After months of enforced silence, we finally lift the lid on the Whyte prototype, Preston. As it's Christmas soon, we thought we'd bring you the story of a miraculous birth in a manger that could change the mountain biking world as we know it. All right, there's no mangers, but Jon Whyte and Adrian Ward, ex-Formula 1 engineers behind this immaculate design conception, do work in a (semi) converted pigshed. After perfecting the rear of the Marin FRS bikes, they found that whichever fork they specced for the front just didn't perform as well as the rear. They decided to start from scratch with a new suspension system for the front using linkages to drive a standard shock unit. As no big company could take the risk, ATB Sales set up their own development company, "Whyte". A free R&D rein also allowed them to try ideas that they'd been kicking around for a while, like the under-bottom-bracket swingarm and a QR catch dropout with 20mm spindles. The first prototype was hammered and hand welded into shape a year ago, and due to its mechanical "ugliness" was codenamed "Preston" after the sinister robot dog of Wallace and Gromit fame.

We met Preston at a secret rendezvous in Yorkshire a month later. Having signed the appropriate confidentiality forms, we rode into the hills. Initial impressions were amazing, super plush fork action leaving the handlebars motionless while the upper linkage tracked the ground exactly. Throw it into corners or try to steer out of wet ruts and the lateral rigidity at either end nailed traction. All the tracking and feedback of a rigid bike with leech-like terrain-following suspension. For the next few months Preston was ridden until it collapsed, then butchered, transplanted and reshaped several times to gain stiffness and reduce weight. But there was still the issue of unconventional looks to overcome. Secret demos were taking place with key dealers to see whether they thought the ride advantages overcame the visual strangeness before the risk of putting the bike into production was taken. Everywhere he went Preston got a resounding thumbs-up. As one tester said: "There's nowt different riding around on this bike to wandering round with a face like mine. It's the other people who have to look at it, not you." Production models of the bike are scheduled to arrive just in time for the next millennium. The frame is being constructed by genuine rocket scientists in Eastern Europe working closely with the ATB Sales design team, but if we told you what material they're using we'd have to kill you. Let's just say it's not aluminium, chromoly steel or Wensleydale.

Verdict
As you'll see from the pictures, Preston is a true prototype, hand-welded and beaten into shape without the use of alignment tables, tube profiling or sheet metal bending facilities. Cornering stiffness and trail feedback is almost as sharp as you'll get on a rigid bike, only with all the traction advantages of suspension. Once you're used to the "float", the steering geometry lets you brake deep into corners and hit the squarest objects full bore. The hindquarters are also noticeably stiffer than any of our benchmark bikes, with massive lateral feedback for traction in the sketchiest conditions. We've ridden Preston as hard as we can but he steadfastly refuses to give us any nervous moments. There are forks and rear set-ups that come close on rigidity, or weight, or plushness, or big hit capability, but nothing that matches the all-round performance of this bike. Add the absolutely unheard of concept of zero maintenance and you'll see why we're getting excited. With highly probable (we've seen some of the samples) production weights dropping to around 23lb, all that remains to be said is that the editor's credit card details are already with the appropriate authorities, so join the queue after us.

Linkage
The upper section uses multi-profiled tubular aluminium with lifetime-warrantied cartridge bearings at each corner. The lower wishbone yoke is a Y-shaped multi-profile box section carrying the steering pivot (see below), lower shock mount and rear cartridge-bearing pivots. Using a linkage gives many advantages over a standard telescopic fork. As the shock is mounted further back, so is its weight, leaving the front end as light as a rigid bike. Using a linkage also means the path of the axle under compression can be tuned by changing the length of the linkages. Preston uses a J-shaped compression path with moves the wheel slightly backwards at the start of the stroke. As well as helping deal with blunt frontal impacts (kerbs and logs), it keeps the steering "trail" (distance of wheel in front of straight line taken from headtube) that provides the stability practically constant. This contrasts with telescopic forks where long-travel models can reduce trail from around 80mm to zero or even minus figures, resulting in extremely unstable handling in situations where control is most important.

Fork legs
Preston's front end is a fully rigid "A" frame structure, with box section legs. Two plates above the wheel carry the lower linkage mount, while the two upper links sit outside the apex of the fork on a "lifetime warrantied" cartridge-bearing axle. The one-piece fork gives plenty of mud clearance and stunning rigidity. Also, unlike telescopic forks with only slim slider bushings to keep alignment, there is no flexing or binding as the front wheel is forced backwards under braking or impacts.

Steering pivot
Moving rotationally and vertically with no rattle, slop or binding, this is a very specialist bearing that took some finding. Essentially it's a polished steel ball with an aluminium collar cast round its surface, a process as difficult as the idea is simple. Still, it's lasting well enough to be given the same life-time warranty as the rest of the bearings.

Frame
The frame uses a box section spine from headtube to bottom bracket, with conventional seat-tube and rear half of the "toptube". The forward pivot is almost central on the frame, opposite the rear shock mount to centralise lateral stress. The forward shock mounting sits just behind the stumpy headtube.

Rear pivot point
Preston retains the same rear pivot point and "lifetime-warrantied bearings" the same design team developed for the Marin FRS series.

Dropouts
20mm hub axles provide increased tracking stiffness through greater contact Jon and Adrian mated ideas drawn from Honda race bikes and Michael Schumacher's Benetton nose cone to create a swinging "clasp" dropout that locks in place, via a profiled bolt and half-turn cam lever. The 20mm spindle sections can be bolted onto the end of any existing hub, immediately increasing steering twist resistance.

PROVISIONAL SPEC & SRP