Whyte E-160 RSX Review And Specifications

Whyte E-160RSX Introduction

Whyte has one of the most comprehensive ranges of electric mountain bikes on the market and at Westbrook Cycles, we are proud to stock and supply the full range of Whyte E-MTBs. The E160-RSX electric mountain bike sits in the middle of the Whyte range, and in our opinion is one of the very best all round e-mtb models available on the market.

This model also represents excellent value, this model is almost £1,000 cheaper than the outgoing model - thanks to Whyte’s latest rebrand. The bike is not just last years model either, it’s bang up to date with its geometry and design, but it still retains all of the components that we think this bike suits perfectly, nothing has been changed for changes sake.

The bike still arrives with Fox Performance Elite suspension and DT Swiss Wheels, there’s also the leading SRAM GX T-Type Transmission. This electronic shifting transmission has earnt a well deserved reputation for high performance and reliability. This transmission perfectly suits and covers the higher performance requirement of shifting on an e-mtb compared to a standard mountain bike.

The E160 RSX has a well proven and tough alloy chassis and the suspension and geometry design stays very much the same compared to the outgoing model, which as mentioned - is an up to date and great design. There’s a few changes with regards to styling, there’s bolder graphics and blocky new colours.

This bike is designed to be tough, and that’s something which is immediately noticeable, when you look at the bike. There’s oversized pivots, forged links and a massive headtube. The frame is also well protected, there’s rubberized stays and there’s also a metal bash rail covering where the battery sits. There’s lighter bikes on the market, but that’s not all that important - with this model weighing in at 26kg in the large size.

Whyte E-160RSX Battery

Access to the battery is easy, and the battery is a 750Wh battery which lives in the downtube of the frame. It’s a good design, and when removing the battery - you can’t drop it when you change it, like you could on the outgoing model.

Whyte E-160RSX Motor

The motor on the E-160 RSX is one of the most powerful electric bike motors on the market - it’s the Bosch CX motor which has 85NM of torque and 600 watts at peak power. The eagle eyed will notice that this motor is at the front of the bike, allowing the heaviest component on the bike - the battery, to sit as low as possible, overlapping the front motor. This keeps the centre of gravity of the bike as low as possible.

The suspension uses a four bar Horst link suspension design. The geometry of the bike is modern without being too radical. It’s a bike which can be very low through geometry adjustments, so if riding in the lowest position, keep an eye on the crank striking the ground. Although low, this low setting feels great, especially for DH riders.

Whyte E-160RSX Components And Specifications

This bike is not a cheap bike - and it’s really great to see the specifications of the bike and the components on the bike, being so well spec’d. There’s not one area of this bike which is poorly equipped, making it a fantastic all rounder.

The suspension is from Fox, and it’s their performance elite level. This specification of suspension enjoys the same damping and adjustment as the full factory level Fox kit, there’s also the GRIP2 four-way adjustable damping which is available in the 160mm forks.

Whyte has chosen to equip this bike with Maxxis tyres, which again - has no complaints from us. There’s the Maxx Grip front tyre and a Maxx Terra tyre at the rear.

The wheels on the bike are DT Swiss HX 1700 and these wheels are e-bike specific, they are incredibly tough and work really well. Hubs are taken care of by DT Swiss with their 350’s, which again are well proven.

There’s RSC brakes from SRAM which we have used before, they are big & strong and handle the rigours of electric mountain bike riding really well. There’s also a 220mm front rotor, which is oversized and provides excellent stopping power.

The bars are own brand from Whyte and they look really good, there’s a crank brothers dropper post which provides 150mm of travel on the large frame, which again works really well.

Whyte E-160RSX - On the bike

The biggest thing we learn from riding the E-160 RSX from Whyte is how dependable the bike is. The bike flatters your riding skills - the bike feels safe and firmly planted on a wide range of terrain. Much of this is because of some of the numbers which some people may originally turn their nose up at, such as the relatively high weight. The components and centre of gravity of the bike are low, which again adds to the sure-footed nature of the bike.

The bike ‘only’ has 155mm of travel on the rear - but in its 29inch wheel format, we never felt like we needed any more. Suspension travel and rebound is good - and we think this bike feels like a bike which has larger travel numbers. The suspension soaks up obstacles such as roots well, so you never feel that you are getting bounced about overly much.

There were no glitches from the motor - and the assistance levels worked really well, the display for the motor is not as sleek as some other e-mtb’s, but unless you are sitting and comparing specifications - we did not have any issues.

This bike really performs well where it needs to, it’s got a great specification - and it works across a massive array of trails and riding conditions.

We have this bike in stock, available to order online. So if you have any questions about how we found the bike when riding it, get in touch and we will be more than happy to help.