so i sold my hardtail 5 years ago, and after barely riding a mtb since i've bought an old 2004 whyte46? after buying it i then searched the comments on the bike lol as i always do after an impulse buy. It's got Duc32 upside down forks and it rides pretty well, bearing in mind i am 54 , painfully slow and scared of any dip bigger than a foot , i've serviced the fox shock and it feels a lot better, i'm even getting some vague lockout, the forks have an adjustment setting on them but it doesn't seem to do much, is it clockwise for stiffer? anyone familiar with this fork, it seems very plush. Also i've never ridden anything high end to compare it with so really my question is as a mature beginner would something modern even benefit me, i camre off it today attempting to jump a small kicker about 2ft high and hurt my chest, i don't know what went wrong, is it me or is it just a crap bike? i'm not expecting a santa cruz for the money but it's knocking what little confidence i have
I hated the one I rode in the Pyrenees for a week, years ago. Lots of travel, very tall, twitchy steering relative to the travel. I always felt I was on top of it rather than 'in it' if that makes any sense. That said, I rode with a really good rider a few years later, and he didn't seem to have any issues with it. From memory there was an optional linkage that slackened the geometry and made it lower and less twitchy. Edit: it was called the Alpine Link and seems like a good idea.
I can't remember the DUC32 fork details, even though I had one on a Maverick ML7 for years. Sorry .The manual, I think, is still available online for download,
Something more modern would likely be more confidence inspiring, yes. But as above, I've seen this bike being ridden very, very hard without obvious problems. Bear in mind that it was considered a ground-breaking bike in its day, first sort of sub-30lb, six-inch travel bike. So sort of yes and no. If you're a genuinely terrible rider, then you're arguably better off improving your riding - maybe get some skills training - before splashing a load of dosh on a new bike.
Yes it's got the alpine link and I've added a cheap dropper post, i could probably do with some tuition and a lot of practice before spending a lot of cash, i think the whyte will suffice for now as I'm having an off every ride and I'd be crying if it was a new bike. Thanks for replying
Yh ridden around on m8s old one bitd and my lordy they are TALL and TWITCHY
They were highly rated at the time. Don't know why. Even for the time they were tall and steep, in that weird "long travel XC bike" idea that some companies like Ibis and GT were stuck with. I lusted after the 146 til about 30 seconds after I got to test ride one.
I mean, don't get me wrong, they're a fairly modern mountain bike and therefore ridiculously capable, there's not many quality bikes you can buy after about 2000 that genuinely aren't up to the job. This bike will never stop you from riding stuff you want to ride.
But, this bike + your monkey brain may combine and stop you from riding stuff you want to ride, while a newer/better bike might be able to beat that. That's really why I have a kick-ass bike, to overcome my own cowardice.
They were highly rated at the time. Don’t know why. Even for the time they were tall and steep, in that weird “long travel XC bike” idea that some companies like Ibis and GT were stuck with. I lusted after the 146 til about 30 seconds after I got to test ride one.
Yep. I was loaned one for a week in the Pyrenees. I still remember the exact moment when the speed that six inches of plush suspension travel allowed / encouraged / engendered, coincided with a mildly unexpected kink in a trail where the xc steering did its absolute best to launch me off the edge of the track and into an inviting-looking ravine of death.
It was one of those bikes that testers loved at the time because it was 'ground breaking' in the sense of being relatively light for a six-inch travel bike, but with hindsight looks a lot less clever. Journos are like jackdaws, they just love new, shiny things, they're easier to write about and make a change from a succession of broadly similar, broadly competent, proven designs.
Mind you, if you thought the 46 was, erm, questionable, you should have tried a PRST-1 - that was truly terrifying.
I mean no offense op but the chances are, that for all its foibles, it's probably still far more capable than you are at the moment. I can say the same about me and my current bike too!lol
I'd use it to generally hack about on, have fun and get back into riding then perhaps move it on if you want.
You'll crash and get hurt on dearer bikes too, I assure you.
Just my opinion anyway.
My Maverick forks once spewed all the oil in the left fork leg all over the disc brake.
They were nice though.
I would make the fork seals are in good condition.
I'd err towards what poopscoop said - despite being an old tool, the bike is ok.
It sounds like the big travel superbike won't suit your riding preferences.
I'm normally a wheels on the ground rider, more interested in having fun than being fastest. I like exploring new places, seeing the views and smelling the autumn.
If you don't feel comfortable, don't jump, don't feel pressure to ride the gnar or roost the pow - do what you do.
That said, a more stable geometry, shorter travel bike with chubbier tyres will make you feel more calm and a more relaxed ride.
Ah, where to start... It was the first super bike I ever rode as we sold Marin and Whyte in the shop I worked in. £2700 was a fortune for a bike at the time!
Got rave reviews with 10/10 in every mag. The 46 name came about as you could switch it between 4” and 6” of travel. Hope Mono Mini brakes, Easton carbon bars etc. At the time it was a veritable wishlist of kit on it including the new dual crown Maverick forks!
Sold one to a mate and watched him wheel it out of the shop to his car, pump the forks up and down when it then proceeded to dump all the damping oil over the front brake... Sorry Andy!
Hilarious to see the front cover of either MBR or MBUK have a picture of it doing the shed drop in the Les Gets bike park.
I owned the Marin version of that frame- 2006 alpine trail with the 4-6” adjustable travel. It was my main bike until 2014. I fitted offset bushes and a 1deg slackset which will have made it slightly less steep and short. Swapped the original 130mm forks for some 140s too.
I didn’t have anything to compare it to at the time but it seemed fine, in fact I’ve only this month equalled my pb down devils elbow that I set in 2013 on it. I did have some nasty injuries riding it though!😳
But with hindsight, now that I’m riding a longer, lower, slacker bike with bigger wheels and more travel, I’ll bet it feels scary as hell.
I ran one of these 5 years ago, on my journey towards a modern MTB. Also I still have the JW4 I used before the 46. I found a well prepared little used 46 that handled the rougher track better than the JW4, had a superb finish & held it's value on sale 18 months later. Yes, it was tall & a bit twitchy on geometry, I did all the make it slacker mods Docrob mentions & found an overpriced Alpine link weeks before I sold it. Would have kept it if I had the cash & space. Liked the home service forks too. But as with any "retro" bike the revelation that comes with a modern long low slack steed is the clincher. A budget Sonder transmitter hardtail arrived & the safe confident handling was a winner. Then the Cotic that followed enhanced that with the steel frame.
A clean pic of the 46 in all it's glory!
Mind you, if you thought the 46 was, erm, questionable, you should have tried a PRST-1...
I never rode the PRST-1 but I had a JW-4 and enjoyed it when riding uphill on mildly technical trails. Anything else though was pretty horrible looking back on it. It certainly didn't like getting its front wheel in the air at all.
I had a 46 a couple of times when the JW-4 was in for one of its frequent warranty visits back to the shop and did find that an improvement. Apart from the time it chucked me down the road on a flat smooth piece of Lake District tarmac for no apparent reason.
I was waiting for your input Hig's
To be fair the road was downhill when the 46 flung you off, I still have the pictures of you grinning/wincing displaying your scars!
And the Cannock shot of you mid air on the JW-4 in a position not conducive to a good landing was sadly lost when our forum died 🙁
Biggest problem with 26in suspension bikes like that is the BB rise rather than drop. It's not even that high in the lower setting but all the rider weight being above the axles makes it want to tip you over the front when things get steep or landing a bit nose heavy, not to mention similarly dire effects on the cornering and stability. Even the most basic 29er won't have this issue as the axles are well above the BB. Of course plenty of good riders did just fine on a 46 and they were well thought of at the time.
I had a recent outing on the JW4 (the poor man's PRST). From memory I'd set the front shock too soft, trying to mimic my moto trials bike's soft forks. That just led to mega dive though. Recent online advice about much more pressure in the front shock than the rear proved correct. Riding the same swoopy rooty tracks I usually ride it was 3-4 secs behind the Cotic per track, only spooking the rider on a small log drop. It coped okay, even if the rider winced. On one super tight conifer plantation track it set a PB, all on very summer tyres!
If you progress, you will fall off every bike you own. Sure, a modern bike will ride better, but that can just make the crashes faster/harder 🙂
Before spending money on a new bike, spend some money on tuition. Then use that new skill set to find out what works and doesn't work on the bike. It will help with your next bike choice.