Just bought an one one carbon 456 frame, and some fox forks and a smoothie mixer headset. Great, but now I realise I don’t actually know the other parts that I need to buy to make this a complete bike, is there a list somewhere I can refer to please as this is a new thing for me?

cranks
front mech
rear mech
cables
shifters
chain
seat post
stem
bars
grips
pedals
saddle wheels
tyres
cassette
tubes
Seat clamp

then there are little things like spacers and gear cable outers. I just looked at my old bike and found a new one of each component

Thanks for the quick reply! Currently got a Marin eldridge grade 2011 will I be able to reuse any of the parts from this do you think or will I need all new parts? Thanks

If you don’t, you could sell it as a complete bike

you’ll probably be able to reuse most of the kit from the Marin.

Have a look on parktool.com for how to’s on what you’ll need to do to refit stuff.

things you may/will need to change;

cables and outers
front mech
chain length
BB spacer numbers
headset spacer numbers/steerer tube ength
brake hose lengths (ok to leave if too long and you can take the ribbing on here)
seat post (or get a shim)

you need to measure the seatpost,seatpost clamp and seattube diameter on the marin.

they need to be as below to fit on the 456 carbon frame

Seatpost Size (mm) 31.6
Seat Clamp Size (mm) 34.9 (inner diameter of the clamp)
Front Mech Clamp Size (mm) 34.9

If the seatpost is smaller than 31.6. then you can use a shim. or buy a new 31.6 seatpost

(never used one of these so dont know how well they work)

if the seatclamp is a different size. the you need a new 34.9 seatclamp

If the front mech is smaller than 34.9 then you need a 3×10 speed 34.9 front mech ,But it needs to be TOP PULL not bottom pull as on the marin (This is the direction the front cable is feeds to the front mech
(check to see if the one you have is dual pull first)

Are the new fox forks tapered or 1.1/8th ?

are they 15mm ,20mm axle or qr (quick release) ?

are they post mount or i.s mount ?

The saddle,bars,shifters,stem,grips,chainset,pedals,bottom
bracket,chain,cassette,rear wheel,rear mech ,tyres and tubes should transfer over OK

the front brake will fit if the new forks are post mount.

rear brake will need the correct adaptor for your rotor size.

and you need full length outer cables

front wheel will only fit if the hub is correct for the new forks

Building a new bike should kind of start with:

Front hub (dictates fork)
Fork (matches with frame geo and head tube)
Frame (dictates bottom bracket, seat tube and rear hub)

Everything else just go from there.

Great thanks. The forks are fox talas 150mm. No tapering and qr and 1 1/8. IS mount I think.

Oops they are actually post mount! I think this means they will be ok?

Yes everything will fit.

Great thanks so it looks like I should be able to do this without buying much else!

You might need a post mount to IS adaptor for the front brake – cost about £5.

I’m just in the process of building one up for the GF:

I built mine with a 120mm fork. Which was fun but it really felt like a longer fork would suit the frame more.

Night of the long fork by Alex Leigh, on Flickr

I’ll tell you tomorrow if it worked. It’s certainly heavier 😉

Very interested in doing a build like this – would like to get it under the radar by building it as a bike for the better half….but one that I could ride when I fancy a change from the full suss. She’s 5’8″ and I’m 5’11.5″. The sizing chart shows we could both use the 18″ frame – does anyone see a flaw with this?

Also looking at 2nd hand forks and wondered what length steerer you need?
Thanks!

The forks I bought are second hand but have a long steerer (210 I think) so I’m hoping they fit!

the head tube is short, especially with the semi integrated top cup and on the 16″ it’s really short so 210mm will be plenty.

tbh if I was building one now it would be with the slackset. The more I ride at my forks max 130mm the more I wish I had more travel and slacker front end without going up too much in BB height.

As for size – I would go for a 16″ for someone 5’8″.

Head tube is 90mm and the headset is recessed, so any 2nd hand fork will fit!

I’ve just been out on mine with a adjustable fork 110-150. After one descent I left it on 150. If you can get a longer fork second hand, I’d recommend it. It’s lots of fun, especially in steep, rocky stuff 🙂

It’s good fun building these and they’ve designed the cable clip points and the brake mount position at the back really well.

Me, I had upgraded from my old GT ID5, so I ripped off the forks, wheels, cranks from that, and did some upgrades with new brakes, changed to 1×10 so new mech & shifter.

BB shell doesn’t need facing, just clean the threads with a wire brush and slap on what you like (my cranks were GXP so just got some new GXP cups. Went on solid and works great, no play).

Take care with the headset. A headset press is the ideal thing to use, but take it easy and watch it’s not going at funny angles. Don’t worry if it makes odd cracking sounds! Carbon is very tough stuff, but does sound odd.

Only issue was the short head tube. Though about cutting the steerer, but that would put me too low on the front, so just stacked the stem up higher and went with bars with a little rise. Went with the 16″ which is even shorter (note that there’s a compatibility issue with a couple of tapered forks I think), but the 16″ has the right reach for me. Normally I go with 18″ and they’re shorter reach than the c456.

End result, lovely sleek stealthy bike (went for undecaled matt black). It’s a spare toy for me but do love chucking it about.

Oh, and the seatpost – use some carbon assembly paste. Ideally don’t use a shim as seen reports of many who end up with them stuck in. If you use an alloy post definitely use the paste, same goes for the bars. Carbon + Alloy can in certain wet/salty conditions result in the two bonding together, the paste adds a protective layer and regardless the paste reduces the amount of pressure and torque required to clamp things on, whatever the material. Certainly helps reduce seatpost slippage which I found happens a lot with the carbon frame.

Ok, this is now taking shape!

Will transfer most stuff across but What I need now is a new bottom bracket and and crankset and front mech as I want to go 1×10 gears if possible. Any recommendations what to get from your experience? The rear mech is SRAM x7. Thanks!

!edit! Should have said 2×10!

I’ve got SLX on mine and I think it looks a good match.

I’m setting mine up at the moment and am having a few niggles.

I’m setting up 2×9 with an SLX double and bash at the front. I have 2 top pull top swing front mechs, an XT and an XTR. Both seem too big, they hit against the chainstay behind the chainrings, stopping me drop the mech low enough to get the correct 2-3mm clearance between the chainrings and front mech.