WHYTE E-180 WORKS MX – PRODUCT FEATURE

 

The Whyte Bikes sub-range of sublime E-180 MX bikes are unapologetically labelled as ‘chaos-crushing, downhill dominating, climb-shrinking super electric mountain bikes’ aimed at shredders focused on self-shuttled gravity riding, who spend time in the bike park or like to head out into the hills for big mountain adventures. As the MX in each model name suggests, the E-180 features that magic mix of wheel sizes with a compact 27.5” wheel in the rear and a larger diameter 29” wheel in the front to help you roll through the most technical terrain in perfect control.

In this Whyte E-180 product feature we’ll be taking a detailed look at the top of the range E-180 Works MX model. An out and out race machine, this e-MTB is designed to conquer even the toughest of E-MTB Enduro races and is packed full of the most lust-worthy components you could imagine. This ultimate Super E-Enduro race bike was designed and developed in partnership with Whyte’s own endurance racers who have helped create one of the most competitive bikes on the circuit. Make no mistake, this bike is race-ready out of the box!

Make no mistake; the E-180 Works MX is designed for the fastest riders shredding the most challenging Enduro courses.

 

Any bike with ‘factory’ or ‘works’ in their model name better deliver when it comes to key components and the E-180 Works MX doesn’t disappoint; probably its most significant headliner is the new and very limited edition Bosch Performance Line CX Limited Edition Race 85Nm motor. The motor was designed specifically for E-Enduro racing and is Bosch’s first ever competition-focused e-bike motor. Featuring a magnesium casing the Race motor is also the lightest motor the German brand has produced to date, removing 250g of weight compared to the standard non-race motor.

The Bosch Performance Line CX Race motor goes way beyond just low weight though, the real magic is in how it behaves on the trails. To meet the very specific demands of Enduro racing Bosch have added a whole new mode, which is, you guessed, called Race Mode; to accommodate this new mode they’ve done away with ‘Eco’ with the four power modes on the Race being Tour+, eMTB, Turbo and Race.

At the heart of this Enduro E-MTB race bike is the new limited edition Bosch Performance CX Race motor.

 

Put simply, Race mode delivers more power, more quickly and for longer after your initial input through the pedals; boosting your power by up to 400% the motor delivers a prolonged extended boost capable of carrying you over the most technical climbs, even when you can’t get a full pedal stroke in. Yes, that extra surge of power is enough to get you over, round or through obstacles on the trail without the need for you to pedal right through and potentially catch your pedals. The new additional Race motor mode makes the uphill trails almost as fun as the downhill trails, adding new levels of momentum, allowing you to muscle up and over steep ramps and square-edged rocks with relative ease.

The Performance CX Race motor has been tuned to accelerate harder and hold top speed for longer, carrying you through technical sections more easily.

 

It’ll take you a moment to adapt your riding and your use of motor modes to suit this dynamic new level of assistance. I was lucky enough to ride a bike with this limited edition motor, albeit on a rival brand’s bike, a few months back and I can confirm that it feels like a handful to start with but you soon begin to tune in to its unique behaviour and the bike’s subsequent handling on the trails. By the end of the morning I was able to confidently accelerate out of tight uphill turns which would have normally stalled my momentum and could hit stretches of technical, rough terrain with a sudden injection of pedalling before going into a horizontal crank coast and relying on the Bosch motor to continue to maintain that momentum up and over the obstacles in my way.

The Performance CX Race features a magnesium casing to help drop weight by 250g compared to the standard Performance CX motor.

 

It’s worth noting too, that as well as adapting your own riding style to get the most out of this bike there’s also an opportunity to fine tune how the Race and Turbo modes behave via the Bosch eBike Flow app on your phone, allowing you to adjust the initial acceleration and play around with the level of torque in increments of 5Nm. Whyte have spec’d the E-180 Works MX with a large capacity 750Wh Powertube battery, doing away with any range anxiety you may have. In another nod toward this bike’s Enduro racing DNA the Whyte designers and engineers have worked with closely with Bosch to develop their ‘Axial Rail’ slide in battery technology, making battery switches between Enduro stages a cinch.

The bar-mounted LED remote connects with Bosch’s Smart System and eBike Flow app for intuitive control, with your hands remaining safely on the bars.

 

So now we’ve run through the special, limited edition Bosch Performance Line CX Race motor lets double back and consider the Whyte E-180 Works MX’s chassis; after all it’s easy to focus solely on the new motor and its Race mode and miss the fact that it sits within an incredibly well engineered frame that features sorted trail geometry and super-plush suspension. This top of the range model consists of Whyte’s all-new aluminium Gravity frame which features a uniquely tilted motor and a low-slung battery arrangement for an incredibly low centre of gravity for a stable and confidence-inspiring riding on all terrains.

The bombproof 6061-T6 aluminium frameset features exactly the sort of modern trail geometry stats you’d expect on an Enduro bike like this.

 

The 6061-T6 aluminium frame with tapered headtube and internal cable routing accommodates 170mm of super-plush rear travel, enhancing the E-180’s speed and traction while encouraging high levels of confidence and control even in the rowdiest of riding conditions; it’s also great to see that the RockShox Super Deluxe Ultimate rear shock has been custom-tuned to meet the extra demands that an aggressive E-Enduro bike like this will put upon it.

Whyte’s Shape.It link flip chip allows you to customise the geometry of the E-180 Works MX, lowering the bottom bracket height without affecting the suspension kinematics. Once you’ve got your head around how this rather unique e-MTB behaves you’ll be able to tune your ride, switching between high and low positions to slacken the bike by 0.6 degrees and lower the bottom bracket by 8mm.

The RockShox Super Deluxe rear shock facilitates 170mm of travel for fantastic levels of confidence-inspiring control at speed.

 

To match that virtual armchair ride you’re getting from the rear of the bike Whyte have spec’d the E-180 Works MX with a pair of RockShox ZEB Ultimate 29″ forks upfront boasting a whopping 180mm of travel. Paired up with that large 29er front wheel shod with a super-tough Maxxis Assegai tyre it’s pretty much a case of point it where you want to go and straight line it at full chat. Needless to say these market-leading forks have been tuned specifically to cope with the additional forces incurred when spec’d on a super-fast E-MTB like the E-180, so you can line up at your next E-Enduro race with the confidence that these forks can handle anything you throw at them.

As the ‘Works’ tag suggests the E-180 boasts tons of race-ready components including these 180mm RockShox Zeb Ultimate suspension forks.

 

OK, it’s time to fess up and admit that there’s one more significant reason why we were so determined to get the E-180 Works MX photographed by our regular freelancer James Vincent. The ‘Works’ spec included SRAM’s all-new Eagle AXS T-Type transmission featuring their unique ‘Full Mount’ rear derailleur; shooting the bike would be the very first chance we’d have to take a proper look at this new groupset, so we decided to give the E-180 Works MX the ‘premium treatment’, building a makeshift photographic studio and shooting late into the night against a black backdrop to ensure that we were able to capture all of the special details of this top spec’d bike.

The Whyte E-180 Works MX e-MTB boasts SRAM’s all-new XX Eagle AXS T-Type transmisson with its clever hangerless interface rear derailleur.

 

At the heart of SRAM’s all-new Eagle AXS T-Type groupset is the special new rear derailleur which caused quite a stir with cycling journos and internet keyboard warriors alike when it launched, thanks mainly to its direct mounting and the abandoning of the traditional rear derailleur hanger. Plenty of people voiced their concerns over the long-term durability of this configuration, with fears of potentially destroying the bike’s frame in the event of a big crash rather than a conventional sacrificial rear derailleur hanger saving the day. Obviously SRAM saw these fears coming and had pre-empted them at launch time with copious amounts of technical ‘explainer’ features and supporting videos that went some way to reassuring those of us who were initially dubious about this new mounting standard.

SRAM’s new mounting design dubbed ‘Full Mount’ sees the 12-speed wireless, electronic XX Eagle AXS T-Type rear derailleur mounted onto the rear axle (the rear axle running through it), sandwiching both sides of the right rear dropout. This new configuration promises precision shifting and eliminates the need for b-tension and limit adjustment screws, with the derailleur’s rear axle mounting doing away with the vertical or horizontal offset seen on a conventional rear derailleur. This means the derailleur’s position relative to the cassette stays constant in every gear selection so there’s very little setup adjustment required and you can enjoy consistent, precise-shifting performance.

Perfectly suited to the extra forces incurred from an e-MTB the XX Eagle AXS T-Type rear derailleur is stronger and increases shifting performance under power.

 

There’s another significant reason why we’re so pleased to see this new SRAM groupset spec’d on the Whyte E-180 Work MX and that’s because this all-new derailleur configuration perfectly suits the extra demands typically put on a bike’s transmission when fitted to a powerful e-bike. The Eagle AXS T-Type rear derailleur offers greatly improved on-power shifting performance, delivering secure and precise gear shifts even under the combined load of your pedalling input and the e-bike’s motor; in fact SRAM have stated that the Eagle AXS T-Type derailleur can withstand shifting under 1,000 watt power surges!

Stronger, more reliable and featuring replaceable parts the SRAM XX Eagle AXS T-Type takes a whole new approach to rear derailleur design.

 

Still worried about the possibility of writing off your frame in the event of a heavy crash, where the rear derailleur takes a significant impact? SRAM have stated that this new configuration is significantly stronger and that it’s almost impossible to damage your frame even in the event of a major impact; they’ve gone as far as to publish super slow-mo type footage of this new derailleur being impacted in the testing lab and feature videos of people standing on them to prove their strength.

When it comes to the durability of the derailleur itself SRAM have that covered too; their AXS ‘Overload Clutch’ instantly disengages the derailleur’s motor and gear box during a hard impact allowing the derailleur to move away from the direction of impact, thus reducing the potential for any damage; and after impact the derailleur automatically returns to its original position. When it comes to longevity it should be noted that the Eagle AXS T-Type rear derailleur features a multitude of replaceable parts and is easy to rebuild; this is another refreshing approach to component design which we’ve not seen before.

SRAM’s new ‘Full Mount’ does away with the need for a derailleur hanger, with the derailleur now directly attached to the bike’s rear wheel axle.

 

Paired up with SRAM’s all-new rear derailleur is a fresh new wireless shifter unit, which boasts some new features that will make gear selection even more user friendly. The 12 speed SRAM AXS Pod MMX controller has been reconfigured into a simple two button arrangement, with them positioned vertically. The bracket that carries the shifter and attaches to the handlebar has almost infinite levels of adjustability and has been engineered to be as versatile as possible, opening up the possibility of being able to run it on the left-hand or right-hand of the handle bar. At launch though, SRAM’s headliner was that this new shifter unit features an increased click threshold, with a more definitive click when activated; this eliminates the possibility of unintentional shifts in the heat of the moment when you’re barrelling down the most technical trails.

SRAM’s new 12 speed AXS shifter pods feature a more definitive click when activated, meaning accidental gear shifts are a thing of the past.

 

Of course a bike like the Whyte E-180 Works MX is going to generate a lot of speed very quickly, particularly when it’s pointed downhill! It’s no good having all that suspension capability, agile bike geometry and that powerful Bosch motor if you can’t keep it within the tight boundaries of control. Whyte don’t want you to register a DNF in your next Enduro race and with this in mind they’ve spec’d a pair of super-powerful SRAM Code RSC hydraulic disc brakes allowing you to scrub off speed in an instant and keep this wild machine in control. The Code RSC levers feel great, with the minimum of lever pull required to give a really positive bite to the brakes.

SRAM Code RSC MMX levers feature just the right lever-pull to biting-point ratio for positive braking in all riding conditions.

 

Down at the business end we’ve got a pair of SRAM Code RSC, 4 Piston hydraulic brake calipers fitted with sintered metal pads to provide plenty of stopping power; paired with large diameter 220mm disc rotors you can confidently blast into any technical section of trail safe in the knowledge that you’ll be able to control your speed in an instant and rail even the tightest turns.

Large-diameter 220mm disc rotors, 4 piston Code RSC calipers and sintered metal brake pads make up the dependable brake set.

 

As we’ve already mentioned, the E-180 Works MX is spec’d with a mullet, or ‘MX’ wheel configuration consisting of a large diameter 29” wheel upfront and a smaller 27.5” wheel on the rear. After endless hours of testing at the development stage of the E-180, the Whyte team arrived at this design solution for a number of significant reasons; first off the smaller rear wheel is intrinsically stronger and better able to cope with the extra torque of the Bosch motor as well as the amplified forces incurred at flat-out race speeds. Secondly the engineers were able to keep chainstay length relatively short for a more responsive and agile ride while accommodating the motor and suspension configuration and thirdly that smaller rear wheel takes less time to accelerate, meaning the bike takes off the minute you put the power down, perfect for sprinting out of those dog-leg turns!

A pair of DT Swiss mullet wheels (27.5″ on the rear/29″ on the front) are suitably bombproof.

 

Meanwhile that larger diameter 29” front wheel is ready to plough through rough terrain and rocky, technical trails while you hold your line with confidence. With a slightly larger contact patch you’ll be planting more of that 29” super-grippy Maxxis Assigai front tyre into the ground and railing the berms at speed; those Assigai tyres have a rich racing history and have carried gravity-focused racers to countless podium places over the seasons.

Whyte have spec’d the E-180 Works MX with super-grippy Maxxis Assigai tyres front and rear.

 

The E-180 Works MX is a truly authentic race-ready machine which can wear its ‘Works’ moniker with pride. As e-mountain bikes continue to evolve and we see more and more avenues for e-bike racing it’s great to see brands like Whyte being so fully invested in this burgeoning race discipline. The Whyte team are always ready to push the boundaries when it comes to real world testing and this ethos informs everything they do; the most challenging Enduro courses around the world are their proving ground and E-180 Works MX represents the culmination of all that development. Through their ongoing collaboration with key brands like Bosch and SRAM Whyte have been able to bring a certified race-ready E-Enduro bike to market, giving you the opportunity to race on kit normally reserved for the pros; now there’s no excuses, get out and have your best ever Enduro race season on the Whyte E-180 Works MX!

The Whyte E-180 Works MX is a race-ready Enduro E-mountain bike with no compromises to its build specification.

 

Whyte E-180 Works MX RRP £9,799.00

Full Specification:

• Motor: Bosch Performance Line CX Limited Edition Race 85Nm motor
• Battery: Bosch Powertube 750Wh
• Display: Bosch LED Remote
• Frame: 6061 Alloy, Hydro Formed T6 Aluminium, Multi Butted, Custom Drawn, Tapered Headtube, Internal Cable Routing, Shape.it Link and 12mm X 148mm Boost Dropouts
• Headset: FSA No. 55R/35 Orbit 1.5 ZS, 1.8″” Lower and 1 1/8″” Upper Sealed Cartridge Bearings
• Rear Shock: RockShox Super Deluxe Ultimate RCT, Air, Fast Black Coating, Adjustable Rebound, low speed compression adjustment and tuneable DebonAir
• Fork: RockShox ZEB Ultimate 29″, 180mm Travel, 44mm Offset, DebonAir, Charger 2.1 RC2 Damper, Fast Black Coating, Tapered Steerer, 110mm x 15mm Boost, Maxle Stealth
• Rear Hub: DT Swiss Hybrid HX1700, 30mm wide rim, 12 x 148mm Boost, SRAM XD Steel
• Front Hub: DT Swiss Hybrid HX1700, 30mm wide rim, 15 x 110mm Boost
• Rims: DT Swiss Hybrid HX1700
• Spokes: DT Swiss
• Front Tyre: Maxxis Assigai WT, TR, 29″” x 2.5″” 120TPI, EXO + Sidewall Protection, 3C MaxxGrip, Dual Compound, Folding Bead
• Rear Tyre: Maxxis Assigai WT, TR, 27.5″” x 2.5″” 120TPI, Double Down Casing, 3C Maxx Grip, Dual Compound
• Shifter: SRAM AXS Pod, 2 Button MMX, 12 Speed
• Rear Derailleur: SRAM XX Eagle AXS T-Type
• Cranks: Race Face Affect E-Bike, 165mm, ISIS with X-SYNC Direct Mount 36T for Bosch Performance Line CX, Black
• Chain: SRAM X0 T-Type Eagle, 12 Speed
• Cassette: SRAM XS-1295 Eagle T-Type, 10-52, 12 Speed
• Front Brake: SRAM Code RSC, 4 Piston with Sintered Metal Pads, 220mm Disc
• Rear Brake: SRAM Code RSC, 4 Piston with Sintered Metal Pads, 220mm Disc
• Brake Levers: SRAM Code RSC, MMX
• Saddle: Fizik Terra Aidon, 145mm wide, Wingflex, S-Alloy Mobius rail
• Dropper Seatpost: Crank Bro High-Line 3, 30.9mm, M/L 150mm Travel, XL 170mm Travel
• Dropper Seatpost Lever: High-Line Ball Socket Remote Lever
• Handlebar: Race Face Turbine R, 35mm Rise, 35mm Bar Bore, 800mm Wide
• Grips: Whyte Lock-on Enduro Grip
• Stem: Race Face Atlas, 35mm Bar Bore, 35mm Extension

 

 

Written by Johnny Dodgin

Photos by James Vincent

 

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