My Whyte 146 Test Ride

I’ve was talking to the importer of Whyte Bikes from the UK a few weeks back and mentioned I’d seen the very sexy 146 full page advertisement he’s been running in the AMB magazine – black carbon bike with green bits. During the discussion I mentioned I was off to Thailand and he asked if I was stopping at Singapore which I was as we always travel Singapore Airlines for work. Cut a long story short he organised for a 146 (as in 146mm travel all mountain bike) to be dropped at my brother’s house in Singapore for me to play with last weekend on my way to Thailand.

At first I was disappointed to see he had sent a white carbon Whyte bike! It just doesn’t stand out like that black & green from the advertisement. My disappointment changed quickly though when I saw it was decked out in full SRAM XX and weighed smack on 11kg. As I normally ride only cross country racers it appealed to me to be on a very light all mountain bike. It also had a Rockshox hydraulic seat post with a button positioned for thumb activation.

We road in our usual playground there called Bukit Panjang National Park which is about a half hour ride from my brother’s place. It’s a terrific ride out past the Embassy’s and compounds of the rich. Plenty of “ooh, ahh” – average house price in the suburb is upwards of $60M! The National Park is rainforest full of fast single track. It was busier than Manly Dam on a busy day but with riders going in both directions and I really got to test the brakes out a few times tearing down hills only to find matey riding up the hill would stay in the middle of the narrow trail and keep plugging away. My brother explained the sport is growing rapidly there but being a new sport the locals have picked up from the internet, haven’t learned etiquette yet.

The bike had an RP23 shock so I was able to use the pedal platform and lock the forks on climbs so the bike actually felt like a 100mm cross country bike except on the bigger jumps where I’d grip hard for landing only to feel like I was sitting on my lounge chair. I’d never used a hydraulic seat post before and found it pretty cool. One push with the thumb and the post would jump to full height in a flash. I’m not sure what a lower specced version of the bike weighs but with the XX spec I’d even consider using it on an enduro. The only thing I could criticise about the bike was the lack of space for a bottle cage. Apparently in the UK they all use Camelbak's or similar as it is always muddy so bottles aren't used. I noticed a few other hints the bike was built for mud: seat collar gap points forward; all bolt heads have a screw cap covering them and the clearance between tyres & frame.

I came away thinking if I had the spare cash I know what my next n+1 looks like although I'd still go the black carbon with green bits...