Whyte G-160, the big bad bouncy thing!

[weeksy]

Lovely lovely ride yesterday... the G-160 is really nice to ride 1 handed

2020-09-15_07-57-58 by Steve Weeks, on Flickr

[weeksy]

Had an issue this morning, my rear on the G-160 felt too squat. I then noticed even when just at it's own weight it was 40% + on sag, with me on there it was 60% or more.

Checked the pressure and still had 210psi in there, so should have been OK.

WHen i let let all the pressure out it was unable to extend. I could pull it out about 25% max.

So i wipped the big O-ring off (after dropping the pressure out of course) and got a decent 'whoosh' when i removed the air can outer. THen all was good.

Pumped it back up and all seems fine now...

Just one of those things ?

[weeksy]

Had a chat with TFTuned who were exceptionally helpful, however it seems it's 90% likely it's one of a couple of issues that actually end up being more expensive that replacing the shock with a new one.

So all in all, a bit daft and pointless.

So with that in mind, this is now winging it's way over from Germany.

[Mr Moofo]

Let me know how well it works - always had Fox and Cane Creek Rear shocks ....

[weeksy]

I prefer Fox myself too. I'd have gone Fox DHX but there's issues with mounting them on the Whytes as the top mount is slightly wider in some part, so you have to file off some paint etc to get it all in... I wasn't happy doing that and the Monarch Plus RC3 will slot straight in. So made most sense to go with that i thought.

Anyway, it's now showing as shipped from Germany via DHL, i'm hoping i get it for the weekend as we had a day out planned. I could in theory take the wifes bike though.

[crust]

Ooh, spangly.

How much?

Still not as good as James' though.

[weeksy]

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Rock-Shox-Mo ... 2749.l2649

£265 posted. Comes in about 50% of CRCs price.

Funny thing is, i actually think i could steal his and fit his to mine potentially.

Mine is a 216x63 with his being 216 x 57mm

I won't...but i could

[weeksy]

shock arrives tomorrow, so will be straight on and out at lunch i hope

I do need to look a bit more into the negative air spacer bands though.

[weeksy]

SO this is the separator between positive and negative air chambers it seems, i just need to work out which is which and which one i want how many bands in

BAsic and strange colours, but shows the answer well

[weeksy]

Shock arrived in great time from Germany.

Came with mounting hardware in both ends, but i only needed the top set. So pressed out the bottom hardware/bushing

2020-11-19_05-30-45 by Steve Weeks, on Flickr

Then a quick fitting of the G-160 yoke
2020-11-19_05-30-34 by Steve Weeks, on Flickr

Then shock in.
2020-11-19_05-30-21 by Steve Weeks, on Flickr

Problem now is that i either need a shock without an external reservoir or i need a lower mounting process for the water bottle.

[weeksy]

https://www.tredz.co.uk/.Topeak-Alt-Pos ... p4QAvD_BwE

[weeksy]

Shockwiz was fitted. Put up to the right sort of pressure and went for a play in the woods.

Instantly jumped off the bike and set the rebound with a LOT of tortoise. I had 18 clicks of rebound to maximum hare, stuck it in the middle of that, so 9 clicks of tortoise Felt miles better straight away.

Then played in the woods on the jumps for a while to dial it in.

G160rc3+ by Steve Weeks, on Flickr

[weeksy]

Needed a bit more pressure in the shock as on a couple of jumps I was bottoming out

But feels great

[weeksy]

Trying out a slightly stiffer setup with 3 bands/spacers and a little more air.

G160 3 spacers. Less poppy by Steve Weeks, on Flickr

[weeksy]

https://www.tredz.co.uk/.Topeak-Alt-Pos ... p4QAvD_BwE

It got more complex from here as the bottles still didn't fit. The smaller bottles I have are Decathlon 500ml.

https://www.evanscycles.com/brand/hoy/4 ... tle-840392

So went with a couple of these for a try and yes they fit fine. Well, the fit with not a lot of clearance, but can get them in and out on the move ok enough.

They're a bit small for epic days out but I'll need the camelback for them anyhow. But for local stuff it'll do the job.

[weeksy]

My lad came into the garage this morning with

"daddy, can we get these pedals off my bike, i don't like them as much as the blue ones (Nukeproof Neutron) and i can't bunny hop in them as well."

So i have the same pedals on my G-160 so we went to remove them... However, the cranks barely moved as we went to do it ! Eeeeeek. It's a GXP bottom bracket and over a year old so that was my first thought. But as always i went to see the quickest options first and whipped the chain link out, span the cranks and smooth as silk with no chain fitted. Bottom jockey wheel, fine, top jockey wheel, nope, that's completely seized. So waiting for a pair of 626RS bearings to arrive now and will get them replaced. Checked the price of new jockey wheel and they're £33 a pair !!!! Which is a LOT more than £4.00 for a pair of bearings.

Either way, he's now stolen my pedals and i'll have to buy a new set LOL.

[weeksy]

Quick bit of fitting and the jockey is back on the bike and we're up and running again. Not sure it matter much as it's due to be cold and snowy for a few days now, but i do like having it back and sorted

[weeksy]

Winter mud has once again taken it's toll.

Was doing some spannering on the brakes on the G-160 and noticed the headset was rubbish... not really bad and not bad enough that most would care, but it's an £8.99 bearing, so no biggy to swap it, i've got 2 spare bearings and it was <10 mins job, so all done and dusted.

[weeksy]

Well that's a pain in the arse. Went out this morning with the boy and noticed my pedals were getting strikes at times, yup, you guessed it, same issue, shock fooked. !!!!

Came home, stripped, checked, aired, released, aired... Yup, still dead..

Nightmare. Pinged off an email to the supplier i bought it from, so waiting to see what they say now.

[MingtheMerciless]

LBS had a Whyte in recently with a popped shock, they think Whytes have a weird/bad swingarm/shock action which means air shocks get packed with spacers to make them work properly and this compounded with the swingarm/shock interaction leads to failure (well that’s their theory and they seem to know their stuff).

The keep showing me EXT shocks and forks (as expensive as motorbike shocks!!!)