My copy of Cycle (the CTC mag) dropped on the mat today and I see that Dan Joyce has done a review of the Orange Gyro S and the Whyte T129S. Actually, there is quite a bit of off-road stuff in this edition of the mag, which should help to fill the letters pages for a while.

Here are some edited highlights of Dan’s comments for anybody who is interested:

He reported that “both bikes were unstoppable downhill”. The Gyro was faster “down a technical switchback descent” the Whyte on longer descents where he had to pedal.

He found the Gyro suspension to be “more active, in a good way, when you are freewheeling” but also “more active, in a bad way, when you’re pedaling. Jerks and tugs tell you that you’re sometimes working against the suspension.”

He concluded that the Gyro would be suited to rockier terrain but questioned the ‘mile munching’ tag. He thought it felt its weight and club rides saw him dropping off the back until the “terrain tipped the right way”.

He had less to say about the Whyte but I got the feeling that he preferred it. He concluded that it was a “more engaging all-rounder” and that he would “have no qualms about riding it anywhere”.

A few other observations of my own:

It was good to see some pictures of the Orange in neon orange colour. It looks clean and shiny in all the pictures though, whereas the Whyte is covered in mud.

I wouldn’t want to cast any aspersions on Dan’s skills, which I’m sure are better than mine, but all the pictures show the bikes on very tame trails.

Well, there you go, make of it what you will.

He can drink, can that Dan. Boy, he can drink.

He did well to stay upright then 🙂

He did also make the point (that I’m sure I’ve read somewhere else) that the Orange single pivot design is ideally suited to fabrication in carbon fibre. I think we could have quite a wait for that though. They’d need to sort out a different system for changing the bearings for a start as I don’t think CF reacts too well to being clouted with a hammer.

but all the pictures show the bikes on very tame trails.

it’s a lot more difficult to photo moving bikes on challenging terrain + he was probably enjoying riding it

Fair enough. They got some nice shots from Snowdon for another article though. It’s a pity they couldn’t have taken their trail bikes there to test, but I know that’s not how mags work.

Sorry about the pics, Roverpig. They were shot with the camera on a timer, but I’d forgotten the tripod. So I had to balance the camera on a fence and hope it didn’t fall off while I ran back to the bike. I rode a wide variety of trails, some technical, some not. I preferred the Whyte, but YMMV.

Thanks Dan

I guess that would make getting shots on technical sections a bit tricky 🙂

I always enjoy the reviews in Cycle, which is why I wanted to pass on some of your comments (hope you don’t mind). It may not be MTB specific (and I bet you’ll get it in the neck from some members next issue), but they usually come across as a bit more honest than some magazine reviews. In this case I though it was pretty balanced. You clearly preferred the Whyte but weren’t slating the Gyro either.

Just one final point. How much of the difference in feel do you think was down to the wheels/tyres? I always wonder when I’m testing a bike whether I’m really testing the bike or just the wheels/tyres as they make such a difference to the feel. In this case you clearly picked up the difference in feel of the single point and multi-bar suspension systems, but, for example, would the Orange still have been slower uphill if its wheels were as light as those on the Whyte I wonder?

Is the Orange really limited to a 32t outer on a double? Surely a design fail if so?

Don’t think so, there’s a Gyro owner on here running a new XT double just fine I think…