First Ride: Whyte E-160 RSX 29er

Frame details

To keep costs down, the frame is only offered in 6061 aluminum. Whyte decided to use a complete downtube to maintain structural integrity when compared to a design where the battery slots into a hole in the belly of the "tube". They say this allows them to keep the tube wall thickness below 2 mm, making for a lighter overall weight than a downtube with a door, where wall thicknesses swell to compensate for the lack of structural efficiency. This bike is not light, mind you.

Whyte also sought to keep the weight as low down in the frame as possible to make it easier to move the bike around and change direction. To do this, they rotated the Bosch motor anticlockwise so the downtube battery could slide out the bottom for off-bike charging, while also keeping it as close to the ground as possible. Though the bike ships with Bosch's biggest 750 Wh battery, smaller batteries can be used; and because the battery clips in at the bottom the empty space is at the top of the down tube - helping keep the center of gravity even lower.


The E-160 has a flip-chip that changes the bottom bracket height by 8 mm and the head angle by 0.7-degrees. There's the usual frame protection, bottle cage bosses, and internal routing you'd expect from a modern bike, and the head tube allows for forks with 1.8" steerers.

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Suspension

Despite the name, the E-160 offers 150 mm of travel at the rear, teamed with a 160 mm fork. The suspension linkage is progressive throughout the stroke, with about 23% progression from beginning to end. That's fairly progressive, but nothing crazy. Anti-squat levels (how much the suspension resists pedal-bob) are roughly typical for an e-bike, with around 80% at sag.

What makes Whyte's suspension stand out is the shock tune. "I have found in general e-bikes don’t require more damping than a regular bike", says Whyte's MTB engineer, Sam Shucksmith, "due to the stability provided by the extra weight of the bike if anything you can get away with less damping and benefit from increased small bump compliance and traction. Mid-stroke support from the spring is important when dealing with the added weight of an e-bike."

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Geometry

Whyte Bikes was one of the early adopters of modern geometry, and the E-160 is up to date. The chainstay length is well-balanced at 446 mm (not too long, not crazy short). With all that weight in front of the bottom bracket, a long chainstay can make an e-bike really hard to manual and move around on the trail. The seat angle is around 75 degrees, which isn't the steepest, but in terms of pedaling ergonomics, this doesn't seem to matter too much with e-bikes. The spec sheet says the bottom bracket measures 344 mm in the high setting (336 mm in the low), but it feels lower to me.

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Models & Specs

There are two spec options for the 29er version, both of which get the same Bosch motor and 750 Wh battery. I rode the more expensive RSX model with Fox 38 and Float X Performance Elite dampers, whereas the cheaper model gets a RockShox ZEB RC fork and a Deluxe Select R in-line shock.






Ride Impressions

I only got the chance to ride the E-160 29er once, but I was able to ride a wide selection of well-known test trails in the Tweed Valley. I did bring my own scale to the launch event, but I wasn't able to weigh my XL test bike because the scale only goes up to 26 Kg (57.3 lb). All you need to know is that this is not a light e-bike.

The Bosch CX motor is powerful and intuitive; it responds proportionately and with little lag, making technical climbs with tight switchbacks easy to negotiate. It's also reasonably quiet, with less of the clacking clutch noise found on other motors.

I tested the bike in the high setting only, and while the bottom bracket isn't exceptionally low on paper, I had plenty of pedal strikes on the E-160. The seat angle is slacker than most, and puts more weight on the rear suspension when climbing, causing the suspension to sit lower in its travel. With the stock shock setup, it's quite progressive; running 30% sag I never got full travel out of it, yet it sits quite deep in its travel to begin with. If I had more time, I'd like to try a smaller volume spacer with less sag.

When descending, there's no hiding the weight through technical crux moves and tight turns; it takes more effort and more time to negotiate these pinch points, and despite a 220 mm front rotor, it can be tricky to slow it down in a hurry. The low bottom bracket resulted in a few pedal scrapes in deep ruts while descending too.

Compared to many bikes with longer chainstays, it's not the hardest to manual and bunnyhop though. When I got stuck into some wider trails with fast turns and jumps, the bike came into its own. It's easy to carry speed and rip through berms, while it swallows up roots nicely and keeps the tires pressed into the ground.

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eMTB Reviews and Tech First Rides Whyte