Viewing 25 posts - 1 through 25 (of 25 total)
  • How much more rear end compliance of a Ti 456 over a steel 456?
  • Suggsey
    Free Member

    I have a very nice Ti road bike that I love the feel of and the sting that it takes out the roads and have been riding my steel 456 off road since 2009 for all but uplift days and alpine or big mountain rides. I have been increasingly suffering though on the on one 456 on rides over 3 hours in the achy old back department. Has anyone owned both Ti and steel 456 and is it worth the swap, I read a lot of people not noticing their Ti bikes off toad abilities over non Ti.
    My options are to either get the Ti version or short travel full suss or MTFU and stick with the steel 456 until I die as I think the frame would survive a nuclear war!

    geetee1972
    Free Member

    I never noticed the difference in ride quality going from steel to ti (Cotic soul to ragley ti. I’ve also had a 456 ti as well). But the to frame is quite a bit lighter and that was always nice.

    igm
    Full Member

    Well I went steel 456 to carbon 456 and it was noticeably less like a pile driver up your shorts, so Ti is probably nicer too.
    Subjective opinion though.

    Fresh Goods Friday 696: The Middling Edition

    Fresh Goods Friday 696: The Middlin...
    Latest Singletrack Videos
    swanny853
    Full Member

    Halfway helpful response- comparing the lynsky ti 456 with my carbon 456 there was a very noticeable difference going over chattery rooty stuff. I was sceptical beforehand, then put it down to softer tyres but tried them harder and it was still there.

    No idea where the steel 456 sits on that scale but if it’s anything like my old 853 rock lobster the ti definitely has something extra.

    Suggsey
    Free Member

    See that a common review really and having recently been riding an old Merlin Malt 1 alu frame built up SS which is ridiculously light for the money and it doesn’t give me back ache albeit it’s primarily been ridden in mud fest conditions…
    Or do I just get The Cove Stiffee that’s speaking to me and have lighter playing bike and back ache anyway for less money outlay!

    cynic-al
    Free Member

    46.2%

    Suggsey
    Free Member

    And is that the percentage that prefer ti to steel ? 😆

    igm
    Full Member

    Cost ratio Shirley?

    Suggsey
    Free Member

    Mmm, now my choices may be swayed by availability, damn it 🙄

    geetee1972
    Free Member

    To add from my own experiences, especially as somone who has a very well used spine, if you’re getting back ache riding a hardtail then you might want to consider the answer being full suss rather than aother hardtail, ti or otherwise?

    A two years ago I had a bad crash that resulted in me having spinal scans. A close friend, who is also a consultant radiologist, took a look at the scans for me and informed me that I had compression fractures to four vertebrae from at least two separate incidents. He said I was OK, that my spine was not in great shape but was nothing that someone who had been as active as I had couldn’t expect.

    He did however counsel that I should seriously give up riding a hardtail. He said that the constant vibration and jarring would give rise to lots of tiny additional micro fractures in the vertebrae, the cumulative effective of which could be more serious.

    You’re probably no where near this situation but it’s worth bearing in mind.

    scaredypants
    Full Member

    do you use a dropper post ?

    if not, get a thudbuster

    igm
    Full Member

    When my back is bad I get the rigid singlespeed out. Standing up (whether you want to or not) is better than any suspension in the world.

    Suggsey
    Free Member

    My spine is tired from neck fracture when I was young and cumulative years compression from playing rugby a fair bit of which was at prop! I don’t use a dropper on the 456 and have a trusty Thomson pin as they are the only ones I have not bent! I did consider a thudbuster but adding all that extra weight on an already hefty frame I thought may completely kill any rear end skipping over rocks and roots.
    As for the SS approach I find that my alu frame SS is so lively and light to ride it makes it fun however my cycling power to weight ratio is no where near what it was when I was younger also complicated by necessary medication fir health reasons.
    Maybe I should bite the bullet and just run a second lighter built full suss XC frame, I know there is plenty out there particularly now 26″ ain’t flavour of the month anymore ( although it is for me as I have plenty of spares).

    maxtorque
    Full Member

    Get a FS! For MTB’s this “more compliant” stuff is total rubbish.

    (Hint, have a think how much the frame would have to flex to “absorb” the varying road inputs to any degree! )

    plus-one
    Full Member

    Baw hair* more compliant with titanium ..

    *most accurate measurement known to man 😉

    jairaj
    Full Member

    Borrowed a mates steel 456 and it was quite stiff. My Saracen Zen 631 on the other hand was lovely compared to the 456. The 456 is built out of scaffolding tubes hence the low price and will not offer the stereotypical compliance of a fancy steel frame.

    P20
    Full Member

    I found the steel 456 harsh, my carbon is much better. Don’t know about the ti though

    Northwind
    Full Member

    Steel 456 is a lump tbh, you can’t build a bike with that much metal and have it be anything else. My C456 was a nicer ride, a fair bit less skittish is how I feel it. Titanium varies a lot and the 456 has been made by a bunch of different people hasn’t it… (My Ragley’s pretty stiff, wish it was a bit softer, my Soda was much more the classic ti ride)

    Second the comments about the impact though, there’s noticable differences in ride but not sure how much that’ll help a back. Big fat soft tyre, maybe a carbon seatpost (unconvinced myself), or a shim and a narrower post?

    br
    Free Member

    Get a FS! For MTB’s this “more compliant” stuff is total rubbish.

    Says the man that has ridden both?

    I bought a steel 456 a few years ago to save my FS from winter. Eventually selling the FS (and carbon HT) and moving all the best bits onto the 456.

    After 9 months I bought a new 456TI (Lynskey Mk2) and transferred the bits over.

    The 456 steel was comfier at slower speeds, but the 456Ti is far better at higher speeds/bigger hits and for bigger days out where you notice the weight saving.

    I still ride the 456Ti as my only bike, now in its 6th year 🙂

    But the aching in your back could be nothing to do with the frame material and or HT vs FS, and more to do with size/layout/rucksack weight etc.

    hora
    Free Member

    My spine is tired from neck fracture when I was young and cumulative years compression from playing rugby a fair bit of which was at prop!

    If you want future-proof yourself and hopefully ride as long as possible why don’t you FORGET the offroad hardtail and buy a short-travel full sus frame that mimics/is similar to a hardtail? (whippy etc)

    Suggsey
    Free Member

    Cheers for the responses folks, the achy bones and joints are down to years of abuse and old age creeping up on me! I already own a full suss and to be honest am guilty like many others of cosseting it away from the harsh muddy winter riding and have built it up so it’s more at home for uplift and alpine riding and it is sooooo comfortable albeit a tad weighty for local cross country and even Cannock Chase off piste etc which is why I ride the 456 so much.
    Local night rides involve some linking sections on road but tend to be 3 1/2 hour pedalling rides and also have a tendency to involve some ‘ rough’ towpath which is the section that really beat me up! That’s with conti RQ 2.2 tubeless tyres.
    Anyway for now I have been busted by Mrs S who’s clocked me checking out new and second hand frames 😆

    Northwind
    Full Member

    There’s a very well priced Ti on the classifieds just now (or was), you’d be hardpushed to lose money on it tbh…

    whippersnapper
    Free Member

    Suggsey, if you are after a 20″ frame I am selling mine.

    By the way, I can’t compare it to a steel 456 as I haver never ridden one. I can tell you the ti 456 is a hell of a lot comfier for big rides than a Chameleon though. My back thanked me.

    Suggsey
    Free Member

    Thanks for the offer Whippersnapper but 20″ is too big I’m 18″ sized!
    Decided on the following, ditch the on one frame for an alu replacement for play bike and ride the full suss more often if I’m feeling old and creaky!
    So, I have ended up doing a deal on a brand new 2011/12 Cove Stiffee to replace the On One and now I have new bike fever. ………..and probably still a stiff back but after two hour rides 😆
    But several hundred quid better off in my pocket!

    ratadog
    Full Member

    Started with one of the original 456 complete bikes in that blue and rebuilt the parts onto a mark 2 Lynskey 456Ti a few years later. Couldn’t ride them back to back for obvious reasons but somewhat to my surprise did feel that the Ti was more comfortable and was lighter and so easier on the uphills. As someone said above, best purchase for comfort on a hard tail was undoubtably a Thudbuster and as that came after the frame transfer I cannot say whether it would have improved the steel to a similar level although I also have one of the lesser travel thudbusters on my Scandal 29er with similar beneficial effects.

Viewing 25 posts - 1 through 25 (of 25 total)

The topic ‘How much more rear end compliance of a Ti 456 over a steel 456?’ is closed to new replies.