ROB’S WHYTE G 170C WORKS£5,499
A broken wrist has put Rob out of action for the rest of the summer
The dust hung in the air as I gasped to get my breath back. As my breathing finally calmed, I could feel things weren’t quite as they should be. My right wrist was crunching with every movement. As the adrenaline wore off, the pain started to pulse through my arm and it became clear that I’d broken myself. I was gutted.
Now, this sucks for a couple of reasons. Firstly, it means I’m going to miss the Enduro World Series round in Ainsa, Spain – an event I’d been working towards over the past couple of months. To be honest though, I’m more devastated to be missing out on the rest of the summer’s riding.
It’s a real shame, because I’d been feeling better than ever aboard the G-170. Its 460mm of reach (medium) was pretty much perfect for me, giving the bike a fantastic balance of stability and playfulness. I’d got it set up like a proper downhill bomber, but, with the help of the low-speed compression lever on the RockShox Super Deluxe coil shock, it was still a surprisingly sprightly climber.
I’d also been enjoying my switch back onto alloy rims – WTB KOM Tough i29s, laced to White Industries XMR Boost hubs. They felt that bit more forgiving than the carbon rims they replaced, and I felt less guilty about slamming sloppily through rock gardens. I’d been trying some WTB tyres too – the revised Vigilante up front and all-new Judge at the rear, both with the ‘Tough’ casing. The bone-dry conditions hadn’t allowed me to test them to their fullest, but the casing had impressed – they’d stayed inflated during multiple runs down a trail at BikePark Wales where I got tons of flats on a set of tyres with a slightly lighter casing. While it frustrates me that, even in this day and age, we’re still struggling to keep air in our tyres, I’ve come to terms with having to run a heavier casing to avoid getting flats. What I’m less fine with is the broken wrist I now have to deal with. I’d planned on giving the G-170 some much-needed TLC, but I’m not sure my arm’s up to it. Maybe if I pay Jonny in beer he’ll take a look at it for me! www.whyte.bike