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Good?
Bad?
Indifferent?
Trail centre gnarpoon and uplift day shred sled research here...
Answers on a postcard if you please....
i've a few mates with the G160 and they love them. They did say it took a while to get used to the length and they're better the quicker and bigger you go......so they say.
bearings supposedly wear quickly but that's what I hear rather than actual experience.
170 For uplift, yes
170 for trail centres though? bit ridiculous innit
I demoed one (sorry the 160 not 170) and loved the downhill capability (way beyond my own!) but I found it hard work going up. It was the first really slack bike that I tried though so had nothing else 'modern' to compare against. Great looking bikes IMO.
The G170 is very different to the G160. It is shorter in the reach, more balanced weight distribution (rider more forward on the bike and longer CS), quite different suspension design and pivot points (more anti squat), bigger bearings on the pivots, seatstay bridge for more stiffness and the leverage curve is changed so you wont blow through the end travel and can even run a coil.
Any 170mm bike is a lot of bike for UK riding though!
Love my G160 but it is a lot of bike - hadn’t realised the 170 was so different and sounds like a better compromise to be honest..
I considered one and did a quick carpark test of one at Wheelbase. Felt great but in the end my head won over my heart and I bought an Occam AM with 150mm.
It's my only mountain bike and 170mm just seemed to much to haul around on rides with the kids and proper over-mountain stuff.
150mm seems the right compromise for me between uplift potential and just riding around.
The basic 170mm does seem like a good bike for the money though.
Imo the G-170 isn't quite as much of an out and out enduro gnar sled as other 170mm bikes like the capra, slayer or nomad. It hasn't got a crazy slack head angle (65 is the norm these days, for good reason) and is actually a fairly short bike especially with no XL in the carbon models.
And with most models having an inline shock and trail brakes/tyres etc I see it more as a 160mm bike that whyte realised they could get another 10mm without compromise, rather than a completely downhill focused beast.
In classic STW fashion, I don't own one, but did have a quick spin on one, where I ended up on a S-150 for the longer XL size and 29" wheels.
A friend has just bought one.
Cool blue colour...
Like all Whytes, it's well put together with nice detail to the frame.
It's a monster truck bike, that's a Good Thing for some riding.
Thanks all. Good food for thought here.
I've always liked being a little overbiked, as I don't mind creeping up climbs to make the most of the way down.
These just looked excellent value, so was interested in opinions. Also looking at Focus Jam, Giant Reign and Spesh Enduro at this stage, but haven't seen any of the Whytes in the flesh so far.
but haven’t seen any of the Whytes in the flesh so far.
Go to Swinley, everyone has a Whyte 🙂
Well, apart from people with Birds 🙂