New Planet X Whippet (Rigid content)

Saw that and like the look. I was wondering how plussable it really is - ie 50mm rims and 3" tyres? Or the faux-plus 30mm rims and 2.8s?

Would make a great fast bikepacking bike if I could get 3" tyres in!

The spec sheet says 650b is 2.8 or 29/ 2.3. 36 max ring. 1.2kg frame.

506 axle to crown carbon fork...I think my Lurcher carbon forks are 480 and I think they take a 3", they've certainly got alot of clearance, so these forks might take a bigger front tyre too as they are taller and boost. A bigger front may be possible...

That fork looks like it might well do very nicely on a Big Dog; wonder if they'll sell it aftermarket..? (Brant, hint, hint..)

That looks great. Had one of the original Whippets, really enjoyed riding it.

I think it looks great. Also interested in full bike weight if anyone has seen anything??

I’ve still got an original whippet. Seems terrifyingly short and steep these days! Fast though.

No XL 🙁

No XL 🙁

Big assumption that they'll send you the size your ordered anyway

They list an XL and its in stock. 520 CT seat tupe/ 650 ETT I'd say it was for 6'2" and up?

That fork...it's got a big high gothic arch and the legs are thin and wide giving huge potential clearance. 29+ front maybe.

Like the look but in a world of LLS, its steeper & shorter than i was expecting. The Scandal went from 71° on my 16" V2 to 65° on the new model for example. The new Whippet hasnt moved much from the original.

Comparing my Swift (71-72 HA) and a 456 Evo carbon 65 HA i think (currently rigid with Lurcher carbon fork 480 AC running it 650b).

I'd drop the Swifts HA a few degrees for a bit more stability on high speed downs. Though the 'feedback' is kind a fun and the immediacy has its attractions.

While the slack 456 bike certainly is more stable going down, and it doesn't matter much going up, they're a bit lifeless steering 'going along'. You get used to it inside an hour, but the sharper head angles are better for steering around puddles and the like for us XC mincers: I think a slightly more responsive steer, is a bit more pleasurable on a few hours of undemanding just undulating XC, wheels on the ground.

I think for XC a high sixities is about optimum balance, for having a bit less sketch on a high speed descent and still some life in it when going along on an XC all day ride. HA is going to be as individual as picking wheelsize and gearing. Downhilling and bike park I'd definately say go slack. Actual singletrack, morw old school, especially rigid where you want to steer around things a bit more, I think its OK a bit sharper.

Surprisingly steep HA.

67-ish would have made it much more interesting. Seems to be designed for a longer stem as well.

Maybe it's a catalogue frame rather than a new O-O design?

Has anyone bought one of these? Or ridden one?

I'm pretty interested but I'm not finding any real world info.

It's still at the full price stage/ month of PX pricing. Personally waiting for it to drop to 8 something then I'll (probably) bite...or wait for a frameset to be 3-400. Forks not listed separately, so they must be keeping them for full builds. Too far away for the pick it build it thing discount. I wished they just chucked the parts into a box with a note saying 'ta' and posted it to me to build, for the same discount, though to be fair my fully built Fatty was absolutely fine.

I have a dirty Harry frame with some ragley carbon forks.
The forks are super short and steepen everything up, but I like the setup and not everything has to be long low slack.

Great bike, light, fast and a mile muncher.

I’ve just ordered a whippet frame and rigid fork combination as the price seemed ok.

Will build it up with 29” ibis 942 wheels and 2.4” tyres. Hopefully it will be good for gravelly trails and moorland based single track type rides.

@milfordvet SRAM SX build is £850 with MTB15 code this weekend (code also works on Scandal and Big Dog builds).

Here is mine in SS mode.
Rides very well and doesn't feel out of place at all.
Tempted to go back to 1 x 10 and maybe 27.5+ just to feel how it rides.

Here is mine in SS mode.
Rides very well and doesn’t feel out of place at all.
Tempted to go back to 1 x 10 and maybe 27.5+ just to feel how it rides.

Looks nice!! How does the fork ride? Shame it doesn't have cage mounts.

Thanks. The whole bike is a bit of a revelation tbh, although with the lockdown it hasn't yet been any further than local woodsy type trails and a few double track gravel roads.

I've not weighed it but it certainly isn't heavy and as such it rides very much point and go.

Doesn't take any effort to get moving and seems to skip over roots and small rocks. The fork feels nicely planted and no traits of its own.

Ultimately just seems to be a light bike that doesn't really have any character beyond wanting to go fast.

Mine is a large with a 70mm stem and 760mm wide bars. At just under 6 foot with quite short legs it fits well.

Cheers for that 🙂

Bought one last month when there was £100 off.went for the GX rigid build. So far I'm very please. Its light even with heavy wheels and done a few long rides. Changed the stock panaracer fire sports to some maxxis forecasters and ser up tubless which saved a lot of weight too. Also changed the SX cassette as only the top 4 are on a spider and a few were damaging the freehub body after 2 rides. Fit a sunrace cassette instead.

It's a lot faster on smooth stuff than I thought. Might put some slightly wider tires on next. Maybe 2.4 Ardents.

...tempted.

Mines gone to 1x10 in the time since I posted the last thread. About to go for a local ride with the OH now.

In case anybody finds this after Googling internal cables, I took the liner out of mine when I went single speed and have twigged it is best to remove the bottom bracket and fork/headset then feed a new outer in from the rear forwards.

Quite easy really, just don't try it in a hurry with a fully built bike.

Hi all

I'm liking the look of this frame for a "one bike" solution - it looks as though it will take a front mech - is that right?

Thanks

It comes with the mounting kit already bolted on.

Has anyone got any weights for the built bikes as a rough idea? i.e. a rigid GX spec?
Not seen any weights on PX site or other threads on here...

Thanks. I got confirmation from PlanetX chat that the frame will take a 2x front mech. Could just be what I'm looking for

I've been looking at these for a while. I'm looking for an xc 29er that can also be used for some bike packing and multi day hostel trips and this looks like a good option. Does anyone have any info on the size? I'm 5 ft 9, would I be best with a medium or large?

Does anyone know if the fork take a 29 x 3.0 tyre?

Yes the fork will take a 29 x 3.00 XR4 tire on a 35 int rim with ease.
Built up weight,with rigid forks , 1 x 10, 22.2 lbs.
The only problem I encountered in the build was the carbon steerer bung required for the fork.Both Hope & RS ones are too large in diameter.O-O recommend these. Selcof Carbon Steerer Fork Bung MK 2 1 18 inch
FSSEFBUMK2-118
1 @ £4.99
Best ordered with the fork. I am still waiting for mine.The Selcof headset fits nicely,although the bearings fit straight onto the carbon. Only time will tell if this is a weak point.
I got a medium orange one.It looks superb.I could not believe how light it felt.

I'm pretty tempted by one of these to use as a budget xc race bike. At 5ft 11 and being a fan of big bikes, I'm not sure whether to go L or XL.

I'm 6'1 and on a XL. I'm right between L/XL sizes on the geometry and I spent a long time comparing measurements with other similar XC hardtails and their recommended height ranges. I went XL because my torso is longer than my legs, and I built the bike for fast long distance rolling so felt bigger was better.
It fits me fine but personally I wouldn't want to be any shorter on it. But I am used to bouncy 27.5ers so it was always going to feel quite different.

I too am tempted at the current price... I’m a bit out of the loop on new parts..
Does anyone know anything about the stick wheels that come on it? Quality, weight, internal width?

I’m tempted with the gx but at £1000 the sx seems better as a base bike to upgrade?

... and out of interest, does anyone know if the in one decals are lacquered over, or just stuck on top?

Yes the fork will take a 29 x 3.00 XR4 tire on a 35 int rim with ease.

BRILL Thanks. Too late for the £300 deal for me.

However I also found this which appears to be the same fork for £76.

@Wzzzz,

Hi I'm looking for a fork like that, loooked all around the alixprs and some other sites, never found one and now you come out with a complete drawing, do you mind if I ask where can I find this fork?
Thanks
F

I have been looking at a Whippet for a while and because the other bikes on my shortlist are sold out and not available until 2021 I think the Whippet might be the best option.

The issue I have is that I am between a medium and a large and would prefer to check the size with an actual bike and not just the size charts on the website. Does anyone in north Lancashire / south Cumbria have one in a medium or a large and wouldn't mind me checking it for size? It would only take 2 mins and I am happy to observe whatever social distance / PPE needed (mask / gloves etc).

The geo change from medium to large looks odd to me, it has the closest stack to reach increase (+15/+25mm), at 5'10" and 32" cycling inseam I'd choose the medium for more of a LLS feel and more standover clearance.

I normally run ~90cm pedal top to saddle top, with a 440mm seat tube and a 400mm seat post, which would leave ~110mm of post under the clamp.

Would have loved to have got a Whippet instead of my Marasa as a flat bar commuter/adventure, but I'd be worried about it standing out like a sore thumb at work and pootling to the shops.

@flaviosan

sorry bit late, its gone up in price now https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000739201605.html

@wzzzz:

thank you very much, better late than never 🙂

F

I have been watching the price of the Whippet and it has dropped £200 overnight to £999 (+£100 for the Rockshox 35 Gold RL Debonair fork). I used to MTB as a 20 something but I've moved over to the dark side (i.e. road) in recent years. However, my eldest daughter is 8 and is keen to try out some simple trails e.g. the easier stuff at Cannock Chase. So I have my eye on Isla Bike for her Christmas present (if stock becomes available....) and I was intending to get a hardtail or perhaps even a rigid, such as the whippet. Clearly the bike isn't going to be ridden hard but equally I'm not keen on buying a cheap, heavy bike. So a Vitus has been on the shortlist and the Whippet has also been under consideration. Essentially I'm looking at a budget of £700 - £1,000. The Voodoo Bzango carbon appears to have been withdrawn from the Halfords website in recent days (which I'd otherwise been tempted by).

However, I'm so out of date with the tech - mullet bikes were 69ers from what I remember when I had a Singular. I've been reading up on Boost but I have no idea how good each model of Rockshox are (my last pair were some SIDs about 15 years ago!).

In short, is the Whippet at a good price or is it worth holding out for a further potential price drop (or indeed buy a heavier Vitus when back in stock)?

I got one of the £999 Scandals last week with the 35 forks and have put about 40 miles on it so far and I'm really impressed with the 35 forks, they seem sensitive to the smaller stuff and stiff, possibly a bit heavy.

I've SX on a Bossnut and I'd only buy another SX equipped bike knowing that at some point you'll be replacing the mech and shifter, seeing a lot of them fail so budget to stick something better on before long.

I somehow missed that Scandal deal - a little slow on the uptake! My experience of SRAM is limited to the Rival drivetrain on my Boardman CX (my commuter) which is a few years old. I'll bear that info in mind - thanks!

What is the riding position like, are you stretched out low in like a racing position like the original Whippet or is it a more upright trail riding position?

I'm tempted by one of these too. Looking for something that will be fun on fairly tame local trails and still comfortable for longer rides, not an XC race bike.

Seems a bit short and steep compared to a lot of modern bikes but maybe that's not a bad thing with a rigid fork?

Thread bump - how are people getting on with these? Thinking about getting one to replace my carbon rigid-forked Parkwood now that I've decided I like rigid 29ers.

My thoughts about it rigid and SS are on page one. In 1x10 (still rigid) it was a great bike. Very much like an evolution of early 90s mountain bikes, at least in my head anyway.

It goes and stops like it's a featherweight racing bike yet the rigid forks and fat ish tyres smoothed out the terrain very well.

Mine now has 120mm Rebas on it, although it hasn't been ridden since I put them on months ago 🙁

Enjoying mine. Set up rigid. Currently single speed with 2.35 Maxxis Forekasters. Mostly ridden on the road recently due to so much mud and water everywhere.

Before winter it had a 1x12 setup with a 2.35 rekon race on the rear and 2.6 ikon on the front. It made me realise just how much of a difference a light bike makes if you want to go fast.

 Thinking about getting one

Have a look at their ebay store. There's a few "not perfect" frames at quite a few £££s less than the main website.

£459 vs £799 for the Whippet.

£269 vs £699 for the Scandal. etc etc

Linky

I bought one of their 'not perfect' frames off ebay, for £450.

All good. Minor paint chip to seatstay. Frame built up okay. Some Chinese frames are poorly finished and you run into issues with bearings not quite fitting and maxles/dropouts not quite working etc. but this one was okay.

I have had my Whippet since October. It’s been brilliant. Like others have said it’s very light for the price and it fees like a quick bike.

Get one. It’s great fun.

So, the OH has gone and ordered one for my birthday 😁 Her words were "Well, it looks good, they've got it in stock, and it's 4 years since the last bike I bought you so you need another new one. Also you've never had a carbon bike, so.."

Just pondering tyre choices - spec says 2.35 max in the frame, and it comes with 2.35 - but how much room is there? Given that it comes with 30mm internal rims I wouldn't want to go much narrower on them for fear of squaring the tyre off.

Mine came with 2.35 Panaracer Fire XC which were more like 2.1. Ive now got a 2.35 Rekon Race on the back with a 29mm rim, and a 2.6 Ikon on the front.

I had Onza 29 x 2.4" on Ibis 38mm wide rims for a ride or two. Didn't notice anything untoward

Is the thought process here and experience that a 19.5 /large for a 6ft rider?

Love the single speed build earlier in the thread looks great.

What tyres are people running?

I’m a bit of a Maxxis fan boi but my normal combo of Assegai/DHF is likely overkill!

Got one on pre-order for local pootling, due mid April when hopefully the trails will be drying out

Is the thought process here and experience that a 19.5 /large for a 6ft rider?

What tyres are people running?

I’m a bit of a Maxxis fan boi but my normal combo of Assegai/DHF is likely overkill!

2.35 Rekon Race on the back and 2.6 Ikon on the front.

I'm 5' 11" and a bit, and the SS pic of my bike earlier is a large set up for me.

Tend to ride large frames in the main, although mid 90s frames were almost always medium as the large felt like a gate.

To those who have the black - is it a matte or gloss finish?

To those who have the black – is it a matte or gloss finish?

Matt finish. Matches the Selcof forks.

@twonks @idiotdogbrain cheers for the size feedback.
I think I will get a large, I am 183cm. Should be ok as a 'fast bike' to fly around the local woods on.

Mine arrived the other day - very pleased with it. Bone stock, straight out of the box it weighs 11.47kg without pedals, or 25.29lbs in old money. Will be swapping the tyres for lighter ones, and the SX Eagle kit for GX 11sp before it turns a wheel.

Managed to get mine a touch below 10kg with a parts swap. Wheels/tyres were heavy (swapped to e1900 spline wheelset, so still not the lightest), and the stock bars/ seat post were too. Stuck XT 11 speed on it with an ethirteen 9-46 cassette.
By the time I sold the swapped out parts and bought upgrades, I think I ended up about the same in terms of spend but got a super light rocket ship!

I'd be really interested to see a full spec for that, as dropping 2kg off the total weight is pretty impressive.. 🤔

I’d be really interested to see a full spec for that, as dropping 2kg off the total weight is pretty impressive.. 🤔

Renthal fatbar lite
Syntace liteforce 70mm stem
Cane creek 40 headset
Deathgrips
E1900 spline 25mm internal wheelset
Schwalbe Racing ralph 29x2.2" front and rear
Slx brakes
Xt m8000 shifter and mech
Ethirteen TRS 9-46 cassette
SRAM gx 30 170mm 11spd crankset
One up 32t switch oval ring
Hope 30mm bottom bracket
Shimano m540 pedals
FSA sl-k carbon post
Bike yoke squeezy sestpost collar
Volt cromoly 135 seat
Lifeline carbon bottle cage

I think that's it.
The wheel and tyre combo alone made a massive difference. That would be the first place I'd look to lose weight on the bike.

Any women using them? Interested on what the small size is like with 29er wheels as a ladies mtb. Unlikely it will ever see anything more technical than Swinley.

Be able to let you know in two weeks when my OH gets hers.. 😁

@onecheshirecat - good spec there 👍 thanks!

Anyone purchased a small? Wife is 5ft 1 Nd inside leg 27 inches. Interested in the stand over.

Standover on my large is about 760mm, measured vertically in line with the saddle tip. Scaling down I can't see the small being much less than 680mm but I'll measure it when it arrives.

Small standover:
Vertically in line with tip of saddle - 680mm
Halfway between tip of saddle and stem - 780mm

Weights (£550 calibrated force gauge, so pretty damn accurate 😉):

Small, stock except for Nukeproof composite pedals, Zee cage, Schwalbe Racing Ray/Ralph 2.35 skinwall tyres, Specialized Format SL ti rail saddle - 11.34kg

Large, stock except for Nukeproof composite pedals, alloy cage, Schwalbe Racing Ray/Ralph 2.35 skinwall tyres, Fabric Scoop Radius saddle, Level TL brakes, GX 11 speed shifter/derailleur, NX 11-42T cassette - 11.11kg

@idiotdogbrain

Is that with rigid fork or suspension forks?

Thanks

That's with the Selcof carbon rigid forks.

OH at 5'5.5" loves her small, it's a perfect fit and doesn't look ridiculously out of proportion either.

Have any Whippet owners fitted a bigger chainring that’s the stock 32? I’m thinking of one as an alternative to a gravelly / road bike and wonder if it would take a 34 (or larger).

For a carbon frame and rigid carbon forked bike 11KG is very heavy. Must have some lead weights in it or ridiculously heavy wheels or something.

For a carbon frame and rigid carbon forked bike 11KG is very heavy. Must have some lead weights in it or ridiculously heavy wheels or something.

The stock wheels on mine were heavy at about 2.3kg. The cassette too (NX).

Have any Whippet owners fitted a bigger chainring that’s the stock 32? I’m thinking of one as an alternative to a gravelly / road bike and wonder if it would take a 34 (or larger).

I put a 34 on. Might be able to get a 36 on there but would be very close. If you'r running the stock 11 - 50 cassette and want a higher gear, you'r probably better off changing the freehub to fit a 10 - 50 cassette. Much lighter too.

Thanks mjsmke, looking at it further I could go for a road cassette too. Already having a set of spare wheels that have an XD driver the only issue would be finding a shop with a cassette in stock!