Whyte E-5

This is the all-new Whyte E-5, which joins the 46 and 19 in the Whyte line-up. It's a lightweight, longish-travel XC/enduro bike, and as such is kind of a spiritual successor to Whyte's original PRST bikes. It's a very different animal, though.

What with everything on this bike being new and different, it's difficult to know where to start. But the rear suspension design is actually essentially the same as the Whyte 46 (and the Marin Quad-Link bikes) - it's repackaged and refined, but the way it works is the same, delivering a rear axle path that runs a little bit rearward, a load upward and then a bit inward towards bottom-out to optimise chain growth. The Fox RP3 shock is tucked inside the linkage, cunningly sharing mountings with the linkages to give Quad performance with just four bolts.

The swingarm is a moulded carbon fibre monococque, delivering a stiff, light (700g) structure with bags of mud room - the repackaged Quad-Link design puts all the linkages inside the main triangle, so there's nothing between the wheel and seat tube to trap dirt. The front of the swingarm also forms a kind of umbrella for the shock, and it's got conveniently-located bottle bosses on it. Adding to the mud-friendliness of the design are the carbon cover plates keeping mud and water out of the pivot bearings. The pivot shafts are 8mm titanium items.

The main triangle is custom-butted aluminium alloy with a monococque shock/linkage cradle. Double-pass welds add to the smooth look. At the front you're getting a Maverick SC32 upside-down fork with 5in of travel to match the rear. The Maverick's latching dropouts also match the Big Gripper units at the back, now with revised, smoother levers.

We got the chance to ride an E-5 for a couple of hours and came away very impressed. It's light - the frame is apparently lighter than a Marin Mount Vision, and complete bikes are around 26lb. Compared to the 46 it's considerably lower, shorter and steeper - it doesn't feel quite as unstoppable as the bigger bike but it's a considerably more involving ride. It's a proper "rider's bike" - work with it and it'll reward you handsomely. The suspension is supple over the little stuff, unfazed by the big stuff and rock-solid under power. Initially it felt a bit front-light and wheelie-happy, but a bit of seat fiddling got things feeling balanced.

Two specs will be available. The XT model features Shimano XT transmission, Hope Mini Mono brakes, Conti Vapor tyres and Easton finishing kit at £2,800. Or if that's not spendy enough, there'll be a works model at £3,175 with Panaracer Cinder tyres, a Thomson stem, FSA carbon chainset, Goodridge brake hoses and SRAM X.0 transmission. Both will be available from November.

Carbon fibre swingarm weighs 700g

The linkages and shock are well away from the mud

Refined Big Gripper rear dropouts have a cleaner look

Maverick SC32 forks provide 5in of travel

19 and 46

All-new seat QR design

The other two bikes in the Whyte range continue into 2006 with minor tweaks. The main change to the 19 hardtail is the seat quick-release. Rather than the usual slot in the seat tube and a clamping collar, the Whyte design has a window in the seat tube and a cam-driven pad acting directly on the seatpost. This should be more secure, and doesn't involve pointy corners of seat tube getting distorted and pushed into the post. The QR design will also feature on production E-5s.

Otherwise the 19 is the same bar a few spec tweaks - the bars go up to 31.8mm diameter, you get a Fi:zi'k Nisene saddle and Whyte's own lock-on grips. Complete bikes are £1,995 or the frame/Maverick fork/Cane Creek headset package is £975.

Whyte 46

New multi-position Maverick stem

Similarly, the 46 gets just minor tweaks. The main difference is the new multi-position Maverick stem. Rather than having loads of different stems to achieve different riding positions, the new system covers six lengths with two stems to make it easier to tune the cockpit to your taste. The new stem also accommodates a 31.8mm diameter bar. The complete 46 will be £2,700 or there's a frame/fork package for £1,700.

Keep an eye on www.whytebikes.com for further details.