Whyte T-160 RS review | Trail Bike of the Year winner

Whyte T-160 RS climbing performance

The 16kg weight might not be light, the 75.7-degree seat angle not particularly steep, and the generous 150/160mm of travel may not signpost a bike that’s going to be a natural climber. However, Whyte clearly has different intentions.

The T-160 RS is as competent a climber as pretty much any aggressive trail bike I’ve ever tested, save perhaps for Scott’s latest Genius.

The bike is comfortable to sit on, with a well-proportioned front-to-rear balance. You can sit up on it and spin, while the length doesn’t feel stretched.

The seat angle might not be the steepest around, however the suspension likes to sit high in its travel when you’re pedalling. I never felt the Whyte wallowing into its travel, slackening the seat angle further.

The suspension remains pert as you pedal, the shock keeping still as you spin the pedals, and only really oscillating when you’re out of the saddle and pedalling hard.

On smoother drags, the shock can be locked out, too, via a quarter-turn on its low-speed compression switch. There’s still a hint of movement, boosting grip, before it firms into a stable platform.

If you feel it bounces too much in its open mode, the Ultimate Super Deluxe has low-speed compression adjustment. You could always add a click or two if required.

The ease with which you can tune the low-speed compression helps make the bike feel efficient when you’re spinning your way up climbs and masks the moderate weight.

However, if you want a ‘zippy’ climber, you might want to look elsewhere, because the tyres and weight take the sting out of its tail.

On more challenging climbs, the composed rear end helps put all your pedalling into forward and upward motion.

Hit a step or a root and the bike doesn’t soak up every little bit of the bump, communicating what’s going on underneath.

It’s thus not entirely smooth up techy climbs, however there’s more than enough suppleness in the rear end to help the Maxxis Minion DHR II dig in and grip.

The SRAM GX drivetrain works well, with shifting smooth and precise.

While I think a box-fresh Shimano groupset feels better than SRAM and I prefer Shimano’s shifters, once a layer of British winter grime is applied, SRAM’s kit trucks on far more smoothly than its Japanese counterpart.

Whyte T-160 RS descending performance

It should be no surprise, if you spotted the full five-star award at the top of this review, that the T-160 RS performs impeccably when the trail returns to the valley floor.

Whyte has got the geometry spot-on, with the 825mm front-centre balanced with the medium-long chainstays.

This puts your weight nicely between the tyres’ contact patches, distributing your weight in a manner that enables both Maxxis tyres to grip while you’re leaning the bike through corners or shifting your body weight to manoeuvre it over obstacles.

The bottom bracket height is just low enough to keep your weight slammed towards the floor, giving the bike tons of predictability when you’re railing through corners. At the same time, it keeps your pedals just out of the reach of the ground, minimising pedal strikes.

Despite a price that's cheaper than the rest of the bikes in this year's trail category, the inclusion of Ultimate-level suspension at both ends boosts the Whyte’s performance over the competition.

Not only does it make the bike astounding value for money, it also shows that the product team at Whyte have put their money where it matters.

Both the 160mm Lyrik and the Super Deluxe are star performers.

At the rear, the shock feels beautifully smooth, and yet avoids feeling soggy and wasteful of your energy. It's a hard balancing act and one that Whyte’s engineers have dealt with deftly.

Traction is maximised, with the rear wheel fluttering over trail imperfections.

At the same time, there’s ample support for when things get rowdy, with a seamless transition from early-stroke suppleness into mid- and late-stroke control.

Even when rattling through the most choppy terrain, the shock never gets overwhelmed.

It’s as sophisticated a shock as you’re likely to find on a bike at this price point, and the linkage it sits in the middle of is dialled.

My only query would be on the tune – at 78kg kitted up, I was comfortable with the shock’s adjustable low-speed compression dial fully open. The lightest riders on a Medium-size bike may find the rear end a touch over-damped.

That said, my preference is for a fast-running shock, with minimal compression or rebound damping applied, so your mileage may vary.

Up front, the Ultimate Lyrik is a fantastic fork.

It’s calm and stable, giving a composed feel to the front end, even when you’re going hell for leather down BikePark Wales’ most rattly trails.

The combination of the rubber bumper ButterCups and the up-rated bushings, seals and fluids, as well as the top-end Charger 3 damper, ensures the fork is as comfortable as they come.

At the same time, much like the back end, the fork’s progression to the depths of its travel is controlled with distinction.

Land deep into a downslope and both fork and shock dole out their respective travel calmly. If you tip the bike into a chute with a narrow catch at the bottom, the fork’s support ensures your bars stay high and you can keep your eyes on the exit without banging the Lyrik though to its bump stops.

This enables the rest of the bike’s components to work at their best.

Kitted up

At the front, the Maxxis Assegai, in its EXO-cased MaxxTerra compound, does a great job of translating your steering inputs into directional change.

It might not be the best for really sloppy conditions, but in every other circumstance, it’s one of my favourite aggressive mountain bike tyres.

Unlike a Minion DHF, there’s a nice transition between central and shoulder tread, so grip remains predictable as you lean the bike over.

Further back, the Minion DHR II only steals a little of your zip, while providing decent braking and cornering traction. The EXO+ casing is tougher than the EXO up front, which adds confidence as you haul through rock gardens.

Aside from the obvious kit, Whyte has done a good job of the spec.

In particular, I like Whyte’s grips. Their deep outer flange seems to lock your hands onto the bars, and despite being relatively skinny, they contribute to a comfortable cockpit.

Further back, the seatpost offers up 25mm of travel adjustment, so if you want to go longer in reach, you may be able to size up a bike.

SRAM’s Code R brakes pinch a pair of 200mm rotors. They offer decent levels of power, although during my testing of bikes over the past year or two, SRAM’s pocket-friendly enduro stoppers haven’t always been the most consistent – some are fantastic, some a little underwhelming.

All said, though, the performance of the T-160 RS under braking is impressive.

The suspension feels free to continue moving over the ground, even when you’re dragging the brakes. This enables the rear tyre to do its job of providing traction and braking performance, whatever the situation.