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SPECIFICATION Frame 6061-T6 aluminium Fork RockShox Sektor Gold RL, 130mm travel Wheels Whyte hubs, Whyte Trail rims, Maxxis Ardent/Ardent Race 27.5x2.25/2.2in tyres Drivetrain SRAM S1000 chainset, GX r-mech, X5 shifters and f-mech Brakes Avid DB3, 180/160mm Components Whyte Sizes S, M, L XL Weight 12.6kg (27.7lb) GEOMETRY Size tested M Head angle 66.5° Seat angle 72.4° BB height 302mm Chainstay 424mm Front centre 729mm Wheelbase 1,153mm Down tube 715mm Top tube 638mm Reach 447mm WHYTE 901 £ 1 , 1 9 9 / 2 7. 5 i n / w h y t e . b i k e NEED TO KNOW Q Lightweight alloy frame with cuttingedge geometry Q SRAM’s 2x10 drivetrain offers a wide gearing range Q Short stems and l b B rands live or die by their mission statements. And it’s not just the corporate giants that have catchy slogans to hang their hats on; even small companies like Whyte try to define themselves in five words or less. ‘Performance by design’ is Whyte’s motto, so it may come as a surprise to learn that the secret sauce that makes its 900 series hardtails so darn tasty was stumbled across by accident rather than by design According to Ian Alexander, Chief Designer at Whyte Bikes, the process all started when a prototype 900 series frame showed up with a head angle that was a full two degrees slacker than the original drawing. Rather than reject it, Whyte’s designer assembled it, rode it and then totally re-evaluated his take on hardtail geometry. Almost overnight, Whyte’s hardtails became synonymous with longer, lower and slacker geometry, and with this ce, the 905 was an the £1,200 hardtail years straight, and a 900 tured in our Bike of the ds since its inception. gile and with composed ing even in the roughest ain, the 905 is the dtail against which others are measured. , more accurately, it s quickly become the rdtail from which all ers are measured. d even though the try of the Whyte 901 has Refined seatstays bring added comfort to the 2017 Whyte 901 been in the public domain for over three years, it’s gone largely unnoticed by the bigger brands, who still seem more focused on traditional XC style hardtails. It’s only a matter of time, though, before everyone catches on, so Whyte has tweaked the 901 for 2017. It’s moved the rear brake mount off the seatstays and onto the chainstays, effectively making the seatstays longer and more compliant, while the height of the front end has also been increased to put the rider in a more commanding position on the descents. Subtle changes, for sure, but it should be enough to keep Whyte ahead of the hardtail development curve, and this time it’s leaving nothing to chance. NOVEMBER 2016 mbr 59