Whyte Road Bikes

Words by Simon Whiten

Whyte have an enviable reputation in the world of mountain biking with their bikes receiving widespread acclaim and enjoying a strong following. Interestingly one of their chief designers is a handy road rider so perhaps its inevitable that they would eventually move into road bike production. But as anyone who knows their genre defining off-road products will testify, Whyte do their own thing…

So rather than launch a ‘just for the sake of it’ road race bike with carbon frame and Ultegra groupset, Whyte have thought long and hard about who their target market is, what those riders would most readily associate Whyte the brand with and how these early road offerings can be morphed into a long-term road bike strategy. Consequently we got the chance to ride the three aluminium framed, disc braked road models in the new Whyte RD-7 series recently, bikes aimed at the ‘any road’ market: hardcore year round commuters, roadies involved in protracted high mileage winter training, brand loyal mountain bikers seeking a road ride, riders looking for a do-it-all bike for sportives and tourists looking for a more modern ride… Read More >