Whyte's Gravity series bikes can flourish anywhere off-road, but they were definitely built with a few clear aims and uses in mind. At heart these bikes were designed for high performance Enduro riding on super aggressive courses, where a rider is tested most! Whether attacking crazy descents or tough and technical trails, the G-170 bikes works best at full tilt. The G-170C RS sits in the middle of Whyte's Gravity series bikes, but it has all the attributes of a top performer. RockShox 170mm Lyrik RC fork is a serious bit of kit providing excellent feel and dampening, both alerting you to the trail and subduing it simultaneously. The RockShox Deluxe RT3 metric shock finishes of a performance driven suspension kit to help you control the fiercest runs. The Rockshox Reverb Stealth dropper post supplied with the G-170C RS is a consistent favourite with Whyte for their top bikes, thanks to its neat and weatherproofed internal cabling and consistent performance and durability.
Whyte have evolved and nuanced the geometry of the 2018 Gravity series bikes for even better stability, cornering control and traction than the already impressive 2017 series. When tackling a gnarly run at the sort of speeds the Gravity series bikes encourage, stability is key and sharp responsive handling is imperative. Building on Whyte's established mountain bike geometry of pushing the front out, lowering the frame's centre of gravity and keeping the rear compact for tight handling, the 2018 Gravity geometry takes things further. The new geometry lengthens the wheelbase further, slackening the head angle even more, culminating in a supremely stable bike that also handles better, as it positions the rider more neutrally on the bike and grants the front wheel more traction, meaning both cornering control and balance are enhanced all in one go. When these strides with geometry manifest in a works level carbon fibre frame, used by the Whyte Enduro World Series team, you can be sure you have an awesome bike on your hands. Further aiding precise handling, the Gravity series also combines very short stems and super-wide handlebars to allow you to keep the front wheel under control at all times. The G-170C RS has a titchy 40mm stem and a wide 780mm handlebar to help you keep the front end in check.
Excellent suspension and an innovative frame geometry is all well and good but ultimately a bikes wheels and tyres are what connect you to the trail. The G-170C RS goes with WTB's tubeless compatible STs i29 rims and Maxxis tubeless ready High Roller II 27.5x2.4 front and Minion SS 27.5x2.3 rear tyres. These tyres are designed to provide a rider good traction, helping you make it to the top of those descents on tough Enduro rides and giving you confidence in your change of direction when hammering along descents and trails. The option to go tubeless is very rewarding with the Gravity series. Punctures are a tricky issue when tackling the toughest terrain and going tubeless will help to reduce this threat, whilst significantly improving grip and traction for overall improved performance.
Not relying solely on gravity to get going, all the bikes in the Gravity series are developed with single chain ring (SCR) groupsets. Whyte were a significant driving force in moving towards the SCR trend a few years ago and now the vast majority of their bikes use SCR groupsets. This is for a multitude of reasons. Developing frames specifically for SCR, chainstays can be designed symmetrically, making them both stronger and lighter than chainstays that are compromised by having to acommodate front mechs. The rear pivot span is also increased benefiting stiffness and power transfer. Losing the weight and complication of a front mech, suites the needs of a rough and ready Enduro bike, with less to break and less weight to carry around.
The G-170C RS is kitted out with SRAM's excellent GX Eagle 1x12 groupset offering a whopping range of ratios, with a 32 tooth chainring and a 10-50 tooth cassette. The wide spectrum of gears in SRAM's Eagle groupset offers terrific climbing capacity on the trickiest of terrain, whilst also enabling a rider to fly along in the fastest 32:10 gear. When you do want to reconsider flying along, the G-170C RS has 200mmF/180mmR hydraulic SRAM disc brakes, giving you great braking control and modulation to manage your speed. A proper beast the G-170C RS, will help you take Enduro courses by storm, with even greater speed and precision than before.