[Closed] Musings - Whyte don’t do an XC Bike

Well there was the M109 and M109c, but that was 5 or 6 years ago. I had a M109 and it rode well - v quick but more light trail than pure xc. It wasn't light though.

The market is small, and already quite full of Sparks, Epics, Oizs, etc. Probably for a small(ish) company they have to be very careful about what bikes they pour money in to.

They used to do a series of hardtail 29ers with quite long top tubes / reach and slack head angles (relative to their XC usage). There was at least one carbon frame in the range. I think it was called the Whyte 29-C. https://marathonmtb.com/2015/07/25/whyte-29-c-long-term-review/

Yes a small company but still a shame they don’t do a light weight XC fs - as I say they make lovely bikes (just need to do a few lighter ones lol).

Are they heavy?

My alloy S-150 is 13.3kg. Which seems reasonable for a mid range 150/140mm trail bike

Yes I think they are heavy bikes.

It’s all relative! I have a G170 and a Shan no5 - the Whyte is positively svelte in comparison 😂

the market for both XC and DH bikes is absolutely tiny - I remember reading somewhere that specialized ship fewer than 1000 demos a year (and they're really common bikes). Most people (I imagine over 90%) just bimble about on something with 120-170mm travel, and so very few smaller companies bother producing anything outside that

It’s all relative!

Well that's the point isn't it. Whyte don't make an XC race bike, but are their trail bikes actually much heavier than stuff with equivalent purpose.

My S150 is my heaviest bike, but the other two are hardtails so its not really a fair comparison

@richmtb, what the hell have you done an alloy S150 to get to that weight? I want the scales you’re using! My new Spur is only 12.4kg with pedals, my T130CRS with a way lighter build than stock was 13.6kg in the same guise. Just curious because the scales are wrong or you’ve thrown some serious money at it!

It’s the one downside of their bikes as a whole, the weight. They’re efficient enough, but just don’t have the zip of a lighter bike. I do rate the T130 and S120 very highly, just be nice if they were more competitive weight wise.

So admittedly my S150 is not "stock" I weighed it when it arrived and it was 14.6kg

Its amazing where weight hides on a stock bike

I ditched the inner tubes for an easy 300 gram saving, the dork disk behind the cassette is nearly 100g!. Saved 300 grams by swapping the stock saddle for my old one and the alloy bars for carbon. I wanted an oval chain ring so swapped the standard one - it was steel and weighed 150g, the alloy oval one was 55g.

Finally I ditched the standard WTB wheels for the Mavic Crossmax XL Pro wheels I had (they need boost converters and a re-dish) these were about 600g lighter.

The only part I bought was the chain ring. the rest I had going spare.

What size is that bike? My XL carbon s-150 comes in at 14.4 kg with exo tyres on. It was around 14.9 kg stock I think, and I've since swapped over the brakes for SLX 4 pots, renthal bars and ARC 30/pro 4 wheelset.

Surely the crossmax XL wheels are a bit flexy for what the bike is capable of? A 23mm rim/24 spoke wheelset wouldn't last a month with my riding and I'm not an extreme sender of gnar.

But yeah, I'm not surprised whyte don't make an XC bike given how hefty their frames are.

Well there was the M109 and M109c, but that was 5 or 6 years ago. I had a M109 and it rode well – v quick but more light trail than pure xc. It wasn’t light though.

I've still got my M109 - it's a really nice bike to ride, feels really quick (and looking at Strava I've got most of my best times on it). It climbs brilliantly. In its original guise it was a bit steep - and coupled with the somewhat noodly Fox fork it often felt very twitchy/divey at the front end.

Mine now sports a Fox 34 - 130mm travel to lift and slacken the front end, Crest wheels with some lightish tyres, XT and a bit of carbon... feels so much better. Still has the crappy tyre clearance and the back though.

Struggling to see how you hit that weight with a aluminium S150. Helium in the tyres? I had the carbon model, it was 14.06kg with pedals, lighter cranks and bars, ti saddle, no dork disc, converted to tubeless and with 1560g carbon wheels. Most of the time it was more like 14.5kg.

I don't think the XC market is small, maybe here. If that's a problem for Whyte it's because they aren't available in many countries. XC is way more popular in mainland europe, east asia, south america, south africa, australia than it is here. If you look at Giant or Specialized website for some of those places you'll see trail/enduro gets cut back but there's additional XC models we don't get.

Be great if Whyte did a XC bike. That's what they started off with.

Ha, Whyte do seem to come in options of >32lbs or >Extra Extra Heavy regardless of whether hard tail or fs.

You don't feel it on the trail though and they imo offer the best UK orientated trail bikes on the market.

You can certainly make weight savings but then you can achive the same savings from an alternative brand's lighter bike base weight too.

Whyte's focus is trail use, plenty of other brands offer xc orientated bikes.

Not wanting to put people down or derail but I’m so skeptical of that weight. Have you actually weighed it? Somethings missing for it be that light as others have said too

They do, its called the Gisburn... 🙂

The extra weight probably means it wont break

What did the stock saddle weigh to save 300g?! I thought that was about average weight for a saddle.

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trumpton
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The extra weight probably means it wont break

You would think, owners of 9xx series frames and full-sus seat stays may say otherwise

Not sure about the whole "uk specific riding" being claimed here. The rear tyre clearance is a regular issue on a number of Whyte bikes which for me is a pretty essential UK requirement.

Back to the OP though... XC bikes are no longer cool or popular so supply and demand an all that.

Its a shame as I liked the look of the 29-C a few years ago.

I've notice that with a few othere brands too. See also stopping offering cx frame to focus on gravel frames (Genesis!)

What did the stock saddle weigh to save 300g?! I thought that was about average weight for a saddle.

Swapping the saddle AND handlebar saved 300g.

I'll try and weigh the full bike later, maybe the luggage scales I used were on the optimistic side.

I think the point I was trying to make is its not hard to shed weight from a stock bike without throwing loads of money at it.

I think the point I was trying to make is its not hard to shed weight from a stock bike without throwing loads of money at it.

For anyone who doesn't happen to have suitable lightweight spare parts available the changes you made would cost the best part of £1,000.