building your own bike

webbhost

Ok, So im thinking of building my own bike.... but I cant really say I know what im going to be doing yet. What do I need to look out for, what do I need to know etc? And where can I get good quality and light components - for cheap?

Basically I was going to get a £2000 carbon bike, but I'm starting to wonder if I'm wasting my money. Could I be doing myself a favour by taking some components and making one myself?

I'm not really bothered about brand names.

Whats a good starting point? I dont even know where I can pick up a frame apart from ebay, and even then I dont know if its going to fit etc?? Dont want to break my back trying out a new bike.

Basic target is to get bike as light as possible, without going to nuts with the budget. £2000 is alot of money, however If I could get something similar by building one myself for say £1000 or £1500, then why not?


Thanks on advance for any advice!

Down the Road

Buy it fully built by a professional bike shop.

Cheaper and you will know what you are getting. Plus you will keep warranty

Do you build your own cars?

redddraggon

Down the Road wrote:

Buy it fully built by a professional bike shop.

Cheaper and you will know what you are getting. Plus you will keep warranty

Do you build your own cars?

You're always full of crap.

Ignore him webbhost. Building your own bike is a sound idea.

Down the Road

Get your costings and we will see what is cheaper on quality product.

Nero Corsa doesn't count as they cost as little as £100 for a full frame

redddraggon

Down the Road wrote:

Get your costings and we will see what is cheaper on quality product.

Nero Corsa doesn't count as they cost as little as £100 for a full frame

So why do built up bikes (from shops) with Nero Corsa's cost so much then?

It is cheaper to build yourself. If I'd have bought a Nero Corsa from Ribble built up with the same equipment it would have cost £200 more than building it myself. How is £200 more cheaper?

webbhost

arguements already lol

I remember someone posting about their bike weight and a few people on here were surprised at the cost being so low (forget who it was through). He achieved it by avoiding big names and looking for bargains etc.

Decisions, desicions. If I get one of ebay its not very likely to be carbon. If I buy a carbon frame, it might cost a bit more, but it could be so much lighter?

As a response to "Buy a professionally built bike"... I bought my first bike "professionally" built, and I had to amend things that didn't work properly. Also, I wish to build my own to imrprove on my mechanical skills.


Just out of interest, how hard would people consider it to be to copy the frame shape of my current one, but some carbon tubing, make some metal lugs and actually make my own frame aswell?

Anyone ever tried it?

z000m

i built my own mtb, got most of the parts from chainreaction, its better than any pre-built bike because its built exactly to my own requirements. im hoping to build a road bike next.

fto-si

Down the Road wrote:

Get your costings and we will see what is cheaper on quality product.

Nero Corsa doesn't count as they cost as little as £100 for a full frame

If they cost so little can you get hold of a dozen for me so I can sell them on Ebay!

top_bhoy

z000m wrote:

i built my own mtb, got most of the parts from chainreaction, its better than any pre-built bike because its built exactly to my own requirements. im hoping to build a road bike next.

.....and thats the precise reason for building your own bike.

Build your own is not the cheap option but there is no compromise of componentry and you get what you want, unlike buying the complete bike. The complete bike will probably have some component area which either needs replaced or 'will make do', something your own build shouldn't suffer from.

Building your own or buying complete - both have their pros and cons but at 2 grand, I'd be investigating a bit more about building.

Smokin Joe

Is there any job on a bike that Down the Road thinks can safely be done by the owner at home? I need some air in my tyres and I was wondering if I should chance it myself or fined a trained Cycletech mechanic to do it properly.

Slow Downcp

Building yourself is the way to go - for £2k you'd get a good carbon frame, and be able to kit out with Centaur/Ultegra and quality wheels. Remember to budget for the right tools though (not that expensive, and will last a lifetime and save money on future bike shop repair bills) If you buy off the shelf there'll be bits you'll want to replce (wheels are usually lower quality, bars/stem may not be correct size, saddle etc). I did buy my Bianchi built up, and then spent £200 swapping bits out (luckliy all on cycle to work so it all came half price )

webbhost

lol smokin Joe.

Ok so Im researching some componenets on www.probikekit.com, and so far I have a total of 5039 Grams, and a total cost of £1455.


I still need to add handlebars, bar tape, and the crank etc. (Wheels completely done, brakes and gear levers etc done.

One question.... whats required for the bottom bit where you pedal?

i cant honestly say I have ever attempted to take mine apart, thus I do not know what is required?

Any help please?!

azzerb

I built my bike up. I got my groupset 2008 cheap, and my frame was in sale (reduced from £850 to about £400). Total build came to about £1020, with a bit more money it would have been a truly phenomenal value, but it's just good value for money atm.

Your cranks are attached to the bottom bracket which fits into the frame. If you're buying a high end groupset of Campag or Shimano then it'll be a cinch to fit.

£2000 could get you a really good bike, and like you said you'll improve your mechanical knowledge.

Building the bike is a lot easier than people think, and with some searching can come to a lot less. And this was my first bike build, tho i had some help off my Dad, tho i think it was his first go at a road bike.

Oh and some of the stuff on probikekit is fairly expensive.

Ribble, Wiggle, Chain Reaction Cycles and just googling may find some cheaper stuff.

meagain

"Do you build your own cars?"

Irrelevant. No fuel, no electrics, no hidden parts, usually no hydraulics. Entirely different level of skills - a trained monkey can build a bike - as evidenced by most bike shops. However you will not save any money unless, after careful research, you patiently seek and buy at discounted and/or second hand prices.

The main advantage is getting what you want, not what the suppliers think you ought to want. Also, you will CARE as to how well it is put together. One very small example. I very recently bought a 1960s bike that had been "restored" 20 years ago by a locally well-regarded LBS. It had only done 350 miles since rebuild. Good job, else the way in which the cabling to the front mech (it had originally been a 5 speed only) had been installed would have cut through the bottom bracket shell! As there were no guides, simply ran the bare wire under the shell. OK so a few years ago, but the story holds good I reckon.

Bikes are really very simple devices - with the slight exception of some full sussers which do call for a little mechanical knowledge.

webbhost

Ok, SO here are components I have added into the equation... have I missed anything????

Frame, Wheels, Tyres, Inner Tubes, Casette, Chain, Brakes, Seat Post, Saddle, STI Levers, Handle Bar, Handlebar Stem, Chainset, Bottom Bracket.


total weight: 6279g
Total price: £1654.50

I presume the price is without VAT, but im sure I'll get parts slightly cheaper if I do a little searching.

Am I missing anything?

redddraggon

Buying a groupset as a groupset usually works out cheaper than buying all the bits separately,

You also need bar tape, possibly a seat post clamp, fork (if it doesn't come from the frame).

There are other optional bits and pieces aswell - computer, bottle cages etc,

meagain

Forks? Pedals?

14lb bike for 1600 quid sounds quite good. Not so good if need to add VAT! And maybe postage costs?

gkerr4

built my own this winter for a new 2008 summer bike - the build was documented on here at roughly the same time as reddraggon.

I ended up paying £1800 all-in and the spec was:

2008 S-Works Roubaix frame (granted - I bought the 2007 one - it;s a ling story
campagnolo Centaur full groupset inc. carbon chainset
campagnolo Eurus wheelset with rubino tyres
ITM bars / stem
cinelli gel bar tape
specialized Toupe saddle

in the shops this would be around £3000 (the dura-ace prebuilt model is £3500 and has cheaper wheels than mine - granted the DA groupset is a couple of hundred pounds more than centaur carbon)

it is the spec that i wanted with the parts in all the sizes and colours i wanted, it fits and looks great - in addition you get the satisfaction os building your own bike which you will be an expert in fixing when things go wrong / need adjustment. it's not as hard as you think and there is loads of good advice / guides / instructions on the web - especially in this forum

go ahead and do it - start getting bits as you see them coming up on offer at various places - it's a great thng to do

webbhost

Could get a groupset, It's something I will have to look into.

Seat clamp im not sure about, and forks come with the frame.

It doesn't feel right... isn't 6.2 Kg like REALLY light??

Ill post a list of parts soon.

gkerr4

webbhost wrote:

Could get a groupset, It's something I will have to look into.

Seat clamp im not sure about, and forks come with the frame.

It doesn't feel right... isn't 6.2 Kg like REALLY light??

Ill post a list of parts soon.

\]

yes - yes it is really light - you can do it!!

shop around for parts - also while buying parts as a groupset can work out cheaper - you might (and i mean might) get is cheaper by ordering different parts from different suppliers - it is a pain in the arse right enough. I had to do it as I couldn't find anyone with the entire centaur carbon kit in the variations that i wanted - was a pain but you get there,

webbhost

I missed the front and rear mech... that would have been a bummer to forget lol.

azzerb

Rim tape.

Can we have a list of specs? I'm hugely intrigued! Sounds like a good build, how are the aesthetics?

webbhost

and the pedals..

azzerb

Headset (if not supplied with frame)
Headset spacers

webbhost

Ok, next post will be a complete part list... Slightly more weighty now Ive added other bits (6783g)

Just out of interest whats minimum allowance for a bike weight entering a race?

Ill get writing the part list:

azzerb

6.8kg, however, there will be miscelaneous weight, so if manufacturers weights are those, expect about 7kg maybe. Depends how accurate the manufacturers are. Even if they are 100% exact, you'll have more than 17g of oil! :P

webbhost

Frame: PBK Team issue bike (1200g), £630
Wheels: ProRace Oxena Carbon Race Wheels (1550g), £440.96
Tyres: ProRace 3 michelin PAIR (400g), £45.88
Inner Tube: Continental Race inner PAIR (126g), £7.64
Casette: Shimano 105 (2006) 10 speed casette (219g), £23.71
Chain: Shimano 105 10 speed chain (280g), £10.84
Brakes: Shimano Ultegra SL Ice Grey 2008 Calipers (320g), £53.95
Seat Post: Deda Super carbon seatpost (234g), £80.99
Saddle: Ritchey Pro streem saddle (220g), £24.29
STI Levers: Shimano Ultegra 10 speed dual control levers (inc cables) (490g), £137.69
Handle Bars: Deda 215 Handlebars (215g), £33.61
Handle Bar Stem: Deda Zero 100 stem black (117g), £39.87
Chainset: Shimano Ultegra SL Ice grey 2008 chainset (797g) £102.58
Bottom Bracket: Shimano Dura Ace 10 speed bottom bracket cups (111g), £22.49
Front Mech: Shim. Dura ace 10 spd Braze on front mech (74g), £35.99
Rear Mech: Shimano Dura Ace 10 speed rear mech (180g), £62.99
Pedals: Look Keo Spring Pedal (250g), £50.38


Total weight: 6783g, Total Priec £1803.86

I have checked ebay quickly, and it looks liek I could also save alot of money on ebay, meaning that I could upgrade some parts for lighter components!


Well.. break it to me... what Incompatabilities do I have above if any?

dennisn

Do you have the tools and the knowledge to put one together????
Not all that hard if you have both of the above. Key word "both".
Remember, mistakes can be costly.

Dennis Noward

azzerb

First thing i notice is that those are tubulars wheels, so you'll need tubular tyres.

gkerr4

that looks ok - i've never heard of the wheels though and they are top dollar - perhaps a known model like fulcrums would give a saving.

seatpost sounds expensive too

nor would i spend £53 on 2 tyres and tubes - but it's your cash!

redddraggon

Get some Neutron Ultras for £360, and Get Carbon Centaur. Better than your Shimano mix, and unknown wheels.