BikeBiz Bicycle and cycling retail news
Whyte Bikes, designed and distributed in the UK by ATB Sales, has diversified its catalogue to include a number of on-road suited models with the introduction of the R7 range.
With a heritage revolving solely in off-road rigs, the brand’s owners say they’ve spotted a gap in the market, which Whyte’s new bikes comfortably fit.
Designer Ian Alexander said: “We set out to design a new group of frame sets that have great practical function, but look really clean, smooth and rational with the cables and hoses neatly managed and an overall style and level of design of a much higher-priced product.”
Nearly all the bikes in the R7 line sit below the £1,000 cycle to work threshold and are built around a 6061 hydroformed T6 aluminium frame, which notably has a very mountain bike-like geometry. Utilising a fairly slack head angle, combined with a sloped top tube, the low standover does give the bike a very versatile feel. All R7s come with mounts for guards and panniers.
Top-of-the-line models, including the ‘Montpellier’, are available specced with an oversized BB30 bottom bracket. Another impressive feature carried on the frames is the tucked in position of the disc mounts, something few manufacturers have achieved without compromise to date. Each model in the R7 line features hydraulic disc brakes.
“We also worked on new geometries that take the best aspects of our technical MTB hardtail ride feel and performance, and incorporate that design approach into our flat bar road and cross frames, which we feel ride and feel fantastically out-and-about in the urban world. I suppose it’s best to say that what we’re offering is a mix of technical geometry, styled to work alongside something cool and practical on the streets.”
The R7 range will land with ATB from early September.
