2018 Whyte T-130C Works 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 both of Whyte's flagship carbon T-130C bikes, present awesome propositions that should wet the appetite of any off-road rider. The T-130C Works looks sensational and has the performance to match, armed to the back teeth with the best components the mountain bike industry has to offer.

When you take a multi-award winning aluminium T-130 frame and make it from lighter, stiffer and stronger carbon fibre, you're onto a five star frame that's ludicrously good. The main reason for the frames universal acclaim is Whyte's efforts on geometry, which really separate it out from the rest. 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. The additional stiffness of carbon fibre gives the T-130C's an edge in the handling department. Thanks to Whyte's clever geometry the T-130C's are immensely stable and efficient at eating up the terrain, with the lightweight carbon helping you achieve absurd speeds, with the sharp and responsive handling keeping your confidence in the bike when you're trail shredding.

Whyte open up further possibilities with their T-130 geometry by designing them around the single chainring (SCR) 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. Whyte fully capitalise on their choice to design around the SCR concept by equipping the T-130C Works with the best SCR groupset going. SRAM's XX1 Eagle is their top off-road groupset. The lightest 12 speed groupset in existence, with the ability to keep working and providing precise shifting in all kinds of tough and muddy conditions, it's the perfect groupset to get the most out of Whyte's exquisite T-130C frame. Pairing a 36 tooth carbon XX1 crankset, with a whopping 10-50 cassette, the T-130C works promises great low and top end drive. With the T-130C Works incredible capacity for speedy trail-shredding, good brakes are imperative and SRAM's Guide RSC hydraulic disc brakes are among the very best that SRAM have to offer. An added bonus is that the gorgeous gold highlights on the XX1 groupset work in beautiful harmony with the granite and bronze frame to create one of the best looking mountain bikes I've ever seen. After all the best have to look the part too!

The T-130C Works' Pike RCT-3 fork is a step up from every other fork used in the T-130 range, with improved lightness and stiffness for 2018 and it's sophisticated charger 2 damper providing a wide range of low speed compression, for astute on trail control. Similarly Rockshox Debonair RT3 rear shock is a step above the rest, floating sweetly over obstacles for minimum disruption on easier trails and coming to life to overcome the jolt of big hits. Not to settle for anything less than the best, the T-130C Works' comes with RockShox Reverb Stealth dropper post, with ergonomic X1 paddle remote, for precise up and down action.

At FlatHarry's we're very big on the importance of having top wheelsets for top performance. Almost as if Whyte have read our minds, they spec the T-130C Works with their own tubeless ready carbon hookless rims laced onto Hope Pro4 hubs front and back. Of course great wheels are no good without great tyres and that's exactly what the tubeless ready Maxxis 3C tyres specced on the Works bike are. The entire T-130 range wins plaudits for it's innovative geometry and well matched specifications. The T-130C Works is the very best example of this, nothing short of a professional level bike, it will deliver imperious performance off-road, once again pushing the boundaries for what an 130mm full suspension bike should be capable of even further in 2018.