2019 Whyte S-150c rs for first full suspension?

aldragicevich
aldragicevich Posts: 7
in MTB buying advice
I can get a great deal on the 2019 Whyte S-150c rs brand new. I don't know much about the brand however, but it looks great.

I am currently riding a 27.5+ hardtail and wanted an upgrade to my first full suspension.

My choices so far have been the Whyte bike, 2019 Trek Remedy 9.8 (can get a fantastic price on that too, cheaper than the Whyte) or maybe a Canyon Spectral.

What do you guys think?

I am a little worried about the Whyte bike's fork being upgradable? The geometry is tuned to that custom offset fork, so I wouldn't be able to upgrade to a new fancy fork in the future if I can't buy one with the same offset?

Also is the RC Pike a compromise compared to the RCT3? I seem to read mixed answers on threads about that.

Comments

  • steve_sordy
    steve_sordy Posts: 2,446
    I've not had a a Whyte S-150 but I did had a Whyte T130C RS for several years and I absolutely loved the bike! I only sold it because knee problems meant I had to go emtb. The bottom bracket was by RaceFace and was made of cheese (replaced with a Hope BB). But apart from that it was brilliant. The bike was designed and specified by British designers for British weather and it shows. The suspension design made the 130 mm travel seem like far more. I've had bikes with 165 travel and for someone to have just one bike, then the Whyte T130 would be a very good choice. The design ethos for the T130 will be the same as for the S150, so I would have similarly high expectations for it.

    The Pike RC is a very good fork, not quite as good as the RCT3, but the incremental difference is not as big as you would think. I would not reject a perfectly good bike just because it didn't have T3 added. Give the RC a solid go and set it up the best you can using all the available guides and you will not be disappointed. You can always change the damper later to convert to an RCT3 if you believe it will be worth the money (I don't). There will be no need to change the fork.

    When you get the bike, make sure that you deflate the shock and fork completely and then inflate according to instructions on the Rockshox website (not the SRAM website, you won't find it). It is no longer just "pump up and go!" You have to inflate in steps and cycle the suspension through its travel a specified number of times to ensure that the negative air spring is properly set up. You must do this; if it was not done properly at initial set up, your suspension will still work OK, but it won't be great! Do it for peace of mind.

    In addition to setting the %sag properly and paying attention to rebound damping and compression damping, there is one last thing that you should do. But only do this after you have done the other stuff and are still not happy. The air spring can be tuned to suit your weight and riding style and it is very easy to do on Rockshox forks. It should take 5 mins or less to change the number of "tokens" (spacers) in the air side. Then go ride and see whether the change is enough. Repeat or reverse if unhappy. Read about air spring tuning before doing it so that you understand whether to add or remove one or more tokens and to know what you are trying to achieve.

    All of the above advice about the fork also applies to the shock. Tuning the air spring will require removal of the shock from the bike (ensure fully deflated first), but it is easy to do, requiring only Allen keys.

    The following link will take you to a series of articles by Bike Rumour's guide to Suspension Set-up. It will take you through the basics all the way to probably way more than you thought was possible. It is an easy read and is highly recommended.

    .https://bikerumor.com/2014/10/30/bikerumor-suspension-setup-series-full-series-pdf-free-download/

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