Been thinking about building a bike up from components for a while. Looking for a decent trail/ race-ready hardtail (suitable for something like the Southern XC series), probably steel, mid-travel fork with lock-out jobbie. So far I’m thinking:

On-one 456 frame
Fox 32 RL 140 kashima coat fork
Merlin wheel build on hope hubs (decent Mavic rims possibly)
Avid Juicys (I’ve got 3s on my stumpy and never had any probs)
2×10 double-and-bash setup (SRAM XX?)
Crank- what sort????
Egg beaters

Would an uppy-downy post be sensible for racing or too heavy? Alternative would be an Easton carbon seatpost, and SDG Bel Air RL Ti saddle (I run the same on my Stumpy FSR and love it).

Any thoughts/ suggestions? What else do I need to think about?

It’s likely to be a while before I’m “allowed” to do this.. We need to move house first… 🙁

Frame and forks will never be race ready

Trail hardail it will be but it will never be all that fast

As a 456 owner . They are horrible on flat nd uphill compared to even a semi decent alloy hardtail with conventional angles rathr than slack long forks nd slack seat angle.

hmmm. so alloy hardtail build then… or Ti???

I believe it’s not the material he’s say isn’t “race ready”, it’s the 456 frame itself… I know it’s ali but I believe the scandal would be the better On-one choice (discounting 29-er’s)

on a related note, I have a 1998 Giant ATX frame which I was considering re- speccing, only issue with it is no disc hangers… Would that be salvagable into something nippy or is it doomed as a £500 90’s lump of lard??? (It was “good” when I bought it- got me into proper off-road riding…)

Trail hardail it will be but it will never be all that fast

+1

Carbon Whippets are on for £250 today,looks like an excellent basis.

I’d not fit a dropper post to a race bike, but as this is looking like a trail bike go nuts! Ditto a bash guard.

Don’t waste your money on XX. For the price difference between XX and X.0 (or even XTR) you could get a carbon frame and some nicer wheels. Get Stan’s rims rather than Mavic.

So aside from the fact you’ve specced a nice trail bike, but a crap race bike, it looks good!

argh. prob’ly cos I’ve never raced b4. May 13 Southern XC will be my first outing. On the stumpy. With the shock locked out… I’ll be at the back…

Why would a Stumpjumper be any less racey than what you’ve specced?

Don’t worry about locking the rear out, Stumpies pedal alright. Is May 13 Wasing? Not too hilly, lots of rooty singletrack. Good fun in the dry, pretty crap in the wet.

Yep, Wasing. Partly just an excuse to build a bike :-). Maybe I should just get the Giant frame shotblasted and put a load of shiny kit on it…

If you want to race, and are starting from scratch why not start with 29er wheels? Hope Hoops with Crest rims are popular and about £300!

Drivetrain – XT is logical and can be had from Germany for around £500 inc brakes

Frame – on one Have a number of good options but the Inbred is a bit heavy. If you have more cash spend it on something sexy. To and Carbon are popular.

Forks – Fox, Rockshox and Magira are all good. If you go with Fox get the Kashima coated ones.

Components – Easton and Thomson are nice but there are plenty of others out there across a range of prices.

You don’t need a dropper post. And don’t forget a nice light saddle.

Lock on grips are worth the effort and for tyres either some Schwalbe Rocket
Ron or Maybe Kenda Slant 6. Running tubeless of course.

Headset – Chris King is nice.

That’s what I would do. Or just go and buy a Scott Scale, Cube Reaction or Specialized Stumpjumper off the shelf.

Lock on grips add nothing but pointless weight! Foam or ESI silicone all the way!