Whyte E120 running 140mm forks

rowleypoo57

Is anyone running this setup? I ride an e120 xt, the kind of riding i do is mostly freeride/light dh so im looking to upgrade my fox f120 to the 32 float 140mm for a little more travel and strength. Will this completely mess up the handling on this bike? Thanks

PS: also fitting high rise monkeylite dh bars and a 70mm stem

The Northern Monkey

I thought it was an XC bike?

delcol

whats it say on their website for this bike, if not try emailing them i'm sure they would tell you what the max travel is....

i to thought it was an xc bike.

The Northern Monkey

Designed and tested for the following use:
The Whyte E-120 has been designed for typical XC use. It has not been designed for extreme downhill riding or free riding

From: http://www.whytebikes.com/downloads/Why ... Manual.pdf

Its an XC bike.

rowleypoo57

Yeah it is intended for xc but i thought it might be up for a little freeride. I got the bike off a mate for a very good price after my old bike was stolen.

The Northern Monkey

Its your face ..... I'd get a different bike for DH/FR!

Edit: what forks you thinking anyways? There aren't many 140mm forks strong enough to take FR abuse.

delcol

depends... what do you class as freeride.. or light freeride.

GhallTN6

Went out today, really agressive trails, one of the guys was out on his E120 XT with upgraded fork, he's upgraded them to rockshox 150's u-turn's (this week) ... he was loving it and he said it really improved his riding ability.. I think he faffed with the handlebars a bit to compensate but like I say, his overall opinnion was that it was a very worthwhile upgrade!

rowleypoo57

Yeah good point, i wouldnt want to subject the bike to any abuse it couldnt take. You might see the bike in the classifieds soon. What do you guys think of the orange five? more suited to my style of riding?

The Northern Monkey

5 is good AM bike, lots of people on here rave about them! Possibly overpriced... but I like them.
go for the Alpine if you want a bit more travel/strength!

The Northern Monkey

GhallTN6 wrote:

Went out today, really agressive trails, one of the guys was out on his E120 XT with upgraded fork, he's upgraded them to rockshox 150's u-turn's (this week) ... he was loving it and he said it really improved his riding ability.. I think he faffed with the handlebars a bit to compensate but like I say, his overall opinnion was that it was a very worthwhile upgrade!

its not just the riding position. The frame wil be put under stresses that its not designed for. Especially upgrading from 120 to 150mm.
Also, I wouldn't be surprised if it has a negative affect on how his rear shock works.
and he's voided his warranty.

delcol

delcol reaches for the tin opener to open that can of worms...

i personally don't like the orange 5s...

but they seem to score some good reviews,, but again are'nt they only around a 1400mm trav bike... what do you mean by light freeride..
i thought freeride bike were 180mm +
i got a spesh demo 7 for my bike park duties as my santacruz heckler was blowing through it's travel it kept bottom out when i was in whistler last year.. the demo 7 was perfect for park duties,,

would the whyte frame handle the longer forks ie is it not putting added stress somewere on the frame, waiting for it to fail...

rowleypoo57

Delcol: I have started riding alot on the 'stylecop' section at cannock chase so i need a bike to put up with that kind of terrein. I like a frame with a steep head angle and a short wheelbase wich i know is the complete opposite to a dh bike but i like the bike to feel 'nimble' if you get me.

Anonymous

i think this might be up your street more so than the whyte (which you should give to me) as it suits long travel and is very steep for a 160mm bike. lord knows what you are supposed to do with it.

rowleypoo57

That looks like a pretty gnarly bike there sheepsteeth. Have got my eyes on a lapierre spicy which i think will suit me best, plus if it snaps i can just weld it back together.

dave8178

if your looking for a downhill bike. have a look at this.
http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=12679315

bails87

rowleypoo57 wrote:

plus if it snaps i can just weld it back together.

Is that before or after you've had the remnants of the headtube removed from your face?

Grimy

I'd have no problems adding 20mm of travel to the Mount Vision, but the e120 is just a bit too light weight to be confident about doing so...

ride_whenever

I'd get a ransom or possibly a voltage FR depending on how much you're planning on riding up-hill!

bennync35

Hi,
I am the one with Revelations (2010) Team recently fitted to my Whyte E120XT. They are a reveleation (sorry) and a vast improvement on the Fox 120. They are not going to bust the frame, because Whyte will have designed and tested the frame to suit body weights right into the porky range and I weigh 10 stone. Okay there is potentially 25% more leverage on the headstock but I won't ride locked out on the rough stuff so the fork will always move to negate any high stress. The Revelations are buttery smooth compared to the old Fox 120's so the result is less stress anyway. I was never fully happy with the Fox shocks as they have always been harsh and I never got through the last 20mm of travel even when running very soft - I believe they have a bump stop fitted - so effectively I had a 100mm trave shock before.
Like many people I want my bike to be the ultmate compromise between XC, full day rides and reasonable on the down hills. I bought the E120 after a test ride because I loved the pedaling efficiency (I can keep up with faster mates more easily), and I loved the way it shot around my local trails like a frisky puppy. I enjoy the technical single track the most and the challenge of getting up, over or across the most gnarly stuff. The E120 is brilliant for this, well balanced, and I seem to get up stuff my riding mates may have to stop on, and I'm pretty average when it comes to skill.
The only downside to the E120 was it is way to frisky on the downhills, I've solved this with the Revelations and they are now a blast too.
Keep the E120 and fit some Revelations.
Benny.

Beardface

Grimy wrote:

I'd have no problems adding 20mm of travel to the Mount Vision, but the e120 is just a bit too light weight to be confident about doing so...

I had no problems doing that to mine.. went from 120mm fox's, to 140mm Revs, stuck a shorter stem on, bigger front rotor, and it feels so much better.. more agile, and gives me a tonne more confidence (Just need to change the 2.1 NN's to 2.25, and I'll be set).

My mate has always ran 130mm forks on his E-120, not sure if that helps, but he has no complaints either.

pittpony

I've always run 130mm Revelations on my E120 but i much prefer the look of Fox forks so have just picket up some Floats. I'll be running at 140mm to start and will add more spacers if it messes up the geometry

I have an reply from when i asked Whyte about changing the fork length:

The ideal fork length for this bike would be between 120-130mm travel.

The absolute maximum would be 140mm but this would start to effect the geometry so should be run with a slightly higher sag level.

The thing to remember about geometry is the axle to crown length rather than actual travel. Fox forks have a shorter ATC than Rockshox so 140mm Floats will only be a few mm longer ATC than the 130mm Revs (so i'm told by my mate Breezer)!

But of course the E120 is an XC bike so i wouldn't do anything too stupid on it