Looking at one of these to purchase and have thrown a leg over one of them and done the few laps of a car park test! Rode a medium and a large and at 5ft 10 I have always rode a medium until I jumped on the whyte and have been swayed towards the large even with the bigger wheels it just fitted better! What height/leg size are you and what size did you go for and any stem swops?
Another thing is the tyres hopefully going to do a deal on swopping the tyres to something more like the XR4 Bonti tubeless tyre not sure on what size though, have you changed tyres what size have you squeezed in ?

Thanks Rich

I put another Ardent on the rear of my T130 Works, the rear came with the race version of the same tyre, no good for winter. Size 2.25. I did try a 2.35 Hans Dampf, too big for the rear, remember the wheel sits closer to one chainstay than the other because of the seat tube offset and Whytes SCR design.

And I’m 5’8” on a medium.

5’10” medium….

Same here 5 10″ on a medium

Cheers so far!

Yep looking at picking mine up next week. 5’10 and medium. Both the shop and Whyte sales guy at cycle show recommended a medium. No planned changes just yet except for a covering of invisiframe. Be good to see how you get on.

5’10” and 32″ inside leg and chose large. Rode the Large and Medium and both would have worked but the large felt better.

Changed bars to Renthall Fat Bar Lite with 2cm rise and the stem to a 60mm with a very slight rise (about 6 degrees I think).

Changed the rear Ardent race for a standard Ardent.

Did a week on dry rocky trails in Spain and loved it.

5’10″(178cm), 32″ inside leg. Went for a Medium at first, had it a month but realised it was just that bit small (too short in terms of top tube and wheelbase).

But shop swapping front triangle of frame over to a Large size today for about £200. Except….the front SRAM shifter broke when they were doing so, meaning I’ve now gotta wait another week or two for replacement parts to come into shop under warranty. Bah.

In terms of stem – 70mm felt about right on the Medium, but I wanted to go shorter (which would have been too cramped on that size frame). So got a 50mm Renthal Apex stem on order for the Large size frame. Could be a touch short in terms of reach, so it may end up being swapped for a 60mm, but we shall see.

I’m 6ft, 33″ inside leg and went for a large, which fits great although I reckon you would probably still find it OK as I have the Reverb collar extended out of the seat tube by 2-3cm, so some reduction in max saddle height is possible.

The S model has different tyres to the Works SCR. The S comes with WTB Trail Boss (front) and Bee Line (rear), both of which are more hardpack focussed. To be fair I haven’t tried them in mud but swapped them straight up for a Specialized Butcher (front) and Purgatory (rear), which are brilliant at this time of year. The tubeless ready wheels meant I swapped to tubeless straight away as well, no issues so far and set up was easy.

Controls wise I haven’t changed the standard bar/stem yet, but I am going to try a 50mm stem soon. I’ve done a couple of trail centres with the standard 70mm stem and it felt fine, I just think I’d prefer it to be a bit shorter reach. The bars are quite low rise so I may swap them eventually, although they aren’t bad to begin with.

It really is an awesome bike for the money.

Im riding a med and im 5’8 and have never felt so comfy on a bike in a long time,tyre wise i stuck a 2.3 minion up front and was running a 2.25 ardent with no problem till i killed it,so iv gone with a spes puragory on the back to see how that survives. I have used a 2.4 high roller 2 with no problems re clearance on the back.perfect allday trail machine .

another spin around the carpark yesterday still torn but swaying to the large still, my only concern would be climbing and keeping the front end down and really steep climbs.Anyone in the Lakes got a T 130 and fancy a meet up on a ride coffee,cake,beer on offer!

Im in staveley if you wanna hook up for a quick spin up kentmere sometime, re steep climbs,iv never had the front end lift whilst climbing anywhere round the lakes.

postreich – see if they’ll swap out the stem for a shorter one for your car park ‘test’

another spin around the carpark yesterday still torn but swaying to the large still, my only concern would be climbing and keeping the front end down and really steep climbs.

I’d say optimise for the descents not the occasional very steep part of climb. If it gets that bad, push.

Ditto, I’ve never had problems with the front wheel lifting on climbs, and that was on the Medium. On the large, it should be even better, with more breathing room and stability. Generally, the bike climbs well – at a decent pace, with good grip and control.

Of course, running a shorter stem will make the steering a little more wandering/twitchy on climbs, but that’s a small price to pay and you’d quickly get used to it.

Lecky I deliver in Staveley! will email you!

Rich

Yeah give me a shout and get something sorted.

Has anyone set the wheels up tubeless? do the rims need a Stans kit or is it a case of just a tubeless valve.
Looking at changing the tyres !

Mine is tubeless, I presume they’re all ready, not much help as the LBS did it for me when they were building the bike…

As far as I am aware they have tubes in as stock !

Rich, the rims are pre taped and the valves come in the box. You just need a bit of sealant, that’s all.

If you’re after a bike, I know someone who can help! Extra special nice price suits you sir… :-p

The rims are UST so you could run UST tyres on them without sealant but most will run tubeless ready tyres. I have set mine up tubeless, just swap the valves (you should have got the tubeless valves with the bike) put on your tyres, add sealant and go. I managed to set up one wheel using just a track pump at home, first by seating one side of the tyre using the inner tube, carefully removing the inner tube and pumping hard to seat the other side. I then removed the core from the valve and added sealant that way. The second wheel wasn’t so easy and I had to get the tyre beads seated with an air line at the LBS. Both tyres were tubeless ready Maxxis Ardent 2.25s.

Just checked and the rims on the S model are tubeless ready not UST, I have the Works model and they are UST, no difference though, same methods apply.

Mboy supporting my LBS not ordered but they have stock! msg me deal 😉

Did the Ardent 2.25s sit okay in the rear?

I’ve just had a T129s and its worrying how close my 2.25 Nobby Nic is to the one side of the rear triangle. I’m sure I could hear it rubbing at times on a ride.

Yeah – mine rubs with the Nobby Nic (T-129) a little, I have had better results with a Bontrager 29-3 though could use something with a touch more bite for winter!

I rode the recommended med around the same car park, you were delivering and drinking coffee whilst watching 😆
I would want a large, felt too short and too low. Also required upwards of 250psi to get anywhere near 30% sag!!…….
RM Altitude ftw 😆

The WTB rims on the S are indeed tubeless ready as already said, they come pre-taped and a pair of presta valves are included with the bike. It is delivered with tubes fitted as standard but I found both the standard WTB tyres and the Specialized tyres I swapped them for all seated with no hassle using just a track pump (both tubeless ready not UST). As said though you need to put some sealant in.

As for the tyre offset in the chain stays, I had the same problem on mine. It ran centrally between the seat stays and the wheel was correctly dished, but it ran too close to the drive side chainstay for my liking. I re-dished the wheel to bias it slightly towards the non-drive side, which centred it between the chain stays and allowed a more nobbly tyre to be fitted. It is slightly offset between the seat stays now but there is no issue with clearance up there.

Was it just a case of loosen the spokes on one side by half a turn and tighten them on the opposite by half a turn or am I going to need someone who knows how to true wheels properly to sort that?

somouk – yes I basically did that. You can do it with the wheel in the frame fairly easily and can keep an eye on the clearance side to side. Its worth measuring the offset between the rim and stays before you start and during the process to see how far you’ve moved it as well.

I’ve now spent some time on the new Large size T130 frame (having changed from a Medium). And…it feels much better. In fact, I’d just say it feels ‘’right’’. The length feels balanced, with plenty of room and the front end no longer feels too low. Conversely, the medium just never felt right.

Thank you so much to those who have listened to my banging on about it like a broken record, and offered their advice! It’s really helped. I guess it’s a real lesson too – 1. Always test ride both sizes, even if you presume one size will be more appropriate than the other. I have always been a medium, but for this particular bike, I am clearly not. 2. Trust your instincts on how the bike feels to you as an individual, regardless of what the shop advise. It was complicated further on this occasion by the fact that even Whyte themselves’ were adamant I should be a Medium.

Currently, I am just running the bike with the standard 750mm bars and 70mm stem. Even at 5’10” it feels good reach wise, but I think the ideal (for my arm length, height etc) will be around 60mm. 50mm would be my choice, all things being equal, but 50mm may even be a tad short (even though I’m at the very bottom of the Large size chart!!), unless I switch out to some bars with less backsweep.

What is surprising/a bit shocking, is that (in my opinion), I can’t really imagine the Large T130 fitting anyone over 5’11” that sweetly. I’d even go as far to say as the large would fit someone of 5’8.5” – 5’9” well with a 50mm stem, but this would really depend on whether their inside leg was long enough (probably 31” and upwards).

As above, only my opinion and preference, but glad I made the swap.

Hope this might be of some guidance to prospective buyers.

Seems to be plenty of room with the Ardent 2.25 on the back, I tried a Hans Dampf 2.35 and it was pretty much touching the the right chainstay.

The offset with the rear wheel is normal and is down to the frame design, so I was told by Whyte anyway. Apparently the rear wheel will sit 2mm closer to the right chainstay, added to that there is a 2mm frame tolerance so potentially the wheel could sit 4mm closer to the right chainstay than the left.

I wonder if this is the real reason Whyte specced a different tyre for the rear?

The asymmetrical stays are certainly a design thing to strengthen up the rear end and allow room for a chainset with more than one ring. I dont think the SCR version has the issue as it has symmetrical chainstays but can only run one ring up front.

I’ve redished my wheel during lunch today and it’s moved it a millimeter or two over which even when leaning the bike on its side rolling up and down the road isn’t causing the tyre to rub so hopefully it’s sorted without me buying a stronger wheelset!

I’ll report back after my next ride…

The SCR certainly does have the same issue, I have the works SCR and the rear wheel is much closer to the right chainstay, as confirmed by Whyte. The seat tube is offset at the bottom bracket junction. Doesn’t mean much to me other than I’m limited in rear wheel tyre choice!

re: tyres, I’ve found the Ardents (including the ardent race on the rear) to be superb so far. Granted I’ve only been hammering trail centres, but they’ve been sopping wet, covered in leaves and the tyres have coped great.

My fuel ex has the same poor clearance on one side – and to be honest it’s been nothing but a pain in the ass when buying tyres. Would put me off one of these 🙁

Took mine out on the trails today and no issues at all with rubbing after re-dishing the wheel.

You won’t loose that up on top on wet and misty Wednesday night on Nan Bield.

Is it Enduro enough for you? And will you require an updated wardrobe to suit?

Got my Guantanamo jump suit on order!