Whyte T-130 RS Granite

Whyte's T-130 series has been hoovering up bike of the year awards and highly rated reviews for a couple of years now and its easy to see why. Devised to give you the chance to conquer every aspect of off-roading, they are both light and efficient enough to hold pace with the fastest on race day, but also tough and disciplined enough to tackle the gnarliest runs. Delivering such balanced, composed and fast bikes, the series rewrites what you would normally expect from a 130mm full suspension trail bike. In 2018 Whyte have continued to polish the spec on their T-130's, making them even more refined and further cementing their place as one of the best trail bikes going. For 2018 all 3 aluminium T-130's have received an upgrade to their forks and all their cassettes are at least 11-46 teeth, ensuring every T-130 has a hugely capable range of gears.

Whyte's multiple award winning T-130 frame is a pristine example of Whyte's mountain bike geometry that enables their T-130 bikes to be so aggressive and well-rounded. Starting with the front and working back Whyte push the front wheel out on the T-130's and slacken the head angle to 67 degrees, creating a very stable front end predisposed to self correcting and maintaining its momentum. A low bottom bracket increases stability further, making for pin-point carving on bends. These efforts to improve stability don't compromise agility however; Whyte equip the T-130's with a short stem and wide handlebars, so that close handling of the front wheel is retained despite its extra relaxed geometry. The rear wheel of the bike is relatively tucked in for tight rear end control. This clever geometry makes the T-130's immensely stable and efficient at eating up the terrain for immense speed, with the sharp and responsive handling for equalling confident trail shredding.

Whyte open up further possibilities with their T-130 geometry by designing them around the single chainring concept. Firstly taking the front mech and additional chainrings out of the equation makes for a simpler more durable mountain bike with better weight distribution and lower overall weight. Secondly not having to accommodate a front mech means the T-130 frames can be designed with symmetrical chainstays, which are lighter and stronger than the asymmetrical chainstays required to make room for a front mech and chainrings. Thirdly it means the rear pivot span can be increased for improved stiffness and therefore handling and power transfer. Shimano XT M8000 is an excellent off-road groupset focused on balancing precise shifting, reliability and being suitably lightweight but not fragile for optimal off-road performance. With a 32 tooth chainring and an 11-46 cassette, the T-130 RS has more than enough gears for every occasion. Shimano's XT hydraulic brakes are highly rated, for their great cooling properties and stopping power, rounding out the groupset nicely.

Not to be caught resting on their laurels after having so much success with the T-130 RS, Whyte have specced an improved fork for the 2018 model. Fox's Float Performance Elite 34 fork with FIT4 damper enhances the already brilliant front end performance of the T-130 RS even further. Consistent with Fox's other suspension products the Float Performance Elite provides top quality support, feel and dampening. The neat FIT4 damper allows you to set lockout on the go, with 3 different levels of lockout. Due to its clever design even when it is fully locked out the fork can take an unexpected big hit, which could be the difference between a spectacular fail or a sweet save. The Fox float DPS Performance shock is a great match for the fork with 3 different lockout positions of its own. This suspension kit is easily adjusted on the go and gives superb feeling and control really setting you up for a full on trail onslaught. A key component for any top level trail bike the T-130 RS comes with Rockshox trusty Reverb stealth dropper post.

Whyte equip the T-130 RS with WTB's tubeless ready STp i29 rims onto a Hope Pro4 hub for the rear wheel and Whyte's own hub for the front, making a very reliable wheelset, recognising the extra benefits for power transfer and durability with a high spec rear hub. The tubeless ready WTB tyres come from the very top of their range, making sure the T-130 RS has the tyres it needs to deliver the outstanding performance it is capable of. The T-130 RS has effectively set the benchmark for aluminium framed full suspension trail bikes in Britain and it's no different in 2018 with further improvements coming to the front end in terms of a very high spec Fox fork, for even more confidence inspiring control. An incredibly strong all-rounder the T-130 RS is a perfect purchase for off-road enthusiasts who want to see just how fast they can go, on all the trails they take on.