Carbon 456 or Kinesis xc130?

gc5446

Hi all,

I'm hoping to source knowledge and opinion from you on selection of frame for my new bike build project over the off season.. My budget for a frame is circa £300 and I've narrowed down my search to a couple of frames, although I'd listen to alternatives.

Where I ride is intermediate level trails, with a bit of XC and DH potential. Quite alot of tight technical stuff too. Varying terrain with plenty of rough hard surfaces, and steep hills, both up and down. I figure I want something (hardtail only) light but strong, with lots of pedal power, that also is comfortable and fun to ride. I'm over 6' but not too heavy at 80kg/12+ stone.

I've done a fair amount of research over the last few weeks and I think I've narrowed down my favoured choices to

On-One Carbon 456 for £300
http://www.on-one.co.uk/i/q/FROOC456P/o ... _456_frame

OR

kinesis xc130 for £280
http://www.winstanleysbikes.co.uk/produ ... tAod90kAdQ

Slightly more expensive but available on a decent finance deal is a BMC TE01 for £650 in total
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/bmc ... tch__plid_


I am keen to know what people think of these frames at these prices, and I am also open to suggested alternatives.

Thanks for reading and I appreciate your opinion and help

Ged

lawman

At over 6ft the BMC you linked is only available in Small so it would be the wrong size for you. It's also an out and out XC race bike and would be very twitchy and skittish on more technical downhills.

I've owned both the Carbon 456 and the Maxlight, of the two the Maxlight is more xc but can take serious abuse and the 456 is super tough. Both are very good bikes, the 456 is tougher and better downhill, the Maxlight is better on the climbs and is much comfier. I found the 456 pretty harsh.

The Maxlight left a real impression on me, can't bring myself to sell it, had some great times on that bike, but never bonded with the 456. The only niggles with the Maxlight is you can't fit a Rockshox Reverb to it and it's non-tapered headtube and it would be nice if the headangle was a smidge slacker, but that aside, it is an awesome frame.

dsimps

I had the steel on-one 456 and could not fault it for the money but never really got on with it, about 6 weeks ago brought a ragley piglet 2 to use as a winter bike, similar geometry to the 456 but somehow feels so much better and works well with a 140 travel fork. The build quality seems to have improved compared to the mark one version, also head tube compatible with every fork variation and dropper compatible ( 31.6 seatpost).

jairaj

Is the Kinesis strong enough to handle a bit of light dirt jumping? We're talking about beginner sized jumps, metre tall couple meter long table tops and doubles?

Main bike is a full suss but I want to build up a hardtail so I can learn to jump a bit better but also want to be able to climb up a hill too. I used to have a C456 but just found it a bit too slack for my personal tastes, great when you are rocketing down a DH run but not so great on simple stiff.

lawman

jairaj wrote:

Is the Kinesis strong enough to handle a bit of light dirt jumping? We're talking about beginner sized jumps, metre tall couple meter long table tops and doubles?

Main bike is a full suss but I want to build up a hardtail so I can learn to jump a bit better but also want to be able to climb up a hill too. I used to have a C456 but just found it a bit too slack for my personal tastes, great when you are rocketing down a DH run but not so great on simple stiff.

Not really strong enough for dirt jumping, it's more of a XC bike that can take a long fork, it's a super light frame, circa 1.5kg. Best to think of it as flat out xc/trail bike rather than an all-rounder like the 456 is.

gc5446

lawman wrote:

At over 6ft the BMC you linked is only available in Small so it would be the wrong size for you. It's also an out and out XC race bike and would be very twitchy and skittish on more technical downhills.

I've owned both the Carbon 456 and the Maxlight, of the two the Maxlight is more xc but can take serious abuse and the 456 is super tough. Both are very good bikes, the 456 is tougher and better downhill, the Maxlight is better on the climbs and is much comfier. I found the 456 pretty harsh.

The Maxlight left a real impression on me, can't bring myself to sell it, had some great times on that bike, but never bonded with the 456. The only niggles with the Maxlight is you can't fit a Rockshox Reverb to it and it's non-tapered headtube and it would be nice if the headangle was a smidge slacker, but that aside, it is an awesome frame.

Good point on the BMC, I didn't even think to check the sizes they had it in, just recognised a decent deal going off and got excited lol!

So glad I found someone straight away who has had both bikes too, best way to compare opinion, and you have helped my mind a lot. I am a little surprised the Carbon made 456 was harsher than the aluminium/'kinesium' compound for the maxlight tho... I am getting swayed more towards the xc130 than the 456 now

lawman

I spent a good 4 years on the kinesis, the only reason I don't use it now its had a hard life and as my riding progressed I wanted a bike with more DH style geometry. It is a super comfortable and very agile bike and it does ride very well. I've still got the frame in the garage, I just can't sell it after all it's been through, great memories on that bike. Buy one and I bet you won't be disappointed!

Stormtrooper

I've not tried a 456 especially the carbon, but that's only because I don't trust carbon for a mountain bike a u think they should be for flimsy road bikes.
But I do own the Maxlight frame you fancy and its a great frame, it's really light and a good all rounder. I live 3miles away from Afan and Glyncorwg and it gets used up there more or less every other weekend.
I've ha rock hoppers a stumpjumper hard tail and a boardman and so far it knocks spots off the stumpy.
Only thing is when sizing the Kinesis it's a little short on the top tube.