Bird Aeris 120 V Whyte T130S review
JGTR
Posts: 1,404
Had the chance to spend a decent amount of time on both these bikes at Swinley, thought I'd stick a review on here. Currently ride a 2013 Camber 29er, wanted to see how a 650b compared.
The Whyte is very playful, straight away I was hopping around the trails, it's very nimble and good for the twisty stuff at Swinley. The front end is very light, manuals easily so great for lifting the front for obstacles. Descends very nice, I really noticed the slack head angle, it's just rolls over drops without the feeling you are going over the bars, on my Camber I have to consciously move my weight back when descending. Uphill the front does lift and I had to put more weight over the bars, unlike my Camber. Very responsive to pedaling, accelerates quickly. Nice bike, very suited to tight and twisty trails.
I was initially disappointed with the Bird, felt heavy and didn't like varying from a straight line. Feels slow to get going, maybe because it's quite a long bike (although I had to put seat right back even though I'm only 5'11"). Spoke to a fella who said that it's better suited to more open and flowing trails...well he wasn't wrong! Got it on a long sweeping blue and it flew, fastest I've ever been at Swinley. I was getting air off the jumps without even trying and it was extremely well behaved in the air (and I don't normally do air!). After this I pushed it a bit harder and had a blast, scared myself if I'm honest, I didn't have pads and only a XC helmet so thought I'd better back off a bit. The front feels alot more planted than the Whyte, think it suits the more aggressive rider. The rear shock (RS, not sure which one) has a pedal setting which stiffens the rear end to aid pedaling but still allows it to take big hits which I really like, fully open felt too soft and wallowly.
So there it is, 2 very good but different bikes, if I wanted to push myself I'd go for the Bird as I think overall it's a more capable bike, but as an all rounder, more user friendly bike I'd go for the Whyte.
As it is I'm going to stick with my 29er, maybe upgrade to a Jeffsy next year, 29 suits my riding as I do a mix of everything and rarely do proper trails so neither really make sense for me. 29er is also easier to ride longer distance.
Hope this is of interest :-)
Jay
The Whyte is very playful, straight away I was hopping around the trails, it's very nimble and good for the twisty stuff at Swinley. The front end is very light, manuals easily so great for lifting the front for obstacles. Descends very nice, I really noticed the slack head angle, it's just rolls over drops without the feeling you are going over the bars, on my Camber I have to consciously move my weight back when descending. Uphill the front does lift and I had to put more weight over the bars, unlike my Camber. Very responsive to pedaling, accelerates quickly. Nice bike, very suited to tight and twisty trails.
I was initially disappointed with the Bird, felt heavy and didn't like varying from a straight line. Feels slow to get going, maybe because it's quite a long bike (although I had to put seat right back even though I'm only 5'11"). Spoke to a fella who said that it's better suited to more open and flowing trails...well he wasn't wrong! Got it on a long sweeping blue and it flew, fastest I've ever been at Swinley. I was getting air off the jumps without even trying and it was extremely well behaved in the air (and I don't normally do air!). After this I pushed it a bit harder and had a blast, scared myself if I'm honest, I didn't have pads and only a XC helmet so thought I'd better back off a bit. The front feels alot more planted than the Whyte, think it suits the more aggressive rider. The rear shock (RS, not sure which one) has a pedal setting which stiffens the rear end to aid pedaling but still allows it to take big hits which I really like, fully open felt too soft and wallowly.
So there it is, 2 very good but different bikes, if I wanted to push myself I'd go for the Bird as I think overall it's a more capable bike, but as an all rounder, more user friendly bike I'd go for the Whyte.
As it is I'm going to stick with my 29er, maybe upgrade to a Jeffsy next year, 29 suits my riding as I do a mix of everything and rarely do proper trails so neither really make sense for me. 29er is also easier to ride longer distance.
Hope this is of interest :-)
Jay
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Jeffsy owners, please discuss......
?
And did you clock the state of someone's bearings after a few months of manky British winter? Can't be sealed at all to be in that state.
Would be good if Bird had a few bikes available in Scotland for us northern folk to try out!
I'm certainly no YT fanboi, but given the exceptional value they offer vs the service and overall package. I think it's a little disingenuous picking up and making issues out of very small things. I am also not saying they are perfect...far from it, but my experience as many thousands of others is positive. I also knew what I was getting myself in for buying direct from Germany but weighed the saving over similar bikes as totally worth it. Now if you are talking Capra from a few years back that's a totally different convo
Plus they have no one to whinge and moan to to prople resort to forums.