Plastic fantastic stealth bomber! (carbon 456 :) )

DodgeT

So, been toying with the idea for months of building up a hard hitting hardtail. Been researching lots of different frames and had always liked the 456 after owning one a while back. After seeing a couple of the carbon 456's in the flesh, I was getting tempted. Then with the matt version (only one for me ) being reduced, I went to click on "buy now".. No stock, expected april. Then the date kept moving, aagghh I wanted one!!! Finally they came in stock and I ordered one

Since that I've been buying all the other bits to complete the build, it's amazing actually how much kit you need to build a bike. Frame, forks, wheels, drivetrain, brakes and finishing kit = a hell of a lot of stuff.
I've put a full list of all the stuff I've bought, partly to help others contemplating a full build for the first time as it's easy to overlook some of the little bits.

Everything is mainly black, as I want to go for the stealth look 8)

This is my build list, should equal a tough but light build;

Frame C456 Matt
Forks RS Revs 150mm 15mm
SFN SFN
Headset Cane creek 40/10
Top cap / bolt Cane creek
BB SLX
Cranks SLX double n bash
Chain ring Goldtec wonkey 35t
Chain ring bolts Single ring bolts, stealth black - courtesy of the beginner
Chain device Shaman Drake
Pedals Exotic (nano's)
Seatpost On one twelfty
Seat Charge Spoon
Collar Superstar simple
Stem Superstar zenith
Stem spacers Carbon
Bars Superstar descent
Grips Superstar excel
Brakes SLX
Discs Superstar 160mm
Disc bolts Formula - courtesy of delcol
Shifters SLX
R/mech SLX
F/mech SLX
Chain PC971
Cassette Saint/SLX HG80 11t - 34t
Cables Jagwire ripcord
Wheels Superstar Tech AM490 15mm fr 10mm rear
R/skewer Fire eye 10mm
Tyres Schwalbe nobby nic 2.4 evo front / racing ralph 2.25 evo rear
Tubes Specialized thin
Bottlecage Bontrager
Helitape Paragon

Now, the eagle eye's will notice there's a bit of doubling up on parts. I couldnt decide at first whether I was going double n bash or single ring at front, so, I bought bits to cater for both.

Initially i'm going to build her up as single ring, with the wonky 35t chain ring (should be interesting - read a lot of mixed reviews, but hey, Sheldon Brown seems to like them..) and chain device as I like the idea of it being a hardcore single ringer. Plus, it'll take away any worry of dropping the chain / chain suck on the lurvly carbon.
Also, it'll force me to get fitter, pushing the bigger gears. (Least that's my train of thought anyway)

It's cost me a lot more than I thought it ever would, could of bought a built bike from on-one for less, but I wanted to spec it exactly as I wanted AND I like building / messing with bikes so i'm not bothered

All the bits have now arrived, bar the frame which should be here tomorrow and the headset which should be here Friday. So, baby due any minute aside, it'll hopefully be built up over the weekend. If not, i'll be knee deep in nappys

Some pics of kit to follow....

Twelly

Ill be keeping an eye on this.. good luck with the build.

DodgeT

First item to arrive was the forks - Rock Shox Revelation RL dual air 150mm 15mm axle crown lockout, thanks to Merlin

DodgeT

TwellySmat wrote:

Ill be keeping an eye on this.. good luck with the build.

Cheers fella. I'm looking forward to it, i've built / canabilised lots of bikes over the years, but never specced / built one from scratch, will be fun

DodgeT

Next to arrive was the wheels, Superstar tech AM490, 15mm front, 10mm rear. Missed the sale by about an hour, but hey ho


Stealth hubs (engraved/etched instead of stickers)

DodgeT

Some trimmings for the wheels, Nobby Nic 2.4 evo pacestar snakeskin blah blah, Racing Ralph 2.25 evo ....... Mega deal thanks to my friendly LBS
Specialized "thin" tubes.

specialeyes

Looking good so far! Been wondering what those stealth hubs look like as there's no pic on the website, I went with the regular black in the end but liking those. Where's the maiden voyage gonna be?

toastedone

Am sure this will be worth watching

DodgeT

Add some discs and a cassette into the mix..





& a border terriers nose



And we have a set of wheels ready for the frame.

DodgeT

specialeyes wrote:

Looking good so far! Been wondering what those stealth hubs look like as there's no pic on the website, I went with the regular black in the end but liking those. Where's the maiden voyage gonna be?

Ta. Yeah, wasn't sure what they'd look like, but pleased with them. They do seem nice bits of kit (the wheels in general) and get some mixed reviews, but for the price they look great. Time will tell.

Maiden voyage will more than likely be lee Quarry

DodgeT

toastedone wrote:

Am sure this will be worth watching

There'll be lots more pictures coming along

DodgeT

Something to help stop me (these'll get plenty of use, pussy side of my brain is far bigger than the brave side )


Sticking with 160mm discs (or rotOR's for the americans out there) front and rear for now, keep the weight down and should be more than enough for the weight of the bike and its intended use.

delcol

nice disc bolts

hopefully we can get her built and out on the trail mr t... and loose her virginity,,,,

hope you get all the bits by weekend so she can built and riden. :P :P :P :P :P :P :P

you cant beat speccing and building your own bike.. i only ever bought one complete bike and that was the demo.. all the rest i have specced and built my self.

1mancity2

DodgeT wrote:

Something to help stop me (these'll get plenty of use, pussy side of my brain is far bigger than the brave side )

Quite true! you ordered plenty of pads?

Has the frame landed yet?

1mancity2

Oh and I forgot ive got something you may want for the bike?,

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... elID=27830

Sat here, brand new.

DodgeT

I knew i'd of missed something ....

Just tracked the frame, its "out for delivery" so should be here very soon

DodgeT

Take a nice new SLX double n bash


Strip it


Add one of these - Goldtec Onekey / Wonkey 35t chainring


=


then add this - Shaman Racing Drake chain device


and hopefully no chain suck / dropped chains.

1mancity2

35T? what cassette gearing have you gone with?

DodgeT

11 - 34
Apparently, effort wise, the 35 should feel more like a 33. Probably a lot of twoddle this wonky lark, but a lot of the riders who go out on the tues club rides swear by them and Sheldon Brown even rates them.
Go to be worth a try.

Just had email from planet x

Your order is due for delivery
between 09:42-10:42 today

hehe

specialeyes

When you dropped the 2 rings and bash for one, did you re-use the bolts or did you have to get smaller ones?

1mancity2

specialeyes wrote:

When you dropped the 2 rings and bash for one, did you re-use the bolts or did you have to get smaller ones?

You need single ring bolts, Raceface ones are a £5 at CRC

chrisga

Should look great. Did you go for matt black frame?

DodgeT

specialeyes wrote:

When you dropped the 2 rings and bash for one, did you re-use the bolts or did you have to get smaller ones?

The outer/female part is more of the issue, the ones that came with the chainset are about 1mm too long. I could have easily filed these down, but I want to keep them as is incase I go back to double and bash.
I checked and 8.5mm long outers will be spot on, so have some of these on the way to me thanks to 'the beginner.

There held together now by a mix of shorter ones, but need to be 8.5mm long ideally and black

DodgeT

1mancity2 wrote:

specialeyes wrote:

When you dropped the 2 rings and bash for one, did you re-use the bolts or did you have to get smaller ones?

You need single ring bolts, Raceface ones are a £5 at CRC

That's what I got originally, but they are too short, they don't go through/locate into the crank. Tried some 8.5mm silver ones and they fit perfectly. The ring and the crank are both quite thick.

DodgeT

chrisga wrote:

Should look great. Did you go for matt black frame?

Yeah, the ltd edition one with black decals.

The Rookie

Just interested to know why you went for the heavier double and bash crankset than the lighter triple if you were going to go single ring anyway, were you after extra strength or stiffness?

DodgeT

It's here, delivered it from the van myself


few taster shots ..






Will get some full shots later, but gives you an idea of the finish. From the small bits, looks like mainly full matt black at first, but in some bits you can see the weave. Looks nice.

DodgeT

The Beginner wrote:

Just interested to know why you went for the heavier double and bash crankset than the lighter triple if you were going to go single ring anyway, were you after extra strength or stiffness?

Originally I was going double n bash, then was thinking about single, so I thought at least if I get the double I can go either way without having to buy a bash later on.

I think most of the weight is in the bash, when I took it off, the crank seems to weigh hardly anything.
So I assume your going off weights for the complete triple and complete double/bash as opposed to the crank /arms? I'd of thought the crank and arms were the same, seeing as you could take the bash off and fit a 3rd ring.

Oh yeah, and I went for it for the extra strength (sounds like another plausible reason to me)

1mancity2

Crank arms are the same.

1mancity2

DodgeT wrote:

1mancity2 wrote:

specialeyes wrote:

When you dropped the 2 rings and bash for one, did you re-use the bolts or did you have to get smaller ones?

You need single ring bolts, Raceface ones are a £5 at CRC

That's what I got originally, but they are too short, they don't go through/locate into the crank. Tried some 8.5mm silver ones and they fit perfectly. The ring and the crank are both quite thick.

Weird, on the jump bike its a slx double with one ring and the chainring bolts fit bud.

DodgeT

I know. Must depend on the ring width. Cause on the saint cranks, with a middleburn ring, it needed 8.5mm to fit right. But with a SRAM ring, the 8.5 were too long, needed 6mm.

I should have weighed the crank arms and bash seperate, as i'm sure there's not much in it.