Doe anyone race xc or marathons etc, on a Whyte T129? I have a bit on money burning a whole in my pocket. Im keen to start XC racing and wondering if I should change my T129 for a Scott Spark 720 or something similar? Im sure its just shiny new bike wanted syndrome, but hey, what the hell 🙂

cheers

Start on the 129, see how you get on. When you start, it won’t be the bike holding you back, but your fitness (even if you’re very fit already – it takes a while to get used to it), technique and experience of racing.

Or buy a new bike anyway. 🙂 But bear in mind that, if you’re getting rid of your Whyte, and end up not enjoying racing, you’ll be stuck with a race bike.

Give it a try on the bike you have first, see if you like it. I’ve got a 129, and would happily race on it. It’d be a fun bike, and I know (after to many years of not racing) that there are many other things unconnected to the fanciness of my bike that I’d need to improve before becoming remotely competitive.

Why sir how about a nice little, relatively cheap, companion for the T-129.
Seemed a blisteringly fast machine to me, but no doubt others are too.

I did a few races on my 129 and initially it is fine. Thing is they’ve got a bit of weight to them and if you start getting competitive you’ll be looking for a change. When you’re racing it’s often on the long climbs that you can do a good bit of overtaking and I could tell I was missing something. I did the Brass Monkeys series this year on a Hardtail Lurcher and really noticed it was way more sprightly on the climbs and motored along any fire rd/flat sections.Frustratingly I didn’t do as well as I hoped but that was down to me and not thé bike…
Without a doubt I’d rather have a lightweight full suss for racing-I’ve tried a friend’s Spesh Carbon Camber and when I get the dollar I’ll get one of those.
I suppose the deal breaker is are you just going to have one bike? My 129 was at home at my local patch,coped well enough (just!) At bpw,tackled the sdw as well as a good no of races. As a 1 bike option they’re ace.But,if you like a bit of trail centre stuff and get an out and out xc bike you’ll be missing out.
I’m lucky enough to have a new G150 for trail action now and will use the hardtail for xc (until I can get a Camber 🙂 )

I did a heap of racing on my blur ltc to start with, I wasn’t taking things that seriously and I learned what I needed to and if it was for me. I now have a nice carbon rocky Mountain to race on…

wow, that’s a cracking deal on the m109. Food for thought, Im going to have to ask advice on a few different bikes now 🙂

cheers

The 109 is cheap at cycle surgery at the moment ,I bought the c and its a very fast ride 😉

Wow, that 109’s a bargain!

If you can have two bikes (or more) then you might want to consider a hardtail – it’s great to have one (or more) of each.