On One 45650B – Thoughts on cheap hardtail frame?

Is the On One 45650B any good? Thinking about a cheap 650b hardtail frame for building a bike from some spares. The fork can be 140-160mm and the rear needs to be non-boost.

I could instead look for something like a secondhand Cotic Soul

456 gonna be less spendy, but not as nice as a Soul. Soul better with 120mm though.

456 a nice frame for the money and plenty of fun could be had, pretty sure the 650B takes a tapered fork too so not going to run into problems there.

I think the 456 uses an external cup to take tapered forks

45650b was good and provided me my way back into mtb a couple of years ago.

Does indeed use an external cup headset to allow the use of a tapered steerer fork.

They are quite short by today’s long low and slack standards and the BB is quite high as well. I would probably size up if I bought one again.

Built one up for the missus this summer, she only takes it out about a dozen times per year so didnt want to spend much…. 14″ frame, slx/deore kit and rockshox forks £225.

this could be ideal for you:

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/one-one-4560b-21-frame-100

I enjoyed mine – not rapturously, but enough.

On the plus side – I loved the raw colour, the kit was pretty good (don’t like SRAM brakes, though) and it was a nice ride.

On the down side – it was a bit short and ‘perchy’, the BB is high and it cracked.

I’d previously has a 26″ 456 Evo 2 which I loved, but the 45650b was nothing like a sprightly, so in this regard I never really loved it.

When it cracked I got a warranty replacement and flogged it to pay for a Dartmoor Primal 27.5. A retrograde step going for aluminium you might think, but the ‘steel feel’ that the Evo 2 had was completely missing on the 45650b. So lugging around the extra kilogram to no discernible effect made my mind up for me.

FWIW I think the ‘steel feel’ on the Evo 2 was due to the seatstay arrangement (four piece) rather than the gas pipe on the 45650b (which was what the original 456 had).

On Ones are good value for money and the customer service (as far as I’ve experienced it) is not as bad as some people say. I do live within an hour or so of the Rotherham store, though, so I did drive there a couple of times to sort things out in person.

If your horizons are broader than just steel, I can heartily recommend Dartmoor frames. The only issue I’ve had is that rear tyre clearance is a tad limited on the Primal 27.5 (a smorgasbord is about the limit in there if you need anything more than dust clearance).

Have fun – you won’t regret the 45650b, but there may be better options depending on what you want.

A mate has one but might not be the best benchmark as it’s not being ‘tested’, just pootled on

Seemed to handle a trip to the Peaks well enough. Frame is quite small though so if you want to strap any bikepacking kit to it or bottles in cages you’re going to be limited

Thanks, not limiting myself to steel, steel or alu are fine

this could be ideal for you:

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/one-one-4560b-21-frame-100

Thanks but wrong size for me and new frames are currently £144 from On One

Built mine up from a frame, and went from 120 to 150mm forks, which was an improvement. Was too short for me though, so ended up moving all the kit off onto a different (FS) frame. It has a solid mech hanger which I managed to bend twice, which might be an issue if you’re as clumsy as me (though few people are to be fair!). In short, a good, cheap frame, but if you can spend more, there are definitely better frames out there.

What about one of these?

Brand X Ht-01

What about one of these?

Brand X Ht-01

Only takes up to 130mm forks, looking for 140mm to 160mm

PArkwood 275 frames you can find for £70-80 on ebay.

These are utterly hilarious to ride Pinnacle Iroko

These are utterly hilarious to ride Pinnacle Iroko

In a good way?

Just retired my 45650b after a year. Liked it but never loved it, always felt high on it. I got one as I had some of my best ever runs on a 456evo2 26inch, that was amazing. I built the 650b exactly the same with 150mm revs but it wasn’t half the bike. Couldn’t ever put my finger on it but the evo just felt better in every aspect. Wheel size ain’t everything obviously..

So basically exactly what dannyh said..

gt56.

I’d lay a lot of the blame st the door of the seatstay bridge. The Evo 2 had that nice slender four piece construction whilst the 45650b has the gas pipe like the original 456. I reckon that’s what made the 45650b feel a bit wooden to me. I could definitely feel some zing in the Evo 2 frame.

When you lose the USP of steel to rigidity, carrying the extra weight seems daft.

dannyh

You may well be right. I swore never to ride a FS bike again after riding the 456EVO at BPW and feeling faster than I ever did on my mondraker foxy.. With twice the fun. Shame as I could never replicate that feeling on the 650b.

Good feedback, thanks. Will probably pass on it then

The On-One DeeDar is also £144. May be an alternative to the 45650b?

Anyone ridden one?

dmorts, in a very good way, smashed my one around all last winter and know a load of others that have them as cheap winter or play bikes. just a really really fun frame to ride, and i’ve also had 2 456’s in the past (an original 26 and a ti one) this thing beats them hands down.