Carbon 456 owners thoughts..

DodgeT

Had a steel 456 a little while ago, sold it for a FS. The FS aint going nowhere, but, I keep looking at the carbon 456's and fancy building one up. Especially now as I've just bought a bike which would make a great donor for all the bits..

So, i'd be interested in actual owners thoughts on the bike. How long you've had it, what type of riding you do, how you find it etc.? Type away

The Northern Monkey

buy this months MBUK..

DodgeT

Yeah been looking for it in the shops, but it'll be there review I guess, as opposed to actual owners reviews??

Ideally i'd like a go on one, anyone near stoke or manchester or gisburn want to lend me there's for an hour

bails87

See 'rough' in my sig for more thoughts, but in short, I love mine.

Mostly trail centre riding, it's fast, light, tough and a great big heap of fun!

deesta

Had mine for a couple of years now. Set up is right on the limit, 160mm Magura Wotan forks. Changed to it from a Giant Reign as I was getting bored with the comfort and wanted to 'relearn' how to ride again.
My setup is Mag Wotan Forks/Hope Hoops/10sp XT/Hope M4 and some Easton Carbon bars/seatpost and it weighs in at just over 24lb. Not bad for a bike that rides so well downhill..
It's been a really good frame/ride. Riding the Malvern Hills every week on varying terrain I've been able to get lots of different riding...fast downhills/steep climbs it's been great, couldn't recommend it enough.
With the 160mm travel up front, it descends much better than I thought it would. Drop the travel down to 120mm and it climbs like a goat and would be even better if my legs were up to it ;-)
Unfortunately I'm not up your way otherwise I'd have lent you mine for an hour..

Steve

Frosticles

Had mine a couple of months and love it. 140mm revelation rlt fork and handles beautifully. Climbs better with a shorter (100mm) fork though. Just converted to tubeless so looking forward to no more punctures.

Northwind

I think that review's miles off tbh. I could understand "It's a bit stiff" but the criticism's so strong, and it just makes no sense, talking about causing arm pump and stopping to shake their arms out, seriously? Mine just doesn't do that. Makes me wonder if their fork was knackered tbh but surely they'd notice?

I like mine. It's not amazing, but it's good. Very good weight, and seems strong- one time I whacked it off a bridge support at glentress and tbh if it'd stove in I wouldn't have complained but it barely scratched. A metal frame would probably have dented. I got it last July and I guess I've ridden it once or twice a week since then, mostly scottish trail centres, local XC and a wee bit of innerleithen downhill stuff. (oh- it took On One about 3 weeks to send me all the parts! They sent it out with the wrong dropouts then couldn't get their act together to send the right ones)

Geometry's slightly odd, it feels very long at times but it's not a very composed climber despite that, needs a bit of attention to keep the nose planted. Nothing severe, but compared to other similiar bikes like the Blue Pig and Cotic Soul it doesn't keep up. But it descends well, it's stable without losing too much agility.

The rear end's got some give in it, much like a quality steel frame which is great, improves grip on rough stuff and keeps things more composed without being noodly. All in all it's a lot like my old Soul and a bit like the Ragley Ti I demoed. And not very much like a steel 456.

Long_Time_Lurker

Had one for a couple of years. Used it for a lot of XC riding and long rides like the Coast-to-Coast, New Forest etc.
Nice and light, sort of stiff, but I think the MBUK review was far too harsh.
Unless it is because I always ride stiff hardtails - good when you want to put the pedal down and get up to speed fast.

DodgeT

Any of you guys do any jumping on them? See i've just bought myself a jump bike so that I can get better at this. Now, I don't mean 20 ft gap jumps or anything daft, but usual jumps/table tops, fairly big drop offs (say 6ft +) basically UK downhill stuff. Cause, what i'm tempted to do is get one of the carbon frames and swap all the kit over..

tony620

Pretty sure on one have a sponsored rider who does 4 x etc used a summer season but is now going to use a carbon 456. I would not have any doubts on mine its built like a brick s@@t house

bellys

The Northern Monkey wrote:

buy this months MBUK..

And wipe your arse on it. :roll:

bellys

Mine is great nice and light.
Paint seems to be a bit hit and miss as mine marks very easy they a great frame that will take 160mm front end.

Anonymous

Don't know about stiff, but it will kick off roots in a springy kind of way that I didn't expect, and to me it's not a bad thing. I think it's probably like most hard tails though (having been on full sus for some time). Just adapt the way of riding and put a bit of suspension into it (i.e. legs) and it's a fun bike. Light enough to chuck around but sturdy enough to handle the rough.

Climbs well, thunders down the steeps. Slackish angle. Somewhat long top tube, but not a problem, just buy based on geometry specs, not on frame size. Reach on my 'small' C456 feels better (and longer) than the short reach on my 'medium' Nomad!

Got the raw matt undecaled. Looks fine. Yes you see seams and odd swirls in the finish, but it's a non issue. Looks nice and stealthy and the point is to ride the hell out of it.

bails87

I wish I'd got a matt one, nothing wrong with my shiny black, I just like the look of matt ones.

i absolutely hammered mine at the weekend at Llandegla, two guys on big FS bikes with full face helmets pulled over to let me through on the first black descent (I know, they might not have been trying, etc but it's still nice). I'm sure it'll kill me one day because it keeps making want to go faster than is at all sensible.

Northwind

Oh... I meant to add, the raw finished ones scratch very easily, but it wears it well, just looks nicely worn in rather than falling apart. Also I like that you can tell it's made out of sack-cloth and araldite.

DodgeT

Whereabouts you based bails ??

bails87

Warwickshire/West Midlands area. Why?

DodgeT

Just wondered if you were local to me, would be good to have a look / sit on one to see what sizing is like etc..

Seems bellys is close to me.. I wonder if he's about 6ft ..