Whyte T130 RS with some choice mods + play with a QUARQ SHOCK WIZ
Wooderson
Posts: 27
Love this bike. Nearly a year old and in that time I've experimented with a few modifications to suit my new location in the Surrey Hills.
Bought as a ex-demo from Cycleworks, Leatherhead, after a weekend demo event - so I saved a stack of money to fund some upgrades.
First thing to change were the WTB Trail Boss tyres, which while fine on the back, were sketchy on the front in anything but hardpack (quite lacking on Leith and Pitch Hills...). So I bought EVO snakeskin Magic Mary for the front and rotate a combo of a Rock Razor and Hans Dampf on the rear. Love the MM up front and in EVO flavor not that weighty and pretty adaptable for most terrain. Not that impressed with the HD in truth, and can't wait for the trails to dry out a bit to get the RR back on. That really felt awesome from summer to autumn and i was amazed and how little it mattered having very little rear braking grip.
Now running tubeless with Stans fluid and I've been puncture free since June! Might need to top up the fluid soon, as I can't hear it sloshing around the MM.
Next up was the Ergon GE1 grips. Slightly odd shape, but proving very comfy - with gloves or gloveless.
Chromag Cutlass carbon bars have just been fitted. Simialr shape to the OEM bars, but 1/4 lb lighter.
One Up oval 32t Chainring fitted when I replaced the chain, cassette and jockey wheels. Used to the feel of it now and i think it helps in the low speed, chunky, rooty stuff when you feel like you are able to put down a 1/2 turn on the cranks just to get you through a tricky feature. Probably a placebo, but one that has me fooled...
I've just fitted a 140mm airshaft in the PIKEs and am still finding my way with pressure and tokens. There is a subtle change to the stance of the bike - canting it back a bit and raising the BB height a touch. Looking forward to testing this on some of the DH oreintated trails once Spring arrives, as it's hard to notice the difference in the current slop. The chance to do a lower leg service and get some SRAM grease on the seals made the PIKEs feel awesome though. Will be doing that a lot more regularly.
Upgraded the bearings in the SRAM Roam 30s has helps give the bike back its speed and i will force myself not to pressure wash the bike again. The headset bearing also went to an early grave - probably for the same reason - so a new set from Wych Bearing has brought back butter smooth steering. Also on bearing, the capped pivot bearings have done their job superbly. loads of grease in there and not a spec of dirt. A very impressive set up and i doubt I'll be claiming on the lifetime bearing warranty anytime soon.
Other than that, I've taken off some of the pretty ropey decals and stickers in an attempt to calm the graphics down a bit. I'd love to get it resprayed in a gunmetal chrome, but that's money better spent on some spare wheels.
Plans for the Spring? Maybe to trim a few bits to get it well under 30lbs - possibly with a new fabric or Ergon saddle. Other than that, I want to get entered in a few mild Enduro races and continue to belt it around the trails in Winterfold.
Bought as a ex-demo from Cycleworks, Leatherhead, after a weekend demo event - so I saved a stack of money to fund some upgrades.
First thing to change were the WTB Trail Boss tyres, which while fine on the back, were sketchy on the front in anything but hardpack (quite lacking on Leith and Pitch Hills...). So I bought EVO snakeskin Magic Mary for the front and rotate a combo of a Rock Razor and Hans Dampf on the rear. Love the MM up front and in EVO flavor not that weighty and pretty adaptable for most terrain. Not that impressed with the HD in truth, and can't wait for the trails to dry out a bit to get the RR back on. That really felt awesome from summer to autumn and i was amazed and how little it mattered having very little rear braking grip.
Now running tubeless with Stans fluid and I've been puncture free since June! Might need to top up the fluid soon, as I can't hear it sloshing around the MM.
Next up was the Ergon GE1 grips. Slightly odd shape, but proving very comfy - with gloves or gloveless.
Chromag Cutlass carbon bars have just been fitted. Simialr shape to the OEM bars, but 1/4 lb lighter.
One Up oval 32t Chainring fitted when I replaced the chain, cassette and jockey wheels. Used to the feel of it now and i think it helps in the low speed, chunky, rooty stuff when you feel like you are able to put down a 1/2 turn on the cranks just to get you through a tricky feature. Probably a placebo, but one that has me fooled...
I've just fitted a 140mm airshaft in the PIKEs and am still finding my way with pressure and tokens. There is a subtle change to the stance of the bike - canting it back a bit and raising the BB height a touch. Looking forward to testing this on some of the DH oreintated trails once Spring arrives, as it's hard to notice the difference in the current slop. The chance to do a lower leg service and get some SRAM grease on the seals made the PIKEs feel awesome though. Will be doing that a lot more regularly.
Upgraded the bearings in the SRAM Roam 30s has helps give the bike back its speed and i will force myself not to pressure wash the bike again. The headset bearing also went to an early grave - probably for the same reason - so a new set from Wych Bearing has brought back butter smooth steering. Also on bearing, the capped pivot bearings have done their job superbly. loads of grease in there and not a spec of dirt. A very impressive set up and i doubt I'll be claiming on the lifetime bearing warranty anytime soon.
Other than that, I've taken off some of the pretty ropey decals and stickers in an attempt to calm the graphics down a bit. I'd love to get it resprayed in a gunmetal chrome, but that's money better spent on some spare wheels.
Plans for the Spring? Maybe to trim a few bits to get it well under 30lbs - possibly with a new fabric or Ergon saddle. Other than that, I want to get entered in a few mild Enduro races and continue to belt it around the trails in Winterfold.
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Comments
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How big is your bath ?!!! Get some hyrodip spray and film and hydrodip the frame .0
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Some nice changes there! I've had my 2017 T130C RS for around 6 months and have gone for the same Chromag bars along with a 50mm Chromag Ranger stem and have been thinking about going for a 140mm air shaft for the pikes, how have you been getting on with it? Am waiting on OneUp to bring out a 34t Boost compatible chainring too, how do you find the oval ring compared to standard?0
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lawman wrote:Some nice changes there! I've had my 2017 T130C RS for around 6 months and have gone for the same Chromag bars along with a 50mm Chromag Ranger stem and have been thinking about going for a 140mm air shaft for the pikes, how have you been getting on with it? Am waiting on OneUp to bring out a 34t Boost compatible chainring too, how do you find the oval ring compared to standard?
On the forks I'll let you know after I visit Rogate Downhill on the weekend!
10mm extra travel is hardly re-engineering the bike, but it was fun to take the forks apart, inspect them and then put it back together with new oil and lashings or Judy butter (or whatever SRAM call it these days!).
On the oval chainring...harder to say. When first fitted I liked the feel on the nadgery technical climbs - it felt like a bit of a flywheel effect when pedalling hard to clear rooty steps - but in truth I'm hard-pushed to notice anymore.0 -
Out of curiosity I borrowed a pair of Quarq Shock Wiz sensors from Liam @ Surreyhills suspension on the weekend and enjoyed a great morning on the trails in Mickleham/Box Hill.
It's a fairly user-friendly system and once rigged up the bike you just ride and then respond to the tuning advice offered in real time via the app.
The object is ride across a broad spectrum of trails conditions to give enough data for for the system to provide a confidence level on various tweaks to damping and pressure. After each change you start a 'new session' and then monitor how the shocks are responding in terms of packing, bob, bottoming etc.
My base settings weren't a million miles off, but with a bit more pressure, some more rebound and a token in the Pikes the system claimed to be 100% confident in an optimised setup!
Similarly, the Monarch Debonair also need a touch more air and will need a bit of internal work come the next service to add a volume band.
While £400 to buy just one sensor is bloody steep, if you can rent one (or even better two in my case!) it's an enjoyable way of field-testing your own intuition and feel for your suspension settings.
The bike did feel nicely balanced and i appreciate the confidence it provides offering a base platform to work with come a trip to new trails or a change to a new season of weather.
Check out Liam's 'Surreyhills Suspension' Facebook page for more details and give him a shout0 -
the mark up on those units is pretty vulgar but not surprising given sram's purchase of the company. Be interesting to compare this unit to the sussmyride version.0
