Well it's here! I picked up the bike last week and I decided to take it for a spin yesterday, on a couple of local routes near home to test things like seating position and reach etc.
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| I got myself a 2018 Whyte S150 in practically mint condition! |
So why the S150? Well I was originally looking for another Whyte T130 but since the geometry was tweaked back in 2016 with single chain ring specific design implemented across the range (Jonny 5 had the double chainring and longer stem being a 2015 model) I was pondering the merits of an older model, verse post 2016, and had also been wondering about the T129 maybe switching to 29ner wheels, for the longer mile munching. But then I'd never had a 29ner .. so I was little torn on choice.
Back in the days of working on bikes for a living I was quite taken with bikes like the Orbea Loki, since renamed the Laufey, and others that were using a 650B rim with a 3 inch tyre. This is probably because I'd worked on a few fat bikes, and I do live above the snow line, so occasionally the fat tyres would make sense. The 27.5+ seemed a good compromise. But it only snows maybe 4 months outta 12 and for the other 8 months I like my suspension etc so that would need two bikes yes?
Enter the S150.. and I was reading the spec and thinking "whats the S stand for?" when Whyte played a blinder .. The bike will take a 27.5+ wheelset with a 2.8 inch tyre as well as the 29ners that it's currently sat on, The S standing for "switch"
So, lemme gets this straight thinks I, 150mm rear travel, a 150mm Revelation fork up front that is by all accounts identical to the pike that was on my G150 a few years back save for a damper cartridge change and I can run two wheel sizes?
I'll have me some of that thinks I, since more or less every bike I've had over the years has had multiple wheels, even my old Santa Cruz Heckler X had two sets of hope hoops, one of em running continental 1 inch road tyres on a 26 inch (556) rim in the days before 650C was a widely known or available option. (unless you were Steve Worland)
So whats it like to ride? well the first thing to say is the stack and reach are such that the riding position is much more upright than the 2015 T130. It felt short when I first jumped on it, and I kept wanting to shift my rear back further than the saddle would let me, which was a little worrying and had me wondering if I shoulda looked for an XL. But after a while you settle in and knowing whytes geometry is usually pretty dialled, I figured a few rides will get muscle memory fitting to this frame rather than the old one.
That said the front end feels massive! That Tall 622 2.3 inch tyre up front has some weight when its rolling fast, and given my first ride out was on wet roads/trails It didn't feel as planted as I would like. This frameset has a custom fork trail of 42mm that should stabilise the steering at speed, I'm waiting for dry grippy day to test that out ..
Although the bike feel short, the reach is actually only 5mm less than the old T130 and thats with a stem of 35mm and 15mm riser bar. I reckon the front end does need a tweak for me, which after a few dry rides will probably be 60mm stem and the removal of a few spacers in the head set stack, but thats it.
Caveat here, I hadn't ridden anything at all for over 2 years at this point, I'm very much overweight and out of condition to a point where I had to walk on some of my local trails that are usually just connections to the interesting bits. So my balance is shot, bike handling rusty, fitness in the toilet and confidence is therefore low. Once I got out and about I modified my planed route because I didn't think my planed descent was wise in the wet with rusty bike handling and zero fitness.
But aint that the point, get yourself an interesting bike and motivate your arse to get out, to ride, and put in the miles. To enjoy the process of getting fitter and then be able to enjoy the bike even more. I know even at this stage this a bike I'm gonna grow back into riding with, its more bike than I'll ever have the skills to outride. MTB is one of those things in life where you get out what you put in.
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| 12 cogs out back!!! |
Drivetrain wise the 1x12 eagle is smooth, even in the lower gears, as I didn't even feel some gear changes and had to squint down at the wheel to make sure it had actually changed. The avid Guide twin pot stoppers were superb as ever, although the previous mechanics hadn't aligned the rear calliper all that well so it squealed a fair bit.
On the subject of drivetrain the bike runs the boost wheels, with 148mm between the rear dropouts. For an old school old timer like me who remembers the incredulous conversations and exclamation of surprise at moving from 7, to 8, 9 10 speed on a 135 mm frame this is bit nuts. A whole extra 13mm width at the back. But thats the best bit about getting older. You can say you were there before bikes were the new cool.
The suspension was, as expected , flawless. although 220 Psi in the rear is a bit softer than I remember... (nothing to do with being 4 stone heavier obvs...) Currently the bike is on tubeless tyres which is something I never did with Jonny 5 for reasons of cost and faff if puncturing when out, but time will tell and given the bigger wheel size I may stick with tubeless.
So after completing an underwhelming distance of 10km on the new steed whats the verdict? I love the bike, hate the fact I'm fat. But ya cant hide from the inevitable effect of 2 years sedentary inactivity. And even walking up the hills, I'm still lapping everyone on a sofa. Me and the S150 are going places. Literally. maybe slowly at first but thats ok.
See ya on the trail.
Sarah.
