Background...
I currently have an SC Highball Carbon Hardtail 19lb 29er with Niner rigids, on which I commute and do local singletrack on. It's fast as ****, light and pretty unforgiving. I can manage most of the stuff around here and love the relatively high height of the front riding position, which is akin to a 26" Full Susser with a 120mm fork.
I owned a 26" Scott Scale Carbon with rigids and at 18lbs loved its lightness but hated the low and stretched out "race" front riding position.
I want to build up a light SS around either a 456 or Whippet and can't afford another 29er build. On-one's blurb on the whippet however, screams Scott Scale wannabe at me but the 456 seems more like a long travel option that I'll rarely use because I seldom get out to the Peaks or Trail Centres.
I was thinking of putting on a 100mm suspension fork (shock horror!) on the 456 to tame it a bit or a 120mm on the Whippet to make it a bit less "race". On-one's blurb says that both fork lengths are possible, before you ask!
As I've already got a relatively "race" 29er would either of these two options give me a bit more versatility to not only ride around here but be able to venture out elsewhere? Or should I just stick to what each of these were designed to do? And forget the 456 and just put some SID 100mm World Cups on a whippet and be done?
I've just bought the C456 over the whippet because didn't want to have to buy a new chainset and BB and also because I think it's a more versatile bike. I'm running Rebas at 100mm and have the slackset fitted and run it as a 1x9. It's brilliant for what I wanted which was a light and quick xc bike which is bit less scary going downhill than more conventional xc bikes. All the bits came from my Boardman Pro with the exception of the stem which I've replaced with a shorter one. I've only had a couple of rides so far and I'm really pleased, despite the slacker head angle it still climbs just as well as the Boardman did and yet feels better going down.
Cheers for that. I like the "less scary going downhill" bit which I subscribe fully to and that was one of the reasons why I was considering putting either 100m suspension on the 456 or 120mm on the Whippet.
In terms of weight the 456 is 1500g with a 1400g 100mm fork and the whippet would be 1300g with a 1600g 120mm fork.
By the slackset do you mean the headset?
Not sure about this, but in a previous thread comparing whippet and C456 there didn't appear to be much weight difference between the frames. Someone had weighed their whippet and it was more around 1450gms (don't recall their exact weight and their number was taken in good faith). My medium raw C456 [u]is[/u] 1520gms (just frame, nothing else). Can't recall their exact weigh-in of their Whippet, but it seemed our numbers were closer than suggested on the On-One website.
Hmm... interesting.
I'm kind of leaning toward the 456 as i think it will offer me something slightly different albeit with a 100mm fork.
With the weight I'm losing with the SS build (shifters, mechs and cassette) I'm on course to build either up to the same as I would a geared rigid.
My only other query is whether the geometry of the 456 with a 100mm fork would be more upright which I prefer, than low and stretched out. Sure, I like to ride fast XC but I also like to be able to get my front end up over obstacles if needs be. Something I could never do on that Scale.
By the slackset do you mean the headset?
Yes, it slackens the headset by a couple of degrees which means you get the head angle equivalent to running 140 forks while I assume slightly steepening the seat angle and lowering the bottom bracket a tad. All in all it then makes for a very nice xc bike for everything bar racing. My 16" frame weighed exactly 1500g with the dropouts.
One thing to be aware of is that not all rear brakes with 160mm rotors will fit the non drive side dropout which puts the calliper between seat and chainstay. I had to get another dropout which puts the calliper above the seatstay to fit Avid Elixr's with 160mm rotor. If you've any doubt it would be worth checking to see if it can be supplied with the alternate dropout fitted.
I've fitted a 70mm stem and have a layback post with the saddle right forward. At some point I'll change the layback for an inline post, but even as it is I don't find it to stretched, though it must be said my wheels rarely leave the ground.