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Today’s riders were: Nasher, Eeyore & Andy

Durrington A to A ride!

The weather was chilly and getting colder for tonight’s winter evening expedition. I rushed my dinner down, grabbed my gear and dashed out the door on the way down to Worthing to meet the guys. Clydiee couldn’t make it tonight, which was a shame as I knew Eeyore particularly would miss his incisive comments about bike maintenance! Don’t worry Steve, Nasher and I kept Eeyore honest each and every time he stopped to adjust something – which, as I recall, was at least three or four times……. ….poor maintenance! Not wanting to break with Clyde/White timing tradition I showed up 15 minutes late to Nashers place. My excuse was the traffic – it took me nearly 30 minutes to make what I know is a 15 minute journey. Arse. Next time I’ll be cutting down Long Furlong…….

Anyway…….it seems like every time I see Nasher at the moment he’s atop a different bike; something very unusual and exotic for Mr. Nash this evening – a hardtail! Only kidding, I’m told he used to ride a non-bouncy bike all the time! Thanks, once again, to the venerable JP down at Quest in Worthing, Nasher was in possession of a brand new Whyte 19 Trail. I’ll be honest – as soon as I saw the thing I wanted a go! Visually the Whyte was gorgeous – a white on black (or black on Whyte?!) colour scheme emphasizing the sharp, clean lines of the T6 aluminum frame. Hope brakes complimented the fancy Thomson seat post and stem with Hope Pro 2’s on Mavic 719’s providing the big round spinning bits. With a Sram drive train, sporting an X9 front/X0 rear mech and Fox F120 bolt throughs this bike both looked and meant business!

Imagine running into these two on a dark Wednesday evening!

We took another new route for me this week, setting out from Nashers on the road, through Durrington before heading up Hill Barn lane at the main A24/A27 roundabout. The climb up started off nice and easy with the three of us chatting away – Nasher extolling his new love – the Whyte 19! Pretty soon the talking stopped as the climb became more intense and technical - I say technical but what I mean is chalky and steep! Eventually we hauled out arses to the top and recovered at the start of a cheeky looking downhill run. Nasher, being the all round top guy he is, offered me a go on the Whyte and I leapt at the opportunity to throw it down the hill! I jumped on and was immediately comfortable – Nashers saddle being set a little low was ideal for the drop downhill. The bike just inspired confidence and continued to do so as I rattled down the track chasing Eeyore. I had a little moment about halfway down on a bend, where the trail changed from bumpy rocks to slick mud and I had to unclip as the tires slipped and struggled for grip on the turn! That and the fact the front wheel lifted up so easily when required (and quite a bit when not required!) made the run down very exciting!

After regrouping we followed the trail along and eventually came out half way up the Cissbury climb which we tackled before turning right toward Chanctonbury where I relinquished the Whyte over to Eeyore to have a go. We continued our ride, with me now on Ians On One, past the ring and down c-word-ing hill – Eeyore looking extremely comfortable and enjoying the rigidity of the Fox F120’s (so he said anyway!) After crossing the road we cut left to Windlesham Schools, through the grounds and on towards the top of Durrington and home.

Whyte 19 Trail. Tasty.

At the end of the day we were all very very impressed with how the bike climbed, handled and cruised – it really rolled fast! In fact, the Whyte rode a lot like Steves Genesis 30 – eating up cross country terrain and willing you on down the fast technical bits! It was somewhat stiffer than the Genesis, but not unmanageable so provided the rider is prepared to stand up often to avoid the occasional kick in the ass! The wide bars, short stem and plush bolt through forks gave the bike a ‘do anything’ type feel and I’d certainly like the chance to give that a go! In addition to all of this – it was light. Really light. And willing to climb – with Nasher as the power plant this thing was flying up the slopes!

For me there were two parts of the package that felt a little off. Firstly, the brakes – they lacked initial bite which had me grabbing handfuls of stop at the end of the first downhill run. Having said that, the bike was very new and I’m pretty sure the Hope’s would be more than ready to pull your eyeballs out given a little more time to bed in. Secondly, I don’t think the Maxxis Aspen tires were particularly well suited to the mud and chalk we were riding through. Although, thinking about it Nasher did say that he’d “tweaked” the pressures up another 10psi from what the shop set………this could explain the slightly twitchy performance of the tire I guess. I’d like to try again with a little air let out!

Honestly, I’ve never seen Nasher so happy on a hardtail and I’m left wondering if perhaps I might want an aluminium hartail after all…..I loved it! Apparently Whyte do a cheaper version, the 901 and I wonder if, with a few upgrades (I’m thinking fork and Shimano drive) that might suit me later this year! I’m certainly no bike critic (and not even a very experienced rider!) but the Whyte strikes me (perhaps with some SLX or XT bits on it!) to be the perfect South Down winter riding tool.

Sunday anyone?

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