Along with the incredible looking Whyte T120 kid’s bike, Whyte also has a few more very exciting full-suspension bikes on display at the 2018 Cycle Show. We’ll have details of the Whyte S120 and G170 published later, but first of all, let’s see what Whyte has done with the popular Whyte T130 for 2019
This is a bike that has received rave reviews from everyone who has ever ridden one including our very own Wil, who really fell for the 130mm travel trail bike when he tested it a few years back.
For Whyte to take a proven and well-loved bike and update it is a pretty brave move, but we think the updates should make an already capable bike even better.
On the surface, the 2019 Whyte T130 doesn’t appear to have changed all that much. It still comes in either an alloy or carbon version, still has 130mm of travel on the rear and still has great geometry, but look a little closer and you’ll notice 3 major updates.
The first is the rear suspension linkage which has been moved over to the same system that we first saw on the Whyte S150. It’s a much beefier linkage and should improve the overall stiffness of the bike, which is perfect considering that this is one of those bikes that likes to be thrown around more than it’s suspension numbers suggest it should.
The 2nd major update comes with the fork. If you have been following Whyte for the past year or so then you’ll be aware that the company has been playing with different offset forks for 29ers, well that experiment has now moved on to the T130 with a short 37mm offset fork.
Whyte says that the change in offset is to improve front-end grip and also make the most of the boosted front end travel. Yes, the T130 now boasts 140mm of travel up front, (that’s 3). Whyte has also played around with tyre sizes and believes that a shorter offset will improve 2.6in tyre performance too.
The 2019 Whyte T130 will be will come in sizes S – XL in carbon form, but an XS version of the bike is still going to be offered for the alloy model. Geometry highlights include a 65.6º head angle, 75º seat post and 430mm chainstays across the range. Interestingly the geo table we have seen doesn’t mention the reach, but we assume it remains as progressive as before.
We’re pretty eager to get hold of the 2019 Whyte T130 to see how these changes affect the way the bike rides and to see if that extra 10mm of front wheel travel makes an already very capable bike even more so.
Let us know what you think of the 2019 Whyte T130 in the comments section below!
