Almost finished my C456, think it needs a red ano seatclamp to finish it…

Its busy in there

Foxy, flashing your red bits too

Muffin top head tube?

Weaving its black magic

A touch of bling!

The Carbon 456, 24 lbs (ish) of stiff strong light loveliness.

Nice. Those cables under cabinet on the right need hiding.

The down tube melt in the sun?

No valve caps and a 160mm front disc…what were you thinking?

Shirley,the wheels are too small?

i thought it was obligatory to have a chris king headset on expensive bikes 🙂

No valve caps and a 160mm front disc…what were you thinking?

Bang to Rights! Valve cap situation has been put right, thank you for the reminder. And a 160mm disc can break tyre traction before I run out of brakes, so I only feel the need to go bigger when overheating may be an issue, and that isn’t in this country! Why go for anything more?

Got a surplus 31.8 hope red qr seatclamp in the spares box if u want one.
Immaculate, used for 2 rides before i decided i preferred a black one.
12quid posted.
Mail in profile.

Nice one. Maybe I should post pics of mine? Just didn’t seem the done thing on here. Is there a carbon 456 thread or just a 456 thread?

Go for it! Maybe limit it to C456 owners called andyl, what are the chances? Lol!

I’m sure Andy won’t mind us posting our c456s here.

Here’s mine…

Yours looks light andyl46. Something was bothering me about the bottom photo, the fork rake looked weird. Then I realised it was the tapered headtube mplaying tricks on my eyes.

Edit: I’m not called Andy L. Shall I take my pic down?

Bit of a coincidence there, we have the same headset too! Mine is a bit smaller though.

Matte black 16″ in current XC set up (100-130mm QR forks and 717 wheels):

Up close:

I have added some of my own frame protection – some proper heli tape (off a Lynx) along the bottom of the down tube and around the drive side BB area and a custom made chain suck protector (alloy and thick PU tape). The chainstay protector is temporary – the inner tube will be cleaned up and stuck down with some 1mm thick adhesive foam, and so is the large black cable rub protection patches – just some blade tape I stuck on quick.

Feel free Chakaping, and any other C456 owners.

Light? Dunno, haven’t weighed it yet, I think around the 24lb mark with flat pedals. And the massive bottom race does dwarf the crown, but I got the forks for a good price so didn’t go down the tapered steerer route. That build looks like it could take a good hammering!

Nice one Andy, and you have confirmed my feelings that I need a red seatpost clamp! Got any more tape floating about? 😉

andyl gets a fail too – noob sticker on the front disc 😆

‘fraid I maxed out my ‘borrowing’ from the research material pile 😉 The matte finish of it matches my frame well so I couldnt help myself!

Along the top tube, sides of the down tube, seat stays and RHS chainstay have a special matte clear heli tape I bought from paragon tapes though. you really can’t see it and it keeps the nice dull finish. The gloss frames are actually been easier to protect as you can get much more tapes in gloss.

I was going all black but the stem with red faceplate was a present so I had to add the clamp and some other touches. I now how a carbon fibre conical headset spacer covering the top cap to make the spacer stack look more normal.

A few pics of Grahams new C456 on the below link, scroll down for some nice shots on its first outing up at Lee quarry earlier today.

http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=142717

Kev

The only thing I liked about the 456 was that it was made out of decent grade CrMo steel at a good price.

That’s why I have one.

If this carbon version is made to a price point, it’s hardly likely to be as good as race proven carbon frames.
So why would you want one if there’s no performance advantage over the steel frame?

How long is the fork on the first build?

Skyline, I’ll take the 2 and a bit lbs weight difference and the ability to design in a little vertical compliance at the back end as a performance advantage.

John_l its a 110-150mm Talas 32 at its 150mm setting for the photos I think…

And a 160mm disc can break tyre traction before I run out of brakes…

Someone needs to work on their weight shift when braking.

Someone needs to work on their weight shift when braking.

The first step would be getting rid of that tiller of a stem, the rest of the bike appears to be a week and a half behind it.

90mm stems are tillers? Strangely, at 6’5 it seems the perfect length for me, and towards the shorter end of the recommended sizes.

Weight transfer, of course you shift back to get your COG as low and as far behind the front wheel as possible, but on most trails I still reckon you can lock the front or lift the back with a 160 rotor. Maybe you need to work on your anticipation or get your brakes looked at? 😉

Skyline-GTR – Member
The only thing I liked about the 456 was that it was made out of decent grade CrMo steel at a good price.

That’s why I have one.

If this carbon version is made to a price point, it’s hardly likely to be as good as race proven carbon frames.
So why would you want one if there’s no performance advantage over the steel frame?

That makes absolutely no sense and to me shows a complete lack of understanding of carbon fibre construction and engineering as well as possibly a hint of jealousy 😉

The steel 456 is cheap because there are compromises compared to a £400+ steel frame – it is a bit heavier, a bit less compliant, a bit less well finished, bit less optimised etc etc – but because of the price none of that matters to the owners who love them and the way it rides.

The carbon version is about 1kg lighter and lighter than other long travel steel frames the steel 456 was pitted up against despite being cheaper (£400 with headset and bars for the carbon 456 at the moment versus over £400 for something like a Cotic Soul). The carbon version is also better optimised with improved torsional stiffness in the front end and BB area but more compliance where needed. They have had a lot of time to evaluate what improvements were needed over the original 456 – regardless of material and they have also used the experience of the manufacturers in Taiwan who make much more expensive frames for other companies. Costs for carbon are coming down and you have to ask if the other companies are over charging. Yes £1200 carbon frames will have a lot more refinements and better paint jobs, cable guides etc but do you need them to get a great ride? Nope. In their defence, the expensive carbon bike manufacturers have to recoup the costs of working with the manufacturers on developing the manufacturing understanding that On One are enjoying.

£400 is expensive compared to a steel 456 but compared to a lot of other frames out there it is an absolute bargain, especially if you get the mixer bundle with headset and bars thrown in.

PS this is not a ‘race frame’ – it is a bike aimed at people who want to ride for enjoyment. It is designed to be tough and regardless of frame material that is going to mean a compromise somewhere (normally weight). The beauty of carbon fibre is you can minimise the impact of those compromises.

@ andyi46, that looked very nice bike and I like it, is there more room around the b/b area with the cranks especially the granny ring as the Whippet is having problems with Shimano SLX cranks by rubbing and taking the paint off with poor clearance and it’s 20″ frame?

I don’t think these bike are very good looking. That down tube is howfin. Just my personal etc…

That’s a lot of hand-waving.

The clearance in the bb area is fine on these as the use external bb cups like the shimano hollowrech 2 where the whippet uses internal which I think is what causes the problem.