Whyte T-129S Or similar?

robinecs

Hi all, I'm hoping some of you may be able to assist me. I've not owned a bike in 6 years my last bike was a Norco two-50 jump bike with manitou millennium forks and hope M4's running singlespeed. I used to mainly ride short course downhill.

I now want to return to mountain biking but more interested in longer distances with a bit of fun added in. After reading a fair bit in magazines and online I think I need a trail bike rather than an all mountain bike especially living in the south. Would I be right in thinking this?

So after making that decision I saw the Whyte T-129S won the what trail bike of the year award, and instantly liked the look and spec of the bike and importantly as was at the right price. My only concern is with the 29" wheels will I still be able to hit the odd jump on the trail with no issues or should I be looking at other options?

I'm off to a few bike shops at the weekend so hopefully I can try one out for size but obviously I don't just want to impulse buy and then regret it.

So the details:

Bike:
http://www.whytebikes.com/2013/product. ... 42&xSec=98

Me:

6'3" and reasonably fit.

Kowalski675

You'll be lucky to find a T129S anywhere before the 2014 models hit the shops.

robinecs

Kowalski675 wrote:

You'll be lucky to find a T129S anywhere before the 2014 models hit the shops.

Well that puts a spanner in the works any recommendations?

Kowalski675

robinecs wrote:

Kowalski675 wrote:

You'll be lucky to find a T129S anywhere before the 2014 models hit the shops.

Well that puts a spanner in the works any recommendations?

I'm only a newbie, so not an experienced rider, but I've tried a few new bikes recently. If you want a 29er I rode the new Trek Fuel EX 29er last week, which felt very good (like a shorter, more nimble version of the Rumblefish Pro that I had for a few days recently), but the cheapest model (EX7) is slightly more expensive than the Whyte, and doesn't come with the Reverb dropper post the Whyte had (I rode the T129S too a few weeks back).

andy_welch

Despite what you might think from the date, I think the 2014 T129s will be in the shops in a few weeks.

robinecs

andy_welch wrote:

Despite what you might think from the date, I think the 2014 T129s will be in the shops in a few weeks.

Thats interesting to know. Ill have a browse of the local shops anyway this weekend and see if there's anything to tempt me.

Kowalski675

Aye, late July my local dealer reckoned. He said there's no changes to the 129, apart from a couple of hundred quid price increase.

andy_welch

And, apparently, a "Works" version with an even higher spec than the "S" model and a price somewhere around £2.5K I think.