New bike day. Back to Whyte

Well as you may have gathered, me and the Bird Aether7 never bonded, not ever. Some trails like the blues at BPW it was great, even some of Swinley stuff too, but some I just couldn’t get it around. I raced it at Wales, did BPW, 417, FoD and Swinley but we never gelled.

So a deal came up in a G170 and I took the plunge.

Just sitting on it you can tell right away how low and long the Bird is. Only just put it together so not tested yet. Need to bin the crazy short stem for a 35mm one, will get that ordered tonight. But should get to test tomorrow.

Excited!

2021-09-06_06-52-36[/url] by Steve Weeks[/url] – Flickr2BBcode LITE

First jobs all done. Fitting a new spoke, then cleaning top to bottom, set fork pressure and rear sag on coul, set brakes, fit bars, saddle and set levers. Phew. Oh yeah, tyres too.

Can’t really go wrong with bikes like the Whyte’s, solid designs, solid frames and decent kit, just a bike i can’t really get on with, had a T130 but i have a skeletal issue so struggled badly due to the heightened standover due to the seattube brace, i’d hazard a guess Whyte must be coming up with a revamp soon to get back in with the new crowd thinking on this type of thing!

Very nice. I love my Whyte 🙂 (albeit the tamer T130)

That’s a lot of bike. Hope you like it better than the LLS
:-)

It is indeed a big old beast. But uphill Kom are not on my list. When I bought the Bird the thoughts were that a lot of riding would be a bit more XC this year, bit that’s not worked out at all, it’s steeper and harder all the time. So I think this ticks the boxes and even if a bit excessive, will be awesome in the Southern Enduro races.

If your 160 was too LLS, then I suppose there’s a good chance this’ll work out

Oh yeah, never, ever remove the seatpost cable on a whyte, unless replacing it with a wireless option ;o)

I am. Later this week

Great riding frame. I spent a few months on one in the Tweed Valley. Amazingly capable bike.

“ Just sitting on it you can tell right away how low and long the Bird is.”

The funny thing is that if it’s a large too then the geometry is almost identical to the Bird bar the latter having more reach and less stack and vice versa. Use a 35mm higher rise bar and 10mm shorter stem on the Bird and I’m not sure you’d be able to tell them apart (until you notice the extra travel).

“ Just sitting on it you can tell right away how low and long the Bird is.”

The funny thing is that if it’s a large too then the geometry is almost identical to the Bird bar the latter having more reach and less stack and vice versa. Use a 35mm higher rise bar and 10mm shorter stem on the Bird and I’m not sure you’d be able to tell them apart (until you notice the extra travel).

I tried higher bars on the Bird 40mm Nukeproof. I had 40mm of spacers under the stem too.
compare by Steve Weeks[/url], on Flickr

Apart from the fork angle, i’m not sure which part is ‘almost identical’ from what i can see, they’re completely different…

“ Apart from the fork angle, i’m not sure which part is ‘almost identical’ from what i can see, they’re completely different…”

Head angle identical
Wheelbase identical
Chainstay length only 5mm different
BB height pretty much identical once you figure in the greater sag with the Whyte

Raise the bars on the Bird to match the stack height of the Whyte and the difference in reach is then only 10mm.

Even the 0.8 deg difference in seat tube angle only requires sliding the Whyte’s saddle forward by 10mm to match.

I like Whyte as a brand just wished the full suspensions were a bit more contemporary looking. I think a revamp must be on its way.

Nice one weeksy, enjoy!*

* after cleaning and repointing the brick wall

I bet you will be much happier on the Whyte,

I dont understand the LLS thing, I dont like the feeling of being so far over the bars on descents.

I had a Whyte S150crs and found that to be an excellent bike. The only niggle was the length of the seat tube, would have been better a cm or so shorter.

* after cleaning and repointing the brick wall

Not my wall :) not my problem :)

“ Apart from the fork angle, i’m not sure which part is ‘almost identical’ from what i can see, they’re completely different…”

Head angle identical
Wheelbase identical
Chainstay length only 5mm different
BB height pretty much identical once you figure in the greater sag with the Whyte

Raise the bars on the Bird to match the stack height of the Whyte and the difference in reach is then only 10mm.

Even the 0.8 deg difference in seat tube angle only requires sliding the Whyte’s saddle forward by 10mm to match.

Well as in the past 48 hours i’ve owned both bikes and ridden both bikes i’m going to have to disagree. They’re massively different to ride.

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agis2012
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I like Whyte as a brand just wished the full suspensions were a bit more contemporary looking. I think a revamp must be on its way

If anything they seem to be going backwards sadly. The 170 has far less progressive geometry than the 160 did. Like for like they lopped 20mm off the reach. You then have the suspension layout that you mention, which can have issues mounting different shocks depending on frame size and also pretty high stand over heights. Then there’s the seat tube design that appears to be borrowed from a Giant Acid. Feels like a long way from the original Whytes

TBH all of that bothers me 0%. If i wanted progressive, that implies LLS which isn’t what i want. As for standover height, i’m OK with that… along with seat-tube design and frame bends, well, i don’t see an issue, a bicycle is a bicycle… .i don’t much care if it’s bendy, really bendy, weirdly bendy or straight tubes… couldn’t care less.

The bendy seat tube issue isn’t just an aesthetics thing, it messes with the saddle position a lot when going from up to down. Also, if you need to use a really tall seat height your weight can end up really far back which isn’t good for climbing. If it’s works for then grand

TBH all of that bothers me 0%

Which is why I quoted Agis, figured you wouldn’t have bought it otherwise

Surely it just comes down to if you like the ride, you gel and it gets you over, up or down what you enjoy it is all good – whatever the geometry chart says?

Isn’t it funny that some bikes you think you want, lust after or buy and you just don’t get on?

I was lucky enough to get my mitts on an Epic Evo recently and never a bike I thought I would get along with but after much agonising it is a fabulous bit of kit and feels “right” – makes such a difference I think.

Enjoy the bike and laugh at someone else’s wall.

James

If it’s works for then grand

We’ll find out the answer tonight after the boy finishes school, bit of XC followed by some jumps in the local bombhole which has a techie bit to play on too.

I think as long as you’ve bought the right size for you weeksy you’ll get on ok with it – the Aether was just one size too big for you – I reckon you’d have got on much better with an ML.

@chiefgrooveguru – whilst you make a fair point on comparing the geo with lots of changes – the reach / stack are still a bit apart. And then if weeksy is comfy on the g170 with some spacers under that stem – the reach on that bike is even shorter vs the Aether. So I’d imagine they feel quite different to ride.

@renton – I get the LLS thing to a point. I’m getting more into riding the central (and low) position that a longer front end gives you on a bike and it definitely feels like you’re more in control of the front wheel on steep downs and most of the time it’s faster. There are extremes of LLS though that don’t work for everyone. I know from 3 years riding a bike with a 481mm reach that it’s a bit too long for me and my current full suss bike is now 457mm reach. I think actually my ideal spot would be 465-470 ish but that’s being picky!

I’ve built my hardtail with a longer headtube than my Aether (same a2c / travel on the fork / wheelsize), but still kept spacers under the stem / same bars etc – I think I prefer my hardtails to have a slightly higher front end as they don’t have rear sag.

Personally I think the Whytes look a bit retro with that really bent seat tube – and their seat tube heights are also a bit on the high side (I love that my Aether has a 395mm seat tube so at 5’9 I can fit in a 200mm dropper) – but other than that they seem ok.

“the reach / stack are still a bit apart. And then if weeksy is comfy on the g170 with some spacers under that stem – the reach on that bike is even shorter vs the Aether”

Yes but it all comes back to the fact that if you raise the bars on the Aether to the height you want them on the Whyte then you end up with two very similar geometry bikes – for every 2mm you raise the bars they come 1mm back towards you due to the 65 deg head angle.

It seemed obvious from Weeksy’s previous posts that he wanted the bars higher than he ever had them and now they’re at the right height he’s comfortable.

It’s not about LLS or not, both bikes have the same BB height (that’s the low bit), the same head angle (the slack bit), and the same wheelbase and very similar reach+stack hypotenuse (which is a better way to judge long than reach alone). One bike has been set up with the bars at the right height, the other hadn’t.

I’m not going to claim to be a geometry expert, but just thinking aloud, the stack on the whyte is probably a good chunk higher because it’s running the same fork at 170mm travel rather than 140mm travel surely? Plus it has a 10mm longer headtube. Those geometry charts don’t tell the full story of how Weeksy had the aether setup vs the g170 either.

The reach is actually quite different too – the g170 is basically a whole bike size smaller in reach. I can well imagine the g170 feels comfortably shorter when stood up than the aether.

On the low front according to geo geeks the whyte is higher than the aether – but not by as much as you might think given the rear travel distance. So the suspension either moves the wheel backwards more on the whyte as it goes through its travel (maybe making it feel more stable?), or it gets lower to the ground than the Aether at full travel.

All these things are going to conspire to make it feel really different I’d have thought.

Excited!

Good, looks lovely and NBD is always a great feeling, I hope you enjoy it. Don’t let the critique bring the endorphins down, and post up some Weeksy Enduro pics in the future!

Nice bike Steve 👍, numbers only matter if you are racing,for everything else the only thing that matters is your enjoyment/satisfaction level and if you enjoy riding this more than the Bird, then it’s a better bike.

All these things are going to conspire to make it feel really different I’d have thought.

I’ve just been over to see a mate, honestly it couldn’t be more different. He’s got an Aeris145 and said “bloody hell that’s totally different to the Bird” within 3s of sitting on it, which actually made me laugh out loud as i completely agree with him.

At the end of the day, whether i’m right or others are right it doesn’t bother me in the slightest, i’m currently very happy with my decision and think 100% it’s the right choice, how it’ll work out, i have absolutely no idea lol.

Jumps are planned for about 5pm, then fish and chips by the river in Goring, soundy idyllic.

Sadly my Shockwiz is having a bit of a hissy fit in terms of connecting, it seems to be down to the battery connections, so it’s going back for warranty, but hopefully i’ll get some info out of it tonight.
Brilliant customer service from Magura though, they really do astound me with their service. I rang them and asked if it was possible to swap the 31.6mm outer sleeve and replace it with a 30.9mm to fit the Whyte… And of course how much it’ll cost me.
“if you don’t mind having a pre-used outer, we’ll just swap it for nothing” I mean really, that’s bloody incredible from them again. They’ve always gone above and beyond in terms of customer service to me and this is no exception to that.

They’ve always gone above and beyond in terms of customer service to me and this is no exception to that.

They have to keep their customer happy.

I thought the Whyte was sold because it ate shocks or something. Sorry if I miss-read that.

They will eat some shocks, luckily something like a Fox DPX is chunky enough inside to not have issues. Conveniently Weeksy sold one to me 😉

Different whyte isn’t it – G160 previously vs g170 this time. Hopefully the g170 has a different design that doesn’t side load shocks?

That is good from Magura – is this a veyron dropper?

Bikes and bike setup are personal – rode whatever works for you. Just glad you didn’t buy that Santa Cruz…..

Need to bin the crazy short stem for a 35mm one

Blimey, modern bikes make me feel so old.

Surely anything less than 50mm is just a weld :-)

Yes Joe, Vyron

Anyway, the bike is absolutely brilliant. Wish I’d done it 3 months ago. My jumpy riding dad mate said “you look more comfortable in 3 jumps than you did in 3 months on the Bird”.
Within 5 jumps I was consistently clearing the big tabletop.

Just feels really good.

I’m bottoming out the shock but it’s a 450 spring and after speaking to Jtech suspension I want a 550 in it. But still, feels fantastic.

If I’m being picky it needs a bearing or a BB, not sure yet which, but that’s me being fussy. It’ll get sorted soon.

Love it

2021-09-07_06-35-17[/url] by Steve Weeks[/url] – Flickr2BBcode LITE

I’ve found I’m jumping better with a coil spring shock in my Aether than the air one. Maybe it’s just I’m running it with a quicker rebound rather than the spring medium but I’m happy with it.

J-tech sorted me out with a cane creek vault spring on next day delivery a few weeks back – always find them and tf tuned super efficient.

Glad you’re happy – I’m sure you’ll find something to fiddle with / change on it though!

Different whyte isn’t it – G160 previously vs g170 this time. Hopefully the g170 has a different design that doesn’t side load shocks?

They did, it’s (on the 170) free to move in the yoke like everyone else also learned to do

It looks so much less spectacular than it feels. It’s about 8′-9′ in length from peak to landing… but it’s a steep face

Is that the jump that has a little gully run before it, and is to the side of a long straight stony fence run?

That’s correct matey. The fence run is where ‘normal’ people go but there’s a selection of tech and a few jumps in that area where the gully/bombhole is. There’s also a wall ride and a road gap if you look carefully lol.