Whyte T-129S

Dreams are a funny thing. We know they’re not a part of ‘real’ life, but we all have them just the same. Perhaps a large part of the attraction is that we can play them out in our minds countless times, and every one of those times everything will be perfect. Nothing ever goes wrong in fantasy land; the rules of probability and the laws of nature have no sway in our everything-the-way-we-imagined-it world. But most of us have heard the warnings; keep your fantasies in your head, because those who’ve tried to realise a dream almost invariably tell us that in reality things aren’t the way we imagined.

I had a dream a few years back; it was of a fantastical 29er that rolled over terrain like only a big wheeler can, and yet was as solid and playful as a 26er. My dream went like this; a bike with more travel than the average 29er, an impossibly short rear end, an unthinkably slack head angle, cranks that all but skimmed the ground, and a frame long enough to let even Mr Fantastic stretch out. So when I saw the Whyte T-129S I was just a little scared. The sort of fear you only get when faced with a fantasy come to life, and the knowledge that, for better or worse, you’ve got to play it out and live your dream in the real world. I knew that, no matter what the outcome, my fantasy would never be the same again.

Fanciful Fundamentals

The price of a dream (well this dream, at any rate) is exactly $3,750, and it can be had in three sizes from small to large. There’s also a slightly cheaper T129 available for $3,200 which forgoes the dropper post and has slightly downgraded brakes, shifters and drivetrain. For my 182cm height the large, with its 631mm top tube, is just what the doctor prescribed. With a frame weight of 3,410g, it’s not the heaviest 120mm travel 29er but it’s definitely getting towards the portly end of the spectrum. The total weight of 13.5kg without pedals is acceptable given the price and components used. The frame is particularly stout, with essentially zero detectable flex anywhere from the stumpy, tapered head tube to the 142x12mm Maxle rear end.

Although the cross-sections vary along their length, the tubes are basically straight. The silhouette is remarkably traditional and you can even fit a water bottle within the main triangle. Manufacturing quality is excellent and it’s great to see little details like replaceable trunion nuts in the rear brake’s post mounts, metal covers over the linkage bearings (all bearings are covered by a lifetime warranty) and Whyte’s clever split-free seat tube. That seat tube is heavily kinked (as we’ve seen on plenty of other longer travel 29ers) to accommodate the rear wheel travel without making the back end overly long. Actually, that’s a massive understatement, because the T129S has chainstays a mere 430mm long—that’s ridiculously tight as the chainstays on most longer travel 29ers fall within the 450-455mm range. To put this into perspective another way, the back end is shorter than many 26-inch wheeled trail bikes and it’s the (equal) shortest chainstay length of any 29er dually currently on the market. The head angle of 68-degrees is also the slackest we’ve found on a 29er, so it’s abundantly clear that the T129S is designed for high speeds, airborne stunts and questionable lines—an area that few 29ers have entered until recent times.

The finishing kit is all totally trail-worthy. It includes SRAM X.9 shifters and clutch-style rear derailleur, mated to a basic but functional 2x10 SRAM crankset that’s fitted with 29er appropriate 24/38 chainrings. Cockpit components are all Whyte-branded, and despite initial misgivings that the 80mm stem would be too long for the rangey top tube and 720mm handlebar, the fit was actually very good.

The Avid Elixir 5 brakes worked fine throughout the test period, although past experience tells us that these brakes can be a bit inconsistent; get a good set and it’s all sweet, get a dodgy set and you’ll be spending plenty of time bleeding (and cursing) them. The good folks at Whyte clearly want you to be able to stop; the stock rotors are 200mm front and 180mm rear. For non-clydes we’d suggest putting a 160mm on the rear and moving the 180mm to the front, but whatever floats your boat. A bike with the hooligan intentions of the T129S demands a dropper seatpost, so props to Whyte for not only including one, but a top quality RockShox Reverb to boot. Suspension duties are also handled by the RockShox stable, with the highly regarded Reba serving up the front end’s 120mm of bounce and a Monarch rear shock with a very long 63mm stroke doing duty at the rear.

On the subject of rear suspension, the T129S is the first Whyte bike to use the new ‘Quad Link 4’ design; their own particular take on the Horst Link setup. The move to QL4 was dictated by the bigger wheels, as the ‘Quad Link 2’ system that was used on their 26-inch wheeled bikes couldn’t deliver the short and stiff rear triangle Whyte had in mind for this bike. The short top link is a key component in the lateral stiffness of the rear triangle and there’s plenty of room for wide tyres between the bridgeless seat stays. Although they all have different idiosyncrasies, Horst Link bikes generally work very well—in this regard the T129’s Quad Link 4 design is no exception. The only negative traits worth noting are the relatively forward axle path, which negates some of the square edge rollover-ability of the large wheels, and the fairly low level of anti-squat, so the rear shock has to take a higher degree of responsibility for pedalling efficiency than on some other Horst Link bikes.

Living the Dream

In my imagination the ‘dream bike’ was, of course, perfect; no flaws, no shortcomings, simply outstanding at everything. That’s why it’s called a dream. I’m going to start with where the reality didn’t live up to expectations, so firstly the T129S is not the best climbing 29er on the hill. Don’t get me wrong, it’s certainly no slouch, but that 26-inch sized rear centre means that although it rolls up steps much better than a 26er, it does tend to get light in the front end and wander off line much more than its longer chainstay cousins. If your idea of a 29er is something that allows you to monster truck up technical climbs whilst changing tunes on your I-pod or checking your latest Strava stats, this isn’t the bike for you. Instead it requires a degree of body language to keep you spinning, rather than walking, uphill.

Previously I’ve been somewhat critical of 29ers with heavily raked seat tube angles. With the seatpost at full extension under a taller rider, they can put your weight too far back. This trait does contribute a little to the Whyte’s climbing behaviour, however we’re willing to forgive it in this instance. With the previous examples, the curved and raked back seat angle gave no real benefit, as the chainstays were typically 29er long. In this case the rear wheel tucked significantly further under you, which offers a range of advantages that we’ll come to in a minute.

The T129S frame is very stiff, and the bike is clearly aimed at the rowdy end of the 29er spectrum. However, pushing the bike in the manner that Whyte intended reveals the limitations of 32mm stanchions on a fork—flex becomes quickly apparent, especially when coupled with the extra mechanical advantage of larger wheels. It’s always difficult for smaller manufacturers to be price competitive with the big players (who buy components in huge quantities), and Whyte have done a great job of balancing price and performance in kitting out the T129S, but I suspect a more expensive 34mm fork would add a whole new level of burliness to the ride quality. Let’s just say that it would be a worthwhile upgrade at some point down the track.

Wheels and tyres are the other fly in the ointment of realising my long-imagined bike. The stock tyres are more suited to an XC-style bike than something pushing the hardcore trail boundaries, especially in the casing width. Likewise, whilst most riders are realising the distinct increase in sidewall stability offered by wider rims, the T129S has ‘old school’ 19mm rims that are largely unsuited to the bike. Lastly, the spoke tension on our test wheels was so low that the rear wheel was all but destroyed without even without pinch flatting a tube in the process. Some wider, tighter wheels with more meaty rubber would be a first point of call if you really wanted to unleash the T129S beast.

Okay, enough of the possibly unrealistic expectations. In every other area the Whyte T129S delivers in spades. The cockpit is long enough to stretch out on even the steepest, most sustained of climbs. It’s a good bike for cruising flowing trails, it pumps through undulations with a sense of eager enthusiasm, and it’s lively when you pop off a lip or two (or more). There’s no other 29er on the market that’s so easy to manual or hop, thanks entirely to that super compact rear end—in this sense it feels every bit as agile as a 26er. With stiffer wheels there’s no doubt it’d rail corners with the best of them.

All the Whyte bikes that we’ve reviewed previously loved being ridden really, really fast and at the ragged edge—on this front, the T129S is absolutely no exception. Point it downhill, let go of the brakes and you discover what this bike is all about; high speed fun and tomfoolery like no other big wheeled bike we’ve ridden. This is no more evident than when you hit a drop on a steep and rocky section of trail; there’s no sense of the front end dropping before the back wheel leaves the lip, or wishing you could get just a bit further back. Instead there’s total confidence that you’ll land with the bike safely under you no matter how horrendous the run out may be, or how carelessly you’ve attacked the descent. It’s a bike built more for 24 minute races rather than 24 hour ones, especially if there’s an altitude loss and some rough and technical trail involved—even better if you’re chasing or being chased by a few riding buddies. Get to the bottom, turn around and pedal back up, and then do it again until your legs are screaming and your arms are pumped.

The flip side of all this stability and control is that it’s easy to overstep its limits, forgetting you’ve only got 120mm of travel. This is particularly the case with the front end, as the Reba fork is incredibly plush and linear, so it will bottom out long before the back end calls it a day. With some careful and patient fettling of the compression damping and threshold dials, you can get the front and back ends to play nicely with each other, but you’ll probably end up with less fork sag and compromised small bump compliance.

When you need to climb back up, the Whyte will do it efficiently and smoothly; there’s very little pedal induced movement in either chainring whether seated or standing. This is largely a function of the shock tune as the suspension design itself has little inherent chain growth and anti-squat. It’s true that if you like your bikes to feel plush and supple over small bumps, you might find the stock tune of the T129S a little harsh; this could be remedied with a custom shock tune, or perhaps swapping the Monarch shock out for a more supple (in our experience) Fox shock. Be wary though; fitting a supple and lightly damped shock may assist with comfort and traction, however the low level of anti-squat offered by the QL4 system means that you would also introduce more bob and unwanted suspension mush when climbing. If you like your bike’s suspension to feel taut and snappy you’ll probably be totally happy with the stock standard shock and suspension setup.

It’s also worth mentioning that the T129S has a very low leverage ratio of 2:1 thanks to the 63mm stroke shock; this makes the suspension less finicky to set up as you need to make relatively large adjustments in air pressure to alter the suspension performance. Another advantage is the ability to run quite low shock pressures, so the shock doesn’t need to work as hard, and heavier riders won’t find themselves maxing out the shock pump in order to get appropriate sag.

Final Fantasy

The Whyte T129S is a truly groundbreaking bike; perhaps even a dream come true. Whilst most other bike brands are tentatively tweaking their big wheeled bikes by a few millimetres or fractions of a degree, Whyte have leapt ahead of the pack, showing the way with a radical geometry that most people thought simply couldn’t be done. In the process they’ve taken the 29er genre from its relatively sedate XC styled present and thrust it into a boisterous, bold and audacious future of eye-watering descents, reflex-fast flight and ear to ear grins—it’s more fun that I’d thought was possible with only 120m of travel. With better wheels and a few other well-chosen upgrades, it could be one of the most fun bikes on the market. And at the end of the day, isn’t that what mountain biking is all about?

Thumbs Up

Genre bending geometry

Stiff and solid frame

Delivers both confidence and giggles

Thumbs Down

Fork comparatively under-gunned

Sub-optimal small-bump compliance and square-edge suspension performance

Inappropriate wheel and tyre choice

Specifications

Frame: Whyte 6061 T6 Alloy

Shock: RockShox Monarch, RT3 120mm travel

Fork: RockShox Reba RLT, 120mm travel

Headset: FSA Orbit 1 1/8 - 1 1/2

Handlebars: Whyte 2014 Alloy riser, 710mm

Stem: Whyte Alloy 80mm

Shifters: SRAM X.9

Front Derailleur : SRAM X.7

Rear Derailleur: SRAM X.9

Cassette: SRAM PG1050 11/36 10-speed

Chain: SRAM PC1031

Cranks: SRAM S1400 GXP 24/38

Bottom Bracket: SRAM

Pedals: N/A

Brakes: Avid Elixir 5

Rims: WTB STi19 Tubeless Ready

Spokes: WTB Butted Stainless

Hubs: Alloy Sealed Bearing

Tyres: Maxxis Ardent 2.25 (F) Ikon 2.2 (R)

Saddle: Whyte Dual Density

Seatpost: RockShox Reverb 125mm dropper

Weight: 13.5kg without pedals (Large frame 3,410g)

Available Sizes: S, M, L (tested)

Price: $3,750

Distributor: Carbuta Pty Ltd 0439 902 770 / www.whytebikes.com