2018 Whyte T-130 SR Lime

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.

Providing the essence of all of Whyte's leading edge ideas at great value, the T-130 SR won't disappoint. Benefiting from the same multi-award winning frame as the rest of the T-130 series, it takes full advantage of Whyte's wisdom on geometry. 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. For 2018 the T-130 SR has been equipped with an even bigger range of gears, with a 32 tooth chainring and an 11-46 tooth 11 speed cassette, keeping it lively in vertiginous surroundings

Whyte's innovative geometry is partnered with top quality Fox suspension on the T-130 SR. The Fox Rhythm 34 fork is extremely simple to set up and provides an excellent pedalling platform on its stiffest setting and provides excellent trail-calming performance reminiscent of its much more expensive Factory counterpart, on it's. The Fox Float DPS Performance rear shock, is similarly adaptable and easy to adjust on the go, giving brilliant support and traction at the rear of the bike, to help you get the power down on the rough stuff. Whyte supply their own brand dropper post on the T-130 SR, with variable travel depending on the size of the bike. When the trail does occasionally get the better of you, you're in the trusty hands of TRP's hydraulic Slate disc brakes, allowing you to push the limits with confidence.

Speccing every part of the T-130 SR to an equally high standard, Whyte provide WTB tubeless ready STp i29 rims laced onto Whyte's own hubs to make reliable wheels that will stand up to substantial punishment. The tyres are the same tubeless ready Maxxis 3C tyres fitted to the top T-130C Works bike, they will provide the T-130 SR with excellent rolling and assured grip, the last piece of the puzzle for a flat-out trail smasher. The T-130 SR bears all the hallmarks of one of Whyte's top full suspension bikes without the price tag, making it a great investment for those who are either working to a budget or starting out in the full sus world. The geometry, suspension and tyres of the T-130 SR all inspire confidence and control at speed making it a great bike to get to grips with more difficult off-roading challenges.