I bought my other half a 14" 456 yesterday and it arrived today, was even given an hours time slot for delivery, very impressed.
Then while at my bro's we checked online and there were a few in the sale at £99, so another two were purchased.
So, what do they ride like? What would you say the perfect fork length is? I thought buy a 5 inch fork and reduce the travel to taste.
Pretty excited to be getting back on a steel hard tail though I must say.
Whare were they £99
They are a bargain at full asking price so at £99, you'll be made up.
Build with burly stuff and ride it like a lunatic. I wouldn't say they were a subtle ride as such but rag it and you will reap the rewards.
Probably best with 5" forks. They take 4" or 5" or 6" forks (hence the name).
I have the titanium version and it's simply wicked. Had the 456 summer season (steel) frame before that and it made me ride it like a hooligan, great fun. There's stuff I rode on the summer season that I didn't even attempt on my 2006 full sus s works enduro!
My c456 seems to ride best at 150mm. I've a u-turn on it currently but will be going for a fixed length - probably 150 and live with the front end lifting a bit on the climbs. I have a lovely Sektor U-turn for sale if you're genuinely considering building one up. Tried it with a 120 and it was okay, bit pitchy on very steep stuff but with a longer fork, it's genuinely fantastic.
Mine's built with a reverb, some heavy DT rims/tyres, mostly SLX/XT and weight about 28lb on my rubbish cheap scales. Think the steel one is a couple of pounds heavier. No point building it light tho, if it's like the c456, it's at it's best blasting through stuff.
Long top tube so a short stem brings it to life. I found the front used to tuck a bit with a long fork before I went for 20mm. I'll get slated for this but I think they lack some lateral stiffness with the long forks levering away at the front over say an oversized alloy frame. A lot of weight over the back wheel when seated so a lockdown fork helps stop the front lifting. Not the magic ride you'll be imagining from a steel frame.. But 5 years of abuse (street, les gets, sierra nevadas) as well as numerous all dayers and enduros and it refuses to die.
Want to "upgrade" but think I'll be stung by the 80/20 rule. Remember what you paid and have fun!
Sorry for the hijack but are you still looking to get rid of your Easton stem Skywalker?
Email address in profile btw
Thanks for the info.
Sorry Thered, its going on the Mrs's bike now.
Good call!
i have a summer with 140 revs single ring up front it really is a beast
I really loved mine, I started jumping more and started blatting through stuff I might have slowed down for in the past. I've always been a bit of a hooligan on a bike but this really amplified it.
Oh and it was good for all-day epics & I've even put in some good laptimes at 24h races too.
Sounds good, especially for £99!
So is the ride not typical steel then?
what's typical steel ?
completely different to a cotic soul that's for sure.
456 in one word ? thug.
Cracking bike, and for £99 you really can't go wrong. It's a good quality frame, and it'll take years of abuse. Don't try to build it up light though, as it never will be. Put a decent coil fork on there, and some fat tires.
It'll work best with about a 5-inch fork. You can go shorter (mine has been running 100mm for the last three years) but really the Inbred is better suited to this use.
Don't expect a silky-smooth ride, but it'll shrug off some pretty substantial knocks. I've never seen evidence of one breaking, other than frames that have been chainsucked to death (a result of poor maintenance). It's a proper trail bike, and works best when treated as such.
Hope this helps!
what's typical steel ?
The total opposite to typical aluminium.
Thanks Duffer, sounds like a good plan.