http://www.bikeradar.com/mtb/gear/category/bikes/mountain/product/review-on-one-carbon-456-x9-12-46042

This was given 4 stars in 2010 and called “comfy”.

What gives? I wanted one of these next year.

Can only assume the fork was broken, the review just makes no sense at all otherwise.

This:
“the brutal stiffness of the mainframe gave us a proper beating through our hands and feet even on short – albeit rocky – descents. In fact, if we didn’t pull over and shake our hands out halfway down the hill, arm pump became a real problem when trying to keep pace with the other, more forgiving bikes. “

is just total cobblers.

WTF does “brutal riding stiffness and contrasting drivetrain softness” actually mean? What is “drivetrain softness”?

I like the way the frame is so stiff they can’t even ride it downhill yet the softness of it sucks out the power on the climbs. Nice.

seems to happen alot on bikeradar due to different reviewers reviewing the same stuff. One person loves it, the other hates it.
I have a focus izalco road bike that just got bike of the year, they loved it apparently. But last year the exact same bike, same model everything, got 3 stars and was said to be very average. Personally I love it. I take all of their reviews with a pinch of salt as its often just one persons opinion, despite the fact that they always seem to say we did this and we did that.

Yep seen many items that get 5* then only 3* 6 months later, to the extent that I assume all reviews on there to be BS now. Even those from “respected” reviewers.
Wheel is connected to forks is connected to stem is connected to bars is connected to rider.
Take your pick where the problem is. I know which I’d choose.

Two different reviewers/opinions, whats so strange about that?

The first reviewer is probably mates with Brant.

2 different opinions is fine, and to be expected tbh. One person might like a slightly softer rear end (I do), next rider might like stiff.

But “In fact, if we didn’t pull over and shake our hands out halfway down the hill, arm pump became a real problem when trying to keep pace with the other, more forgiving bikes.” is such a specific criticism, and one that I can say just does not happen on mine. Have you ever heard any owners complain about the beastly front end stiffness and all their arm pump problems? My rigid doesn’t have that effect!

I’ll have to test ride one I guess!

Thinking about it, a review that says it’s so stiff it’s impossible to ride downhill and yet also magically so soft that it drains your energy going uphill is probably going to make it sell like hot cakes, so that you’ve always got an excuse for riding like an asthmatic pensioner.

I wasn’t there in 2010.

They’re always doing it over there. Formula RX brakes went from 4.5 stars to 3 stars overnight yet they were still rating the modulation and power but knocked it back because of the cost of the rotors.

No logic to their star ratings. They gave XT brakes 4 stars after complaining they were heavy and the rotors were the same price as the RX.

No-one pays RRP for anything any more so docking stars based on RRP is daft. I bought a complete new pair of RX brakes with rotors and hardware for less than Bikeradar are quoting per side.

Reviewing based on RRP makes sense so long as it’s consistent. Yes you may be able to find it cheaper a few months down the line or get 40% off some grey market imports but then again you might not. At least the RRP is a consistent measure.

I do agree that Bikeradar are massively inconsistent about nigh on everything though.

brant – Member
I wasn’t there in 2010.
POSTED 20 MINUTES AGO # REPORT-POST

Why let facts get in the way.

My brother built up a very harcore version of one of these, and it was one of the best bikes he has ever had, I also had the opportunity to play with it several times. Stiff ride ?, Ok his had big tubeless tyres but the bike had the flexi feel of a good steel bike, no harshness / zing on the back end at all, whilst remaining very direct.
Strange review, and for 300 sheets a quality steed

Yep…456 Carbon XT spec review

Used to ride a Chameleon, as long as it isn’t stiffer than that….

Really messed up view considering how comfy they said it was…

kitted out with a full complement of Shimano’s genre-de?ning Deore XT groupset

AWESOME
WTF s genre defining in terms of XT kit??

Got one its fine just done some rocky stuff with only 100 mm forks without stopping to pump my arms or stuff….managed to get uphill as well I must just be a perfectly honed human specimen

“Vertically stiff yet laterally compliant”?

Oops 😛

OMG someone doesn’t like my ugly cheap plastic pointless bike.

It’s not plastic! It’s araldite and string, get it right.

Reveiwing bikes or compoments is a subjective thing which makes scoring them somewhat misleading. Certain bikes simply don’t suit certain riders so a reveiw should make the reveiwers opinion as to the type of bike it is clear and leave the question of whether it is good value to the reader,who knows well enough the value of any item to themselves.

At imbikemag.com stuff is reveiwed without a scoring system and the concept seems to to well received.

Normally I’d agree with the points made above that reviews are subjective but in this case I can’t square the review, the claims made and the star rating even within the review itself.

If you can’t ride a bike downhill on short descents without stopping as its beating you up then its failed as a bike and shouldn’t get even 2 and a half stars, theres no ‘value’ in a good equipment if the bike is unrideable in intended use. If I accept the review as-is the frame must be awful (or the fork crocked).

To deliver a frame that is too stiff to ride downhill properly but too flexy to pedal uphill would be remarkable given how good most bikes are now and given I haven’t seen consistent bashing of the c456 on forums seems a little unlikely.

Reviews of bikes are all rubbish.

brant – Member
I wasn’t there in 2010.

is that in reply to the comment about the first reviewer or because you want to distance yourself from the C456? 😉

tbh my thoughts on the frame…

Going slow over bumpy stuff then yes the back end is harsh – but then it’s a hard tail – duh!

Going fast over bumpy stuff and the difference to an aluminium XC frame (never mind one built to take abuse) is night and day. Hit the bumps faster (and harder) and the frame absorbs the impacts.

The best way to feel the compliance though is to land from a jump – you can really feel the seat stays and back end of the chainstays flex.

Torsional and lateral stiffness – this thing stays where you put it – no noodly back end and as soon as you put your weight on the pedals it transfers it to the back wheel without delay.

but I do have bad points – the 16″ frame head tube is too short. Really annoyed me (and still does).

The chainstays could have been made a bit more flexy I reckon without losing too much strength to be a problem. They are very slab sided – but obviously making them more flexy could make it worse to pedal.

The front of the frame is very stiff – yes your fork should be doing all of the work reducing bumps up into your arms from the front wheel but maybe there is a bit of arm abuse/chatter coming up from the rear wheel. But as above this is worst when going quite slowly as it’s simply a characteristic of a hard tail and the only way to get rid of it is a really flexy rear end.

Yes it’s not velvety smooth – not ridden a nice steel or Ti frame so con’t compare but I just dropped my tyre pressure which has helped a lot with both bumps and grip and ride it harder as it seems to work better the harder you hit stuff.

Someone post the classic Bikeradar negative review of the Boardman roadbike, that has comments from Chris Boardman pointing out their mistakes please

WTF s genre defining in terms of XT kit??

It was the first off-road specific groupset?

Another issue: The rear brake mount provided with the frame causes certain brake calipers to foul the seatstay when you are using 180mm rotors.

A replacement part to rectify this costs £15.

🙁

ir_bandito – just searched for it. I hadn’t read it before:
http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/bikes/road/product/review-boardman-team-carbon-12-45675

Not quite as full-on as I was hoping for, but it certainly puts them in their place.

is that in reply to the comment about the first reviewer or because you want to distance yourself from the C456?

On-One seem sensitive over the ‘return of Brant’ or perhaps it was the ‘removal of the then designer for the return of Brant’ that is an issue. There has been the odd comment about what was designed in the Brant sebatical era.

I think there’s an element of ‘Not Invented in My Shed’ about it but if brant wants to be proud of what he’s done and not try and accept responsibility for others work (whether he thinks it’s good or bad) then it’s not really fair to criticise him, is it?

I’d have a c456 and TBH, Bikeradar/MBUK etc are the last people in the world I’d go to for a reccommendation.

no one is criticising Brant. Trying to defend/support someone elses design is a really difficult position to find yourself in. It is very easy for people to see things they would have done differently but people also miss out on things that the original designer was considering.

chakapings comments on the swapouts is something else that should be addressed IMO (and i’ve mentioned it a few times so will risk sounding like a broken record). When we had the sliding or slot drop outs you didn’t need to buy any extra parts to switch between SS or geared. Now you have to pay £30 for two pieces of aluminium. That is the price of a headset which has more parts and bearings and is probably machined to a greater tolerance. They are only any use to the people who already have an On One frame so why such a premium?

The swap out system is good as it gives the benefit of being able to adopt new standards like bolt through axles and shimanos new mech hanger system.

eh – surely Brant was just replying to this:

The first reviewer is probably mates with Brant.

Talk about reading between the lines!

http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/bikes/mountain/product/review-on-one-carbon-456-xt-pro-42704

“amazingly comfy frame”

“inherent vibration damping qualities of carbon give this bike a lithe, agile feel”

“comfy vibration-absorbing frame also make light work of climbs, giving this bike genuine potential for all-day epics. “

This is one considerable difference of opinion!

Hold onto your panties everyone. When the C456 Evo arrives I’m sure all of the issues will have been addressed and the reviews will be glowing. The old one was good in it’s day but things move on, c’est la vie.

I understood that bike (and related equipment) review results where directly proportional to the advertising budget of the product. 🙄

Interesting flicking through this – I saw the review yesterday and thought it sounded a bit at odds with the overall consensus on the bike.

It’s a bit of a concern really, almost as if bikeradar has ‘ooh, new shiny’ syndrome. When a new bike comes out, it’s the greatest thing ever; when it’s a year old it’s tired and stiff and flexy and useless.

Shame, because I actually read a fair few of their reviews, as they’re generally a reasonable read, if not always absolutely spot on.