Well hopefully parcelforce will have stopped mucking up the delivery of my latest frame purchase later today

So I will very soon be the shiny new owner of a secondhand c456 in canary yellow !

Newby question 1 of most likely loads
Forks

Does the c456 take straight or tapered forks?
Does having 140 or 150 travel make much difference when paired to a C456 ?

Anyone here built up a bike around a c456 frame ? Anything that works better ?

Thanks in advance

Is it the newer Evo one? The geometry’s different from my old one so it won’t ride the same, but it has the same tapered headtube so will take either a straight or tapered steerer fork with the right headset.

This is a 2012 c456, sadly not the Evo – but probably a fair bit more budget 🙂

I had 150 Revelations on mine and it rode fine, these were straight steerer; IIRC the 16″ size had an issue with tapered forks as the headtube is not very tall (could be wrong on that but the headtube is not the tallest)
(Moved everything over to a Slackline now ….)

Ah cool then, same as mine was. Well, tbh it’s a decent ride. Very light, nice bit of compliance in it, good handling. I had a u-turn Revelation in mine and usually had it at 140mm, sometimes I droppde it to 120mm as the bike could be a bit wandery while climbing, I didn’t use 150mm much really. If I was going to have one fixed fork length, I guess 140mm. But 150 wasn’t a disaster, it just seemed to make it less nice climbing and not really much better descending. It’s the same geo as the steel 456 so lots of user experience out there…

I suppose, on the negative side, I didn’t really find it inspiring- it was capable, competent, that sort of thing but never wowed me. But that’s not a big criticism, there’s plenty of bikes that are way less good and only the best bikes really beat it by much.

I ended up sticking an angle headset in mine to slack it by 2 degrees, I thought that was a lot better- as standard the bike never really excelled at anything but slacked off it was a lot better descending, and didn’t really lose out at anything imo. I was still happy using it for the glentress seven one year with that spec frinstance. Suited me better, ymmv, glad I did it. Basically a carbon summer season

If it’s the plain carbon one, the finish is terrible (and you can’t protect it- I helicopter taped mine and it made the clearcoat fall off, On One say it’s not suitable for helitape) Think you just have to live with this.

I replaced it with a Ragley Ti, which is IMO a lot better but it bloody should be considering the price difference! I ended up quite soured on the On One because of the finish thing and On One’s terrible customer service but it was a really decent bike.

[url=https://flic.kr/p/cRQM83]Malvern night ride[/url] by Alex Leigh, on Flickr

I ran mine with a coil U-turn fork, 110-140 I think. Ran it at 140 most of the time. Like NW said, a bit wandery on the climbs at that length. Used it mostly over two winters, it was fine and I enjoyed riding it, reasonably light, decent enough Geo but again didn’t find it inspiring. Had a hummer at the same time and tho it’s not a fair comparison that was a far more fun bike to ride.

Mine’s still going. Gave frame to a mate and he uses it for commuting. The great thing is it can’t really look any worse than it does out of the box!

Thanks guys

I’m planning on having it sprayed locally – so hopefully the finish will be better than oem, judging from the experiences here !

there are some rockshox revs 150 on Fleabay that soulnd like they will do.

It sounds like I’ll be better off with a straight steerer? Is that correct ?

what size? The head tube issue on the 16″ version is very irritating and I kind of wish I had just got a refund instead of accepting their bodge. But I did love the bike.

Mine was set up with a set of 100-130 u-turn revs, mavic 717 rims and nice light nobby nics and felt very light and quick to respond and I quite liked it in 100mm travel mode for quick blasts around my local circuit.

I went out for my first ride at the weekend after rebuilding it with a set of 150mm Rev RLTi’s I picked up 2nd hand (carbon tapered fork ones), some wider superstar wheels (a bit heavier but a lot wider) and a chunky monkey on the front and smorgasbord on the back. First impressions was the new tyres, despite being a hell of a lot better on the slippy downs and mud, are noticeably draggy and heavy and I am yet to set the fork up properly and get it running how I like (my old rev was buttery smooth and plush).

I guess what I am alluding to is with the right set up it can be a very light and responsive bike that you can blast around trails with a lot of confidence that it will take it, all be at the expense of some feedback as I think Northwind found. Or if you want something to mainly point down and hit hard stuff I have no doubt it is well up for that and very capable.

On the headset side I think fox tapered forks were okay and later rockshox seem to have a shorter taper area on the steerer so should be fine (my new pikes look okay). I only have experience with older rockshox with the carbon steerer which has a very long taper so I now have a very ugly headset bodge sticking out the top of my headtube i was thinking about asking someone to machine something up for me to fix that’s a but nicer. On the plus side I think I could fit a 1.5″ steerer with a 44mm external top cup.

I’ve got the medium 18″

Already covered but works well around a 140mm fork. I ran an original Pike (straight 1 1/8 with reducer) which seemed to work well enough with a bit of fettling, though a bit front heavy.

Watch your brake lever/top tube interaction on the 19, depending on setup they can foul each other and make a mess in event of a crash.

As Northwind says, great frame for the money, super competent if a bit uninspiring and possibly the ugliest bike I’ve ever owned (and I had a Balfa!).

… nice bit of compliance in it,

I think that is possibly the only time anyone has ever said that about the c456! 😉

18″ will be fine.

It’s a stiff frame but you will find the faster you ride the better it gets as the frame is better suited to smoothing out the high speed vibrations over rocky decents that would make you feel beat up on a stiff aluminium frame.

Mine was a smidge over 1.3kg so it’s nice and light for a frame that takes up to 160mm forks.

Had mine for a few years now, running 150 dual air revs. As such it can be a bit of a challenge to keep the front down on the climbs but you improve with time. I’ve done everything on it; London to Brighton Off-Road, 2day all-dayers in Wales and commutes to work and it is spot on. Now that my age is moving northward of 39 my back does fatigue after a day in Afan, so I’m getting a FS soon, however, the C456 will be staying. I love how it looks, you can smash the crap out of it and it just begs for more. Dont see many kicking around either so when you do, typically you’ll be quickly chatting with its like minded owner.

Enjoy

Had my c456 as my winter bike now for 3 years.

Can be built up as a pretty light bike, i run 150mm Foxes on the front, so a bit jangly, but it’s ok. Never feels that stable (high BB possibly??), and the standover is a bit tall on the non Evo version, but has proved to be basically strong and a decent ride. Even being relatively slack it feels a bit skitish and short, certainly compared to my more “modern” length FS bikes.

Rear drop outs are 9mm QR as std, but they have enough meat in them to take a 12mm through axle with some careful machining. I run mine 1by, for less phaff and more mud shedding ability.

18″ here. 140mm fox evo fork with a tapered steerer.

1 x 10 gearing using SLX stuff. Its a great dicking around on bike.

Had an issue with the rear dropouts working loose, but thats ‘healed up’

Cable routing on mine is pretty awful, but it was a second and some of the stops were mounted back to front. 🙂

16″ here with a 2 degree slackset (which were cheap at on one recently for straight steerers) and 36’s set at 140.

I have a raw with a big strip of helitape on the down tube to provide a little bit of protection.

I had mine set up with 140 Fox Vanillas and i loved it

Just fancied a change and gone back to steel now, gave the frame to my mate who’s just building it back up.
Now gone to this

My cable guides are drilled out for a full outer.

thanks guys

I’ll be going for either 140/150 revelations (tapered or straight whichever comes up first 2nd hand) – or if I can justify the cost some Lyrics with the travel adjust control, which will help on the climbs 🙂

The rest of it is probably oin to be reasonably budget, or whatever is in the garage spares container – as I have a Cannondale Prophet that I’ve recently built up.

Looking forward to building it up – as my previous HT was just a generic Spech Rockhopper, only mod was XT brakes and larger front rotor, with the standard forks. So be really keen to see how things are out on the trails riding the c456.

Will post a pic of the frame hen Parcelforce finally deliver it.

it’s here and damn it’s bright yellow !

Now how do I get the parts off the head stock and whatever is in the seat post to prep it for the sprayers…

Or do I just run it as it is and be seen from miles away…..

Run it as it is with some custom stickers and everything else as stealthy looking as possible.

Awesome colour, don’t spoil it! Just wants some black highlights, er, lowlights. Highdarks.

Agree with the two guys above, leave as is with black bits 🙂

Leave it yellow! Black forks with yellow stickers, black finishing kit. Get a good mate to help build it 😀

there shouldnt be anything in the seat tube to remove unless they have fitted a shim? Steerer should be 31.6mm

Headset – top cup should knock out easily by tapping up with a wooden or plastic dowel going round a little bit at a time. Lower cup is a PITA apparently. That looks like it has a zero stack semi integrated bottom cup which isn’t right and will probably be for a straight steerer.

Classic BumbleBee look it is then.

The colour is growing on me 🙂 and I can’t remember ever seeing a bright yellow bike when out riding in quite a while !

Not quite the stealth Matt black HT thang I was thinking of, but will be quicker to get finished & out riding !

Leave it yellow! Black forks with yellow stickers, black finishing kit. Get a good mate to help build it

Sound advice filks, when are you free

I regret selling mine ever since I sold it 🙁

The only bike I’ve ever regretted selling.

I’ve now got a 456C Evo. Lyrics are the forks you want, the travel adjust is very useful and the frame really suits the extra travel. Big fat tyres too, definitely those.

Mmm I’m currently building an evo. I used to hate carbon. I think it’s progressed. I’m now broke. Enjoy!

Love my c456. It’s my general go to bike whatever the season or weather, and even when I think about replacing it, I go ride it and just think I love this bike.

Built up with 150 Pikes, solo air RC. No mucking with travel adjust, I’ve never been into that.

Just the right geometry for me. That’s with a small frame (picked because it’s longer top tube than my medium Nomad, and the medium would have been even longer and too much reach).

Generally the set up is the right balance for a mix of xc to aggressive. Mostly gets the xc treatment on night rides, and longer rides, light mix of singletrack and then now and again I chuck it round Surrey Hills instead of the Nomad and surprise myself at how I can ride all the same stuff with it. It’s only a few things I feel the plushness of the full sus round there is much preferred. Climbing is nicer on the c456 though, and acceleration is fast as it’s so light 😀

Careful with small frames. There are issues with some tapered forks apparently (might be Revs, not sure). Pikes are fine though. Medium and bigger are also fine.

BLANTANT PLUG: My c456 might be up for sale. Lemme know if anyone is interested in a large frame with a decent build spec!

Love my c456. It’s my general go to bike whatever the season or weather, and even when I think about replacing it, I go ride it and just think I love this bike.

That’s kind of what I’m after with this !

Deadkenny – that is one nice looking ride

If I go for rock shox Lyriks – is there any advantage re coil or air ?

The new Lyriks, air has the same damper as the Pike. Though I don’t think you can get the new Lyriks in 26″. You can however get the Charger damper as an upgrade to a 26 Lyrik. I’ve been thinking about that for the Lyriks on my Nomad. You could look for a second hand Lyrik and get the Charger upgrade.

Coil vs air is a personal thing but a lot prefer coil. You have to get the right coil for your preference though. Think it also adds weight. Air lets you fiddle about with settings.

Lyriks – on a hard tail I’m not sure. They’re a bit more AM/DH really. Pikes are pretty awesome on a c456.

Mine built beefy with Air Lyriks & sturdy wheels/tyres 26.2lbs

Mine built light with Revelations & light tyres 23.7lbs

It rode much better with the Revelations (forks for sale in the near future) but the Lyriks were noticeably stiffer on the really rough stuff.

walowiz – Member

If I go for rock shox Lyriks – is there any advantage re coil or air ?

It’s basically coil for performance, air for weight IMO. Loved my coil- awesome performance, very reliable. Proper dh fork for a trailbike. Preferred the ride to anything else I’ve ridden… But it weighed an absolute ton and that can be a bit weird on a light hardtail, pretty nosey.

The air’s still not light but it’s almost as good. Main thing is if you want length adjust- you’d need coil uturn for that. The air lyriks can have it but it’s always a “climb mode” rather than a proper usable adjustable fork imo whereas coil uturn genuinely is a multi length fork, you can run it at 140 or 120 and it’s like having a 140 or 120 fork.

(avoid at all costs the 2-step air, it’s legendarily awful. Don’t be put off by a coil conversion in a 2-step air though, it’s a pretty standard option. Mine started out 2-step and the air spring exploded before I ever rode the fork, then again after about 4 rides, so I coiled it.)

I had revs in mine mostly, would do again.

Thanks – what’s the difference between rock shox revelations, pikes and Lyriks ?

Thanks Northwind, the travel adj sounds ideal, perfect if not for the extra weight of the Lyrik 🙁

I have 140 revelations on my prophet and really like them.

If you’re buying a new fork, get a 650b one! (even if you are using 26″ wheels for future proofing!)

Yellow fo’ sho.

Blatant plug #2 – I have an 18″ in black, stripped and ready to go if anyone who regrets selling theirs wants to buy one…

How old is too old for a set of Lyriks ? Is 2010 etc too old – or does condition and servicing matter more ?

Looking to get some 2nd hand which I can try and then if need be try Pikes when funds permit.

Thanks