Is Whyte's £5,499 E-180 RSX the ultimate uplift killer?
Stop the press! Could this be the steal of the century? Whyte’s latest E-180 RSX is a super-enduro downhill-dominating e-bike with a dream spec for just £5.5k.
If you’ve been hankering after a long-travel, Bosch CX powered, big battery e-bike, this could be the answer. Let’s dive into quite possibly the best deal of the year (so far)…
Whyte E-180 RSX need to know:
- Top-end RSX model costs £5,499
- Comes with 180mm front, 170mm rear travel courtesy of Fox Factory suspension
- SRAM X01 Eagle AXS wireless groupset
- Bosch Performance CX power with a 750Wh removable battery
- Comes with a lifetime frame warranty
- Mullet (MX) setup as standard, but frame has adjustable geometry
With a Bosch CX motor and 750Wh battery, how many bike park laps could you get in?
Uplift killer or downhill beast?
The Whyte E-180 is a pretty well-known eMTB platform, with various price points and builds being available over the last few years. But the new alloy E-180 RSX is, on paper, one of the most enticing options we’ve seen for a while. When we last tested the Whyte E-180 Works MX a couple of years ago, we said it delivered “monster truck suspension performance with enough pop to keep it lively”.
So we know the fundamentals are sorted if you’re looking for a heavy-hitting e-enduro bike. Then comes the price. It’s £5,499 for an absolutely stellar build that wants for nothing. Firstly, there’s Fox Factory suspension, with a 180mm 38 fork and 170mm rear travel via a Float X2 shock. The E-180 RSX is a super-enduro, downhill-shredding beast, and combined with the Bosch Performance CX motor (with a max torque rating of 85Nm and max power of 600W), could see you avoid paying for the uplift and riding up the hill faster than you can ride down it.
In addition, the RSX comes with a 750Wh removable battery. Now, the eagle-eyed among you may have spotted it’s not the latest Bosch Gen 5 CX motor, but if you’re not bothered about having brand-new gizmos, that may not matter.
It comes with electronic gears, a big battery and a tried-and-tested motor
A dream-build worthy spec
Elsewhere the bike comes with SRAM’s X01 Eagle AXS wireless electronic transmission. It’s even the latest T-Type version. Brakes are covered by SRAM Code RSC four-pot and a 220mm front rotor.
From the factory (or warehouse), the RSX comes setup with MX (mullet) wheels courtesy of DT Swiss e-bike specific wheels, and Maxxis 3C Assegai WT TR tyres. And they’re proper enduro-rated, with MaxxGrip front and rear, EXO+ casing up front and Double Down out back.
The flip-chip adjustable geometry also means you can change the ride dynamics of the bike without affecting the suspension kinematics. The BB can be lifted or lowered by 8mm and the geometry slackened by 0.6º to tailor the bike to the terrain you’re riding on.
According to Whyte, a size M weighs 26.1kg, too. So yes, it’s a beast, but it could be the ultimate bike park play thing. And with a lifetime warranty on the frame and the pivot bearings, you can huck to your heart’s content with total peace-of-mind. More details on the bike and its cheaper S sibling (£4,499) are available on Whyte’s website, but the bikes are exclusively available from Whyte dealers rather than directly from the British brand.