Moving into the 21st Century

[VamP]

Right, so based on my experiences described more closely in this thread here, and having broken my trusty MTB steed, as well as having found it generally less than competitive prior to the catastrophic bar collapse, I am now looking to move into the new era of feather light frames, suspension forks, disc brakes, 29er wheels, and horror of horrors - tubeless tyres.

So far my thoughts are pointing me here. What am I missing? Discuss.

 

[VamP]

30 people have looked and not one has an opinion on the Whyte 29'er? Any opinion welcome, I am a bit of a newbie in this MTB world.

 

[GilesM]

Looks like a pretty good bike, not bad spec, and probably quite light for a 29er, my only concern would be the tyres, fine for a dry dusty course, but I have a set (26" ones)on my hard tail, they're not ideal for mud, but they are fast rolling, also, I'm not sure if the rims are UST, if they are not then you'll need the special sealing rims tapes and sealant, gets a bit messy, best to go for a UST rim from the start if you are planning to go tubeless.

 

[Friz]

Looks a nice bit of kit. I'm slowly coming round to the idea of 29er's. Especially after the UCI World Cup last weekend. Other than that, I'd say research the forks. I've heard mixed opinions on the Reba's. One guy I know loves his, the other hates em. I guess much like anything else.

 

[VamP]

Oh brill. Two areas to look closely at. Cheers guys.

Keep them comin...

 

[GilesM]

Looks a nice bit of kit. I'm slowly coming round to the idea of 29er's. Especially after the UCI World Cup last weekend. Other than that, I'd say research the forks. I've heard mixed opinions on the Reba's. One guy I know loves his, the other hates em. I guess much like anything else.

I had a set of Rebas for a few years, really good, and bomb proof, I've got Fox floats on my hardtail now, I think the fox forks are a wee bit better, but the Rebas definately need less attention.

 

[VamP]

What else would you guys be looking at if you were in the market for a race capable XC bike in that price range?

 

[Friz]

What else would you guys be looking at if you were in the market for a race capable XC bike in that price range?

I've been drooling over this lil lady for the last few months just trying to justify it as an N+1
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=57157

But then I'd probably actually have to start racing instead of just pretending I can....

 

[VamP]

I've been drooling over this lil lady for the last few months just trying to justify it as an N+1
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=57157

But then I'd probably actually have to start racing instead of just pretending I can....

The Cube looks good, but I think for XC racing application the 29er rules now. At least, at Checkendon everybody seemed to be on 29 Maybe it's just fashion?

Hmmm, that's the trouble with expensive kit - you then need to live up to it.

With that in mind, I am fixing up my steel rigid in the meantime, as I realise I should probably take my time choosing rather than make a snap decision. So I'll do at least one more race on the rigid and then see what happens.


I have been looking Rose 29'ers as well, they seem to be good value. Cannondale are in the frame too, they seem able to achieve amazing weights at given price points.

 

[Crackle]

Kinesis have a 29er frame now, you could build one.

 

[VamP]

Kinesis have a 29er frame now, you could build one.

True, and I love the Kinesis frames, and have read good things about their 29er. All the MTB parts I have knocking around are oldschool though , so I would have to buy everything from scratch. The economy of buying everything separately just doesn't stack up sadly

 

[lukesdad]

Not sure why you want a full bouncer if you are racing at places like Checkendon. 29 er fine on rolling
southern courses.

 

[VamP]

Not sure why you want a full bouncer if you are racing at places like Checkendon. 29 er fine on rolling
southern courses.

Christ, no, I don't want a full bouncer! Whatever gave you that idea. If there's one thing I am 100% sure of is that it's going to be a hardtail.

 

[CopperCyclist]

I like Whyte, and I like the idea of 29ers. The components however seem a bit underspecced for the two grand price ticket, or is I just me? I say this as I have 100mm Reba forks and Elixir 3 brakes on my Trek MTB that only set me back a grand. I'm not sure on SRAM parts, so unless that chain set is the MTB equivalent of Force or Red, I'd wonder where the money is going...

It confuses me as my LBS stock Whyte, and I've always looked at them and drooled over the spec on some of them in the 1700 quid bracket!

All that said, please note there is no way the above components are LOW spec... I'd just expect slightly more for a two grand Hardtail!


:edit: found it. The model I saw in store was the Whyte 905 for 1675.00. It's not a 29er which is where I guess the money goes, but you get 120mm travel Reba forks, and Elixir 5 brakes. What I hadn't noticed in store was that it's a compact 26/39 chain set though! regardless, if it was me and I didn't have my heart set on a 29er, I'd be giving this a serious look.

 

[lukesdad]

Christ, no, I don't want a full bouncer! Whatever gave you that idea. If there's one thing I am 100% sure of is that it's going to be a hardtail.

Ooops clicked on the wrong Whyte in that link VamP