Spec me a build for 456 Carbon frame

Hi

Couldnt help myself when i seen the 456 Carbon frame for £250 so went ahead an stuck it on the credit card

Im now looking to gather the parts to complete the build over the next few months. Not looking to spend more than a grand all in but if i spread the cost over time im sure i wont notice going overbudget as much and give me a chance to pick up some bargains

The bike will be used for local trails and 7stanes etc (no real road riding)

Im trying to build the bike with fit and forget parts to make the bike maintenance free as possible with out comprising weight/performance as much as possible

any help for components would be great thanks

Frame : On One 456 Carbon
Fork : Rockshox Recon Gold K 120mm is my current fork but not sure if this will do it justice
Headset : no idea but i want sealed bearings
Shifters : ?
Rear derailleur : ?
Front derailleur : N/A going to 1X10
Chainset : ?
Bottom Bracket : will a square taper be the most reliable?
Chain : ?
Cassette / Freewheel : looking for a 10 speed?
Rims : ?
Hubs : looking for something with sealed hubs?
Tyres : ?
Brakes : just got Shimano deore m596 for my current bike so going to see how these last in the wrong run but liking them so far
Handlebars : ?
Grips : ?
Stem : ?
Saddle : ?
Seatpost : ?
Pedals : DMR V8 unless anyone cant suggest better?

Headset- On One’s own smoothie sucked balls, frankly. I took mine out after a handful of rides to fit a Works Components slackening headset, and discovered the On One bottom bearing was already rough. Really poor.

Bottom bracket- square taper is long lived, but hefty and cuts your crank choice massively. Doesn’t make much sense IMO. Assuming you don’t already have cranks, whatever crank you buy will come with a bottom bracket (buying anything but Shimano cranks tends to be madness, unless you get a great discount)

Nowt wrong with your Recon, sure the bike could make use of something better but it’ll do the job.

DMR V8 are heavy, small and not that reliable. Wellgo MG1 isn’t much more expensive but is far better, or Superstar Nano if you want something bigger, stronger and thinner (but heavier)

Other stuff… Well tbh the C456 can be built up any way you like. Mine was light-but-tough… Revelation forks, Traversee wheels, gravity dropper, 2×9 drivetrain. But you could build it tankier or lighter easily, whatever you prefer. And tbh you can spend as much or as little as you want, with these frames- it’ll do justice to anything you choose to fit, but it’ll not turn up its nose at value kit.

Heres my build, stripped as much as I could off my steel 456 and replaced the rest…

Frame : On One 456 Carbon
Fork : revelation race 140mm
Headset : smoothie mixer (one day to be replaced with a Hope)
Shifters : 3 x 9 SLX (windows removed)
Rear derailleur : SLX
Front derailleur : SLX
Chainset : 22/32/44 SLX (just picked up a 22/36 SLX in the classifieds but still to be fitted)
Bottom Bracket : SLX
Chain : SLX
Cassette : SLX
Rims : Mavic XM719
Hubs : Pro 2’s in blue
Tyres : Conti vert protection
Brakes : Deore M596 (great brake IMO)
Handlebars : FSA Gravity lite
Grips : Odi ruffians
Stem : Thomson Elite
Saddle : Spesh BG
Seatpost : Thomson
Pedals : XT SPD’s

I like mine a lot. Bargain fun.

Spec wise – Sektors (£260 from merlin), SLX most of the running gear (merlin warranty brakes & chainset).

Headset is a cane creek – basic model – sorry dont remember the number but its fine so far.

The only things I’d do different “next time” is not get a hope front 20mm hub- its below pants on the weatherproofing scale and the bearings are VERY expensive.

A large volume rear tyre helps with comfort (rubber queen on mine) but its not overy harsh anyway.

You may have more faff than normal getting the front mech set up – I think its something to do with the steep seat tube angle.

Also the cable routing seems a bit “odd”. You’ll just ignore it after 2 rides.

Anyway – enjoy.

First thing to change is the fork. Go for something like a Sektor with Motion Control damping and it won’t break the bank and you’ll have a decent amount of performance to boot. That’ll be £500 in total with the frame.

As for the cranks, you won’t do better than Deore. Look on places like Merlin Cycles or some of the German online shops for some proper bargains. External bottom brackets last really well these days, so you’ll be fine reliability wise. Now we’re up to £589 or thereabouts.

The next £300 should be set aside for a Hope wheelset, which will last pretty well. It won’t be the lightest, but you’ll struggle to match the versatility and quality elsewhere. If you want to save more cash then go for something like a Mavic crosstrail or something like that.

£111…hmmm…budget seadpost, a Charge Spoon, a set of reasonable bars and a stem should be do-able. Don’t worry about going 1×10 just yet, put money aside and upgrade when your Deore kit wears out.

Oh – I forgot about the budget part of the brief! But for me most of the stuff was swapped off the old HT.

I’d recommend the Sektors though over budget cuts elsewhere. They’re basically older model Revs with some less adjustabilty-ness.

And yes Deore is almost the same / damn near as good as SLX.

Good call on the Sektor fork. I’ve switched back to a 150mm Rev but the Sektor suited the frame really well. It’s useful – but not absolutely necessary – to be able to wind the fork down for very steep climbs. I’ve a set of Stans Flow/Hope Evo wheels on mine which make it pretty bombproof but they’re expensive.

SLX/XT/Deore for drivetrain, dropper post makes it way more fun, short stem, wide bars (I like Sunline V2s). Shimano brakes just seem brilliant VFM especially if you go via German internet shops.

Fat set of tyres – I run 2.35 tubeless ignitors and go and have fun 🙂

Been running a C456 for 18 months now and love it.

Fork: Definitely get a Sektor or Revelation. Revelation if you can afford it. What is the weight like between a sektor and rev? I am running a 100-130 dual air rev and I do use it at 100mm on trails like Ashton Court and Leigh Woods in Bristol. But on natural trails I use 130mm and wish I had more at times.

Headset: I am running a superstar tapered one with the external lower cup. Comes with races for both types of fork and stainless bearings. Sadly no lower seals on the crown race but has not let me down yet and I ride in mud most of the time. If I had the choice again i would go hope but the SS is a lot less and money you can spend on the fork.

Wheels: Go wide rims as there is loads of clearance so you can run nice wide tyres. Something like a Stans Arch EX would be my choice. On Hopes would be nice but check out Superstar again as their hubs are good.

Running gear – nothing wrong with Deore. If getting Deore means better fork and wheels then do it. Drivetrain always wears out and the weight penalty is minimal. Maybe go SLX cranks if not buying a group set for the nicer arms and slightly better BB but the rings will be the same.

Bars and stem: I now run a 55mm Haven stem with 750mm Havoc carbon bars. Look for some bars around 720mm and stem at most 70mm.

Seatpost: something like On Ones Twelfty will be fine. Start with an inline post as it does have a long top tube and will make climbing better.

Get some ‘helitape’ to protect the frame in key places.

Tyres – minimum of 2.25 width and go tubeless on the Stans rims. I run nobby nics but I wouldnt buy them again I don’t think. Probably try some maxxis after the ones on my 29er and excellent service from the Maxxis importers.

150mm fork for sure, or a slackset. I didn’t get on with my c456 until I popped a 150mm fork on it. I’m not sure how people get on with 100/120mm, it must be super twitchy.

Mine started as a super budget steel 456 for knocking about on, went to carbon frame and upgrade-itis continues.

Presently got SLX 1×9, hayes stroker ryde brakes, cheap shimano/alex wheels, 130mm revs (coil), Joplin dropper.

Next on the list are nicer wheels and air revs/pikes

if you go for a 16″ frame be careful with tapered steerer forks as they cocked up and made the head tube too short. They did make a new upper headset as a bodge.

I run a 140mm Thor on mine, really happy with it.

New version, but good price.

http://www.allterraincycles.co.uk/product/127151.html

Just finished my build yesterday.Its gonna be my winter/commuter bike

C456 with red decals 18″
DT Swiss EXC 150mm fork 15mm axle
Hope Pro 2/ DT Swiss 4.2D rims
Continental Mountain King 2.4 tyres probably be swapped
On-one Smoothie headset
XT Rear Mech
Gone for 1 x 9 at mo so no front mech
XTR Cranks with Middleburn ring and XTR Bottom Bracket
XT Brakes
SDG Carbon post
SDG Bel Air Saddle
Superstar chain device
Easton Carbon bars
Hope 70mm Stem
XTR Shifter 9 speed
Comes in at 23.4 lbs

Feels nice up and down street…proper blast on it today

I think the long top tube/short stem is the way ahead.Feels nice and throwable( if thats even a word)but stretched out too.

Fit and forget see if you can splash out on Hope BB and Hubs. (For the guy saying not weather proof & expensive call hope and tell them see what they do. Last set of front bearings was under a tenner)

From what your saying you will be doing whatever good spec RS you can get or Fox bargain.

Check out classifieds for finishing kit, spend the cash on moving parts

Is the frame 30.9?

As Nortwind says, whatever you do, DO NOT buy an on one smoothie headset. Even at it’s reduced price (£29?) it’s wasted money. I ride my bike maybe once a week and the smoothie HS lasted 6 months. I’ve just changed it for an One One/Works Components Slackset. I’ve been really happy with 140mm travel forks on it. not sure how the new slacker set up will feel tho.
As others say Deore/SLX, there should be lots of bargains about now it’s coming to the end of summer.

£1000 will get a nice build, but there will be a compromise somewhere. I would say spend money on groupset/forks/wheels/brakes and get finishing kit cheap.

I have 150 revs on mine (£300 Merlin)
Mavic crossrides (£100 1 ride old from STW ) – make sure you get 15mm ones, as they are not adaptable, but sealed bearings and tubeless ready!
A full SLX groupset from the German websites for @£200
Deore Brakes from Rose £70 – same performance as SLX/XT but heavier.

That comes to £920.
Superstar tapered headset £30 with sealed bearings.
Try Flatoutcycles for a few 2nd hand finishing bits, or trawl the classifieds and you are done!!!

Oh, and the charge spoon is the best saddle I’ve had, and they are £20!!!

In my pic above, everything except the saddle, brakes(Rosebike), chain/cassette and headset were off STW classifieds, ebay or slight 2nds from friends/family. fag packet calculation is approx £1000 and I managed Fox 32 140mm forks, Superstar Superleggera Ti hub/Stans Alpine rims, Shimano 2012 XT brakes, bel air Ti saddle, SLX cranks, Enve/Edge handle bars, all mostly 2nd hand of course, but nothing has been a bad purchase (except the headset).

If you’re going 1×10 on a budget then maybe check out the Shimano Zee groupset for the drivetrain.

thanks for all the suggestions, going to look into them,

can see this costing me more than i first thought by the time you add all the smaller parts in

does this sound good for a 1×10 setup? comes to 187 euros on http://www.bike-discount.de

SLX Cassette CS-HG81-10 + Chain CN-HG74 10-speed
ZEE Rapidfire PLUS SL-M640 right 10-speed
ZEE 10-speed rear derailleur RD-M640-SS Shadow Plus 11-32 / 11-36T
ZEE 10-speed Crankset FC-M640 36T 170mm

Just fitted the ZEE gear to my C456 to make it a 1×10, works a treat, shifting is crisper than a crispy thing on crispy day

Zee would be a more DH alternative to the SLX – a bit stronger, and DEFINATELY a bit heavier. Seeing as its a HT, I can’t think there is much you would do on it that SLX can’t handle. For the same price, I would definately go SLX for this one.

shifting is crisper than a crispy thing on crispy day

Agreed, Zee is a fantastic groupset for the money – especially if you buy from Germany.

Zee would be a more DH alternative to the SLX – a bit stronger, and DEFINATELY a bit heavier. Seeing as its a HT, I can’t think there is much you would do on it that SLX can’t handle. For the same price, I would definately go SLX for this one.

Disagree.

Zee is SLX. They share 90% plus parts compatibility. Zee = Short cage SLX with different branding. If there is a weight difference, it will only be a few grams (if that).

I would happily take the shorter cage of Zee over SLX for 1×10 applications.

For 2×10 or 3×10 I would use SLX.

Maybe, not completely convinced for a wide range cassette. I’d definately get the SLX cranks too.

Having said that, I’ve never used Zee. Reviews suggest it for DH though, not AM.

I don’t see the point in buying a tough super lightweight frame and then hanging loads of needless heavy weight on it. You may as well have bought a cheap steel/alloy frame for £139.

But how many light LT HT cheap alloy frames are there?

No matter what else is in the build, if you build it around a C456 it’ll always be about 2.5lbs lighter than if you built it round a scaffold 456. Not to mention less dead feeling.

Just been out on my new build as above. A bit of a revelation if i’m honest. I’m 45 and have been riding full sus for 15 years at least, was a bit worried it would be too ‘stiff’. Was expecting it to be harsh but its really quite compliant. I’d defo recommend a carbon seatpost and big tyres.I’ve got 2.4’s on at 25psi. And as others have said I’d recommend a 150mm fork. I dropped mine for a couple of steep climbs which is ok as it stops front lifting but riding on flat with fork down makes head angle feel really quite steep. Just waiting for a 60mm stem to arrive. Reckon it might be first choice for quite a while and i’m lucky enough to have a couple of really nice rides. I’d say go for full rear mech cable run too. I’ve zip tied it to the brake hose under top tube. Hope this helps….

don’t bother with full outers. Just get one of these kits for £3: http://www.wiggle.co.uk/transfil-gear-cable-waterproof-kit/