Whyte Bikes have added a disc-equipped carbon fibre road bike with mudguards and space for 28mm tyres to their 2015 RD-7 range, building on the success of bikes like the aluminium-framed Dorset that road.cc reviewed earlier this year. Called the Cornwall, just the one model will be offered and it will cost £1,799 with a SRAM drivetrain and S700 non-series hydraulic disc brakes.
Last year road.cc tested the Dorset, part of the company’s RD-7 range of disc-equipped aluminium road bikes with mudguard and rack mounts. The sort of bike that can easily be pressed into regular commuting duty, weekend winter training or even year-round cycling, or our new favourite term, super-commuter. Just a very practical bike ideal for a variety of riding situations really.
For 2015 Whyte have launched a carbon fibre version of that bike and this is it. It’s called the Cornwall, continuing their county naming convention, and it shares a similar geometry to the aluminium version. The carbon fibre frame is obviously going to shed quite a bit of weight – they claim 8.6kg (18.95lb) for the complete bike which is not bad at all. As well as being lighter, the carbon frame should be more comfortable too, Whyte telling us they have worked on the shape and layup of the seatstays to maximise compliance.
The Cornwall has mudguard mounts and impressively there is space for 28mm tyres even with the ‘guards fitted. Unlike the aluminium version, there are no rack mounts on the Cornwall. In essence the Cornwall is aimed at the person who wants to ride through the winter, and do so with all the speed and performance of their summer race bike but wrapped up with the practicality of mudguards, fatter tyres and disc brakes. So for commuting, club runs and solo winter training, the Cornwall sounds like a very appealing proposition.
The Cornwall costs £1,799 and is specced with a SRAM Rival/Apex groupset with S700 hydraulic disc brakes. All cables and brake hoses are internally routed in the frame, but the front brake hose is routed externally of the carbon fibre fork. They’ve stuck with conventional quick release axles at both ends, though they’ve specced their own anti-theft skewers. There’s a 27.2mm seatpost to provide as much comfort as possible.
Whyte have used FSA’s MegaEvo threaded bottom bracket that enables a BB386EVO chainset to be fitted to a standard 68mm bottom bracket shell. That means even frames with conventional threaded bottom brackets can benefit from the weight and stiffness benefits of a 30mm axle standard. A FSA Gossamer Pro chainset is fitted to this bike.
The Cornwall is built with Whyte branded components, including the wheels which use a 32mm deep section rim with 28 spokes in the front wheel and 32 in the rear wheel. Maxxis Detonator tyres in a 28mm width with puncture protection are fitted to the wheels.
The mudguards are Whyte’s own design too, and very smart looking things they are. There’s a nice reflective logo on the rear guard.
All in the new Cornwall is a fine looking bike and there really aren't that many carbon fibre road bikes that can take mudguards and 28mm tyres, so we're obviously very keen to arrange a review of this bike as soon as possible. One thing is for sure, there's a lot more choice for bikes that are perfectly suited to the demands of winter cycling, but not just confined to the winter of course, you could ride this bike year-round quite happily.
If you haven’t booked your ticket yet for The Cycle Show use the code RCC to get £1.50 off the price of the £13 advance ticket at the www.cycleshow.co.uk website.
13 thoughts on “Whyte launches Cornwall with carbon frame, mudguards and disc brakes”
I really am quite sold on
I really am quite sold on this range of bikes by Whyte, to the extent that I’m pretty much decided on getting one as a year-round commuter. With hindsight, I probably should’ve just bought one a year ago, proper “only bike you’ll ever need” stuff.
Sadly, my budget doesn’t extend to this carbon version, for me it’ll be between the Dorset or Suffolk, just a case of whether the 11-speed 105 justifies the extra £200, as the two bikes otherwise seem identical?
“””In essence the Cornwall is
“””In essence the Cornwall is aimed at the person who wants to ride through the winter, and do so with all the speed and performance of their summer race bike but wrapped up with the practicality of mudguards, fatter tyres and disc brakes. So for commuting, club runs and solo winter training, the Cornwall sounds like a very appealing proposition.””””
Not likely. If they offered it as a hub gear such as Rohloff or Alfine with full chain guard or belt drive then maybe it would qualify, but riding this bike through winter would be just the same as riding any other open deraillieur transmission bike – a real pain the arse to keep the drive train clean and lubed through all the rain, crud, grit, salt, mud and dirt. Manufacturers think that just by chucking some disc brakes on a bike, fitting fatter tyres and some mudguards it is some how magically transformed into a winter commuter, well dream on. This is still a high maintenance bike. Whyte will have to do a lot better than this.
The executive commuter this
The executive commuter this is aimed at must be able to park their bike in a considerably less hostile environment than the tangled scrum of metal that forms our works bike shed.
If this is a commuter bike,
If this is a commuter bike, why is it camouflaged tarmac colour ?
I would have to agree that
I would have to agree that silver is more hi viz, easier to keep clean, and that (if you need gears) a hub gear would be better for winter to minimise daily maintenance on dérailleurs
In saying that, my commuter is all black and has dérailleurs …..but in winter, it’s swapped for fixed.
No rack so a commuting &
No rack so a commuting & touring fail for me straight off.
Carbon or alu don’t cut it for me as commuting/touring frame materials. Too stiff, and prone to fatigue and cracking.
For that money I would buy what I use now – A Moulton TSR (well I ride an older late APB). Fast, practical with racks, comfortable with the full suspension. Ultra stiff with the spaceframe but the steel is fatigue free
I don’t understand
I don’t understand complaining about bikes by saying “it’s not for me”.
A lot of people will buy and be happy with this bike, because it’s for them. If it’s not for you, just ignore it, there are other options, like the ones you already own.
Or, maybe it’s simply post-purchase justification of what you already own?
Kudos for at least making it
Kudos for at least making it possible to fit a dyno light to the crown. Front mudguard seems rather short and devoid of flap, though.
A hub gear and perhaps belt drive would have some merit, but as someone who mostly commutes part-bike-part-train and uses an audax type bike for a long commute roughly once a week, I think a derailleur drivetrain is fine – quieter, more familiar, more customisable. I don’t really find it a maintenance issue at all. I’d take the hub and belt for my urban commuter, but I don’t think I’d want either for an audaxy bike (which is really what this thing is).
I was almost interested until
I was almost interested until I got to “no rack mounts”. Really, it goes up directly against the likes of the Ribble Sportive 365, though that can only take 25mm tyres and has rim brakes.
I’d rather have the Whyte Suffolk for a commuter. I really want a Suffolk, in fact. Could someone buy me one?
Hub and belt works well and
Hub and belt works well and is largely noiseless (rohloff).
Still needs to be winterised however as in my first winter the cables seized in the external gear box (50 quid and a lot of cursing later).
Also mechanical discs need treating or they seize too!
You can’t win!
Hub definitely less maintenance all round, though.
I ride a Genesis Day One
I ride a Genesis Day One Alfine (11) to and from work, 140 odd miles a week if I cycle in every day. The bike has mountings for front and rear racks but I use a 16 litre Carradice seatpost mounted bag, it works really well, the same might be feasible to use on this bike? As for belt drives, they still are not as efficient as a chain, so I’ll stick to wiping mine with a rag and oiling/replacing every few thousand miles.
Nobody seems to have mentioned the ‘Dolan Dual’ here, highly regarded, carbon, with rack and guard mounts, although it’s rim brakes and conventional derailleur.
My own experience of hub
My own experience of hub gears wasn’t that great. Yes the gears are encased but there is a significant weight penalty and its a right pain in the backside when you puncture. I could fix a puncture three times over in the it took me to re-align the rear wheel. I went for very puncture proof tyres in the end, which only made the bike even more sluggish.
I went for cross bike in the end with disc brakes and standard gears. I find it much better although it suffers a little from road buzz on longer rides (it’s fine for the commute). A carbon frame would solve this problem and I can see the value of this bike.
I’m not sure rack mounts are
I’m not sure rack mounts are needed for this type of bike. For most people commuting means taking a change of clothes and a towel, so around 10l of space needed. This is easily manageable with a ruck sack, seat mounted bag or a beam rack. They have an alu bike that takes a rack. The point of this bike is that it can work as a commuter and then be a decently fast carbon race bike on the weekend.
Having ridden a Alfine hub gear bike I can’t see them ever catching on for fast riding, you just can’t put the power down like you can with a normal bike, at least it doesn’t ever feel as responsive.
I don’t find cleaning the chain difficult, it’s cleaning the brake blocks and rims that annoys me as you have to do it more regularly. Having to have new rims every 18 months is also annoying. A disc braked road bike would make this much less of a problem.