Whyte E-160 RSX Review

The Whyte E-160 RSX is one of the most capable mountain bikes on the market. It’s a mid-travel electric mountain bike designed and manufactured by the experts at Whyte. This bike offers 150mm of travel, which makes it a strong performer on trails and suitable for enduro racing and conditions.

One of the most innovative features of this bike is how Whyte has chosen to mount the Bosch Performance Line CX motor. It’s mounted counterclockwise, with the battery tube fitted partly beneath it - providing a solution to a problem that many electric mountain bike manufacturers have of how to lower the bike's centre of gravity.

In this RSX Guise - the bike is fitted with a Fox Performance Elite 38 fork and Float X rear shock. It’s equipped with a well-proven Sram GX Eagle AXS drivetrain. The RSX is only available with 29-inch wheels.

Design and Geometry

The design of this bike focuses on a low centre of gravity. It’s designed to improve the bike's pitch, roll and yaw- three factors covering everything from how the bike feels over bumps, how the bike leans into corners, and the direction of the mountain bike when cornering. The alloy frame has been hydroformed and designed to look like the Whyte bikes we know and love. Whyte supplies the E-160 with a four-year warranty on the frame and a lifetime warranty on the bearings.

The down tube is fully enclosed, providing excellent levels of stiffness. The E160 battery is easy to access and slides out of the down box using a Bosch-developed slide-in system. All of the cables on this bike are also internal. There’s also inbuilt protection on the down tube, bottom bracket and chainstay - which helps protect the frame from rock strikes and chain slaps.

Motor and Battery

Controllable through a smartphone app, the E-160 uses the Bosch Performance Line CX Gen4 Smart System Motor alongside a Bosch PowerTube 750Wh. The motor provides 250W of power and 85NM of torque. The bar displays all the battery and mode information with LED lights. There are ten different levels on the battery display.

Specification

The RSX is the top-spec model of the E-160. It’s fitted with Performance Elite Dampers on its Fox 38 fork and a Float X rear shock. The rear shock has been tuned to work specifically with this bike. The drivetrain is the well-proven Sram GX Eagle AXS, and the brakes are SRAM’s RSC brakes, with a 220mm front rotor and a 200mm rear rotor. There are electric bike-specific wheels from DT Swiss with Maxxis Tyres.

Ride Experience

We always enjoyed riding Whyte Mountain Bikes, and this bike was no different. The bike was tested on various ascents and descents, performing well across everything we asked it to do.

Climbing on this bike is efficient and enjoyable; climbing can be as easy or as gruelling as you want it to be - through adjusting the power modes. When climbing, the motor provided natural feeling assistance, so it wasn't jerky, and plenty of torque and power was available - only the Eco mode felt a little underpowered. The suspension does a great job of smoothing over rough ascents, and the riding position is comfortable.

If the bike is strong on ascents, it’s descents where this bike comes to life. Although the lower centre of gravity on this bike could be classified as over-engineering by some, it makes a massive difference when riding down singletrack and technical trails. The bike changes direction quickly, and riders can achieve great lean angles. It’s a mountain bike which loves to corner and anyone sitting on this bike will feel confident in its ability to turn quickly whilst also providing massive levels of stability.

This bike feels like it does the hard work for you without taking anything away from the riding experience. It’s grippy, great over uneven terrain and it’s incredibly grippy.