To celebrate summer finally arriving in the UK, World-class freerider Daryl Brown headed out on our Whyte E-180 Works eMTB to shuttle up, thrash down and send it off some of the UK’s most buff features at the newly reopened – and much missed but now reopened – Revolution Bike Park. With the Vision line in the can, he then headed up and out into the Welsh hills scouting for and then riding some juicy natural lines.

Summer Surge was filmed and edited by Tommy Caldwell, with music by Tef Wesley.

🎥 Tom Cladwell

🎵 'Illuminated Skarfaces' by Tef Wesley

📍 Revolution Bike Park

Thanks also to Charlie Flynn and Owen Robinson for locations / scouting!

Just like Daryl, our E-180 Works is fast, dynamic and versatile. Engineered so you can go bigger, go further, go faster – and then go again; it’s built around the first ever competition e-enduro race engine – the Performance Line CX Race Limited Edition motor from Bosch – with our low centre of gravity design, it delivers untouchable gravity handling.

We sat down with Daryl to get the inside line on aggressive rocks, eBikes, and the new ‘tree-less’ Revolution Bike Park…

Why Summer Surge?

I wanted to do airtime – I wanted to get to Revs., which has recently been reopened, and ride some big jumps on a big bike. My last edit was about being on the ground and so, for me, this edit was about being in the air. And for that, I needed a bike that could stand up to some big hits.

Is that why choose the E-180 Works?

Yes, pretty much. The E-180 is so capable and lets you do so much more; in the time frame we had - we had just a day and a half - to go up the mountain and do something like 200 laps on the Vision line, it’s such an enabler to do more. Even to get to that mountain location was an hour and a half hike-a-bike so even just for accessing the hill, it was spot on. It just wouldn’t have been practical to do all that on a normal bike in the time we had.

How did it feel to step foot back onto the hill at Revs?

It was crazy to see Revs. in a different light with no trees. It looks like a different place! Without them, you can see the beautiful Welsh valleys and scenery way more. But also, now with the trees gone, it’s really important to pick a day with no wind; we were really fortunate when we filmed as we had the best weather in the UK with great sunshine and zero wind – which really helped. I just lapped out the Vision line in brilliant sunshine. It felt great!

Why did you pick the locations you did?

To contrast with the big jumps at Revs. I also wanted to ride some crazy, mountainous rocky terrain: the stuff that has no clear way down so you have to expand your imagination as you pick your own line down.

What was the most challenging location to ride?

Basically, trying not to die at the top of the mountain! [laughs] It was very rocky, very sharp, miles away from anywhere – so a crash up there would’ve been bad. And everywhere you looked, the mountain was trying to slice you up and destroy your bike, so the hardest part was trying to find a smooth line to ride down.

What was the most fun to ride?

Riding at Revs. now it’s reopened. I’ve missed riding there since it’s been closed for felling diseased trees and it’s been a good couple of years. The last time I went, it was with Matt Jones after we both got back from riding DarkFest in 2022. It was mint riding there after DarkFest – but it felt mad as the jumps felt so small by comparison. Which is mental, as they’re the UK’s biggest!

Did you change your bike set-up at all?

I set up my bike in a medium setting so it can do everything: big jumps and natural terrain. With all the weight being low, it corners so well on the ground and it also helps it remain stable in the air – it’s not as twitchy as a lightweight bike. The only thing I changed was to put more air pressure into my tyres for riding the jumps at Revs.

Do eBikes help boost your riding?

As a skills coach, I always say to riders who want to improve their technique to get an eBike, if they can afford it: you can concentrate on your riding skills so much more – rather than fatigue. You get to ride more trails, fast forward the boring bits, and get more quality riding in in the same time. Essentially you’re purely improving your technique by being on an eBike, having more quality time to hone your skills. You can just get more out of every ride.

World-class freerider with a huge bag of tricks, a penchant for speed and going extremely big. Whatever he points his wheels at – sending big jumps, racing, big air, slopestyle, and beyond – he has excelled at them all. From winning Crankworx Speed & Style events, multiple FISE slopestyle crowns, sending the biggest jumps in the world at DarkFest, through to breaking world records, he’s constantly pushing the limits.

“To push boundaries is what motivates me,” he explains. “If you’re not pushing yourself then there’s no reason to do it anymore, so I’m always looking to push boundaries in different ways.”

To learn more about what makes Daryl tick, read his full story at whytebikes.com/daryl-brown.

The E-180 Range