Product news: Some time ago at the Bike Festival in Riva we had the opportunity to take a closer look at the new Whyte S-120c Works. The carbon bike draws attention to itself with its extremely progressive geometry in connection with "only" 120mm of spring travel and an overall fairly light equipment.
Actually, everything was arranged: On the penultimate day of this year's Riva Bike Festival, we secured the brand new Whyte S-120C Works as a test bike for the next morning. The plan: to really put the new 120mm marathon/XC/trail hermaphrodite to the test on the rocky trails of Lake Garda. Unfortunately, that morning we were greeted by squalls, single-digit temperatures, heavy rain and white mountain peaks. It quickly became clear: the worst possible conditions for a test drive. That's how ours became first ride a first look, we took a closer look at the new carbon fully from the UK and postponed a test ride to the hopefully near future.
The new S-120c is based on the well-known and proven T129 and is therefore only equipped with 29″ wheels. The basic concept remains the same and even after a few years almost unique - even if other manufacturers now have similar bikes in their range. Little spring deflection (120mm in the case of the S-120c), a light frame and light add-on parts meet a progressive and, on paper, descent-oriented geometry that would also look good on an enduro bike. One or the other may frown at this approach - but the predecessor has already shown that the mixture can be a lot of fun.
Speaking of geometry: As I said, in the "blind test" at first glance at the numbers behind it, we would rather assume an enduro with 160mm spring travel or more and not a 12kg light 120mm fully. Would you like an example? There's the super flat 65.6° head angle, a long main frame (480mm reach and 640mm top tube in size L) and the 75° seat tube angle. Translated into practice, this means: Especially on the trail you get a very smooth ride, but the wheelbase itself remains within limits thanks to the nice and short chainstays (430mm) and the agility is not completely lost. Thanks to the long frame, a short 40mm stem with wide 800mm handlebars can be installed in all sizes. Here too: a lot of smooth running and control off-road.
Geometry Whyte S-120C Works
| S | M | L | XL | |
| seat tube (in mm) | 406 | 431 | 457 | 482 |
| Top tube horizontal (in mm) | 592 | 612 | 640 | 669 |
| head tube (in mm) | 112 | 125 | 140 | 150 |
| chainstay (in mm) | 430 | 430 | 430 | 430 |
| Wheelbase (in mm) | 1168 | 1198 | 1227 | 1256 |
| Steering angle (in °) | 65.6 | 65.6 | 65.6 | 65.6 |
| Seat angle (in °) | 75 | 75 | 75 | 75 |
| Bottom bracket height (in mm) | 340 | 340 | 340 | 340 |
| Reach (mm) | 432 | 456 | 480 | 504 |
| Stacks (in mm) | 604 | 616 | 627 | 639 |
The big question, however: Doesn't the uphill performance suffer as a result, which one expects from a 120mm carbon fully? In conclusion, we can't answer this question without a meaningful test ride, but the steep seat tube angle, the low weight and the equipment designed for propulsion also promise a correspondingly convincing performance here.
Whyte S-120c Works: Features
Except for the seat post (on the test bike: RS Reverb, in series: BikeYoke Revive), our test bike corresponded to the top model Whyte S-120c Works. At 6.299 euros, it is priced in the upper mid-range for a carbon fully, but the equipment is without a doubt the crème de la crème and actually leaves nothing to be desired. A complete Shimano XTR 12-speed drive including the matching 4-piston brake system, the Fox Factory chassis with DPS damper in the rear and 34 Stepcast fork in the front, in-house carbon rims with a generous 26mm inner width, Race Face Next crank and handlebar and the mentioned BikeYoke Revive Dropper Post.
Equipment Whyte S-120C Works
| Frame | Carbon main frame / aluminum rear triangle |
| Fork | Fox Float Factory 34 SC 120mm |
| Suspension shocks | Fox Float DPS Factory |
| Hubs | Shimano MT900 |
| Rims | Whyte 26mm carbon |
| Tire VR | Maxxis Forekaster TR 2.3" |
| Tire HR | Maxxis Crossmark II TR 2,25" |
| Derailleur | Shimano XTR M9100 |
| Shifter | Shimano XTR M9100 |
| Cassette | Shimano XTR M9100 10-51 |
| Chain | Shimano XTR CN M9100 |
| Crank | Race Face Next R Carbon 34t |
| Seatpost | Bike Yoke Revive 125 / 150mm |
| Brakes | Shimano XTR BR-9120 |
| Stem | Whyte Gravity 40mm |
| Handlebar | Race Face Next R Carbon 800mm |
| Saddle | Whyte Custom Team |
| Grips | Whyte Lock on |
Honestly, there's not much room for improvement there. At first glance, the tire combination alone seems a bit too tame for a bike that is also built for fast trail descents. The Maxxis combination of Forekaster at the front and the Crossmark II at the rear should provide plenty of propulsion and good acceleration, but quickly reach their limits in deep soil and especially in wet conditions.
By the way - if the more than 6.000 euros are too expensive for you, you will also find two cheaper equipment variants with the S-120c R and the S-120c RS. Both have the same carbon frame as the top model, the S-3.749c R, which costs 120 euros, comes with a Sram NX Eagle drive and Rock Shox suspension, while the S-120c RS for 4.299 euros already gets a GX Eagle group and a Fox Performance suspension .
All in all, the Whyte S-120c Works is a highly interesting mountain bike for a wide range of uses, which has top-quality equipment on board at an attractive price. If 120mm is enough for you, but you always prefer to keep an eye on the junction to the next trail rather than endless forest highways, you should definitely take a closer look at the carbon fully from Great Britain.
