, after 2 weeks.

Orange dealer rang to say sorry I’ve not done the quote, is Friday OK?

Looks like the 5 then 🙂

One dealer is too busy selling bikes and the other can’t shift them 😉

Don’t worry both are good bikes getbyourself test rides and see if you can solve what can only be described as a “high quality problem”

So quote on custom 5 was way, way over the agreed budget so that’s probably a no! My local Whyte dealer tells me I’ll like the new range that’s about to be released so it looks like it might be a Whyte, subject to spec and demo, as at least the Whyte dealer is happy to stay within or very near to my budget!

Yep, the new whytes are starting to come through, saw a 603 in green in the shop today. New colour schemes are pretty good too. I dont think the spec is going to change massively but the frame might have some minor mods on the new G150….or haggle on a 2014 model as there are a few around still.

Bang for buck I think they are fantastic.

I’m only about 20 miles north of you, but I reckon either are overkill unless you’re getting to the lakes, dartmoor etc. regularly. But thats your choice of course. I’d suggest a least trying the lighter options in the Whyte range though, just for perspective like, they aren’t the noodly wobble fests of old .. T-129s seems pretty capable too.

Currently deciding between a 29C or M109C myself 🙂

Aye I know the 5 or the G150 are a bit much for my local stuff but the lighter weight stuff has always seeme, sorry, lightweight? The new Whyte mid-range stuff looks like it might be on the money though and I’m seriously leaning towards the new model I’ve seen a sneak preview of.
🙂

hmm… T130 looks nice..sounds like a few manufacturers may be going 130mm travel this year.

The new SCR versions of the range look wicked.

I have had a few Whyte bikes in the past.

JW1
PRST-1

and more recently a 2010 901

Loved them!

They come up big for their size, I replaced the 901 with a Specialized Camber.

Rode my mates G150 up and over Iron Keld the other night and it was a sprightly climber and a sure footed descender. Its now on my list…

hmm… T130 looks nice..sounds like a few manufacturers may be going 130mm travel this year.

Yeah…. Might’ve accidentally ordered one.

I’ve test ridden both the G150 & Five, during riding I thought the G150 was much more faff free, you didn’t have to remember to fiddle with the shock before climbing or descending – while the Five did feel fun on the downs if you forgot to change the shock setting when riding along on the flat or climbing I thought the bike felt very much like 2 halves of a bike cut & shut together. The G150 felt much more balanced.

Personally going for the T130 as the G150 is realistically too much for my normal riding.

Do they do a SCR version of that T130?

Excuse my ignorance, but what’s a scr version?

They are doing single chain ring versions of a few models and dubbing then SCR versions.

Basically factory 1x 10 set ups.

T130 looks good..but then so does Process 134 😕

Yep there’s an SCR. Any reviews around?

T130

Phwoar, that T130 looks lovely – even the base model has a great spec.

does anybody know if Whyte are bringing out a new G150 and if so when, or indeed when the T130 is available?

My current short list of new bikes has just been increased…

does anybody know if Whyte are bringing out a new G150 and if so when, or indeed when the T130 is available?

I imagine they’ll update it for 2015 they are part of the bike industry after all!

I must say – I don’t think there’s another model where I’d be happy with any of the bikes in the range from a colour point of view…

So I had a chat with my LBS and I’m looking at the T-130 Works SCR but maybe swapping the brakes out for my preference which is Hope Tech 3s. Also not 100% sure about the wheels but they can also be swapped out within my budget.

T-130 Works

Only other concern is 1 x 11 running costs but I’m good at cleaning my drive trains and making them last so thinking the 1 x 11 shouldn’t be excessive to maintain.

Does look good, noticed the T130 on their website a few days ago and am very interested (got a £1600 credit note to use in Bike UK, who sell Whyte).

My brief is for an all-round trail bike, which is responsive, yet still stable/confidence inspiring enough to take on red runs at Bike Park Wales. My mates are on 160mm machines (Orange Alpine and Cube Stereo) and balk at my suggestion of a 130mm trail bike for such trails, but my argument is that it will likely be a lot more fun/responsive for standard trail centres!

My only concerns with the T130 are:

It seems pretty short. I’m 5’10” and usually go for a Medium frame. The 905 hardtail had a 618mm toptube and 425 chainstays, which felt ”right”. Whyte claim that the T130 is basically a full suspension version of their 900 series hardtails…yet the Medium frame has 594mm for the top tube and mega short chainstays of 420mm, a steaper head angle and longer stem. I’m therefore torn between a Medium and a Large. I fear the medium may be a bit twitchy and nervous. But then the Large may be a bit unresponsive in comparison. Any views on this?

Im the same height as you at 5’10 and have a 909. If the T130 is going to be shorter then I would go for the larger frame and at worst run a short stem.

Ok thanks. How are you finding the 909 by the way?

It seems pretty short. I’m 5’10” and usually go for a Medium frame

I guess for a Whyte but 594mm eTT is considered very long on a medium bike! Take someing like a SC 5010 as an example and its 584mm for the medium. 618mm on the 905 medium is way loong