Building a bike up from the frame

Foz72

How hard is it?
My experience with bike mechanics really amounts to fairly basic servicing, adjusment and repalcement of some of the simpler components. I'm guessing that bottom bracket and headset are the trickiest bits.

Any advice on whether to start a 'project' v welcome. Thanks.

Smokin Joe

It is only fairly basic spannering. If you can change the spark plugs on a car you can assemble a bike.

There are plenty of maintenance books that will show you everything. The Park Tools website will also give you a comprehensive guide to how everything fits together and what tools you need.

Barrie_G

Plus if you have any problems or it's a part where you want to make sure it's done right i.e. headset then just pop along to your LBS and they will usually fit it for a small charge.

Ambermile

I have just gone through this... old bike had a crack in the frame so I thought I'd just get a new frame and transfer the bits - boy was I wrong! Found a decent (cheapish) aluminium frame and went for it without checking basic dimensions. Ended up getting *everything* new for the frame, cost me nearly £400 but I do have a bike that nobody else does and it has all the bits *I* wanted rather than what was cheap to make when it was being assembled/specced.

I'd say do it but don't expect it to be a cheaper route than an off-the-shelf option. As for the complexity then yes, if you can change plugs or even just a wheel on your car then you're good to go.


Arthur

System_1

It's dead easy. I built mine up a while back with nothing more than info from the Park Tools site. Obviously the right tools are needed. A cassette tool, chain whip and BB tool are musts. Everything else depends on what groupset/headset you will be using. Older square taper cranks will need a crank extractor, but things like hollowtech you just need the BB tool. Integrated headests don't need tools, they are just push fit. I spent maybe £40 on tools and the only thind I had to get the LBS to do was cut the steerer, and they did that for nowt.

deal

very easy and is a great learning process, i built a bike about a month ago using a £20 tool kit from lidl or aldi cant recall which, in addition to these i only needed a few other tools which cost no more than £10 combined

the only step that might be worth visiting the lbs for is cutting a carbon steerer tube as previously mentioned, but many people just cut them with a hacksaw themselves, i got my brother to cut mine to size using a chop saw with perfect results.
Correctly aligning the front deraileur is the only part i found tricky, bearing in mind this was the first time i had done anything more than fix a puncture...

sloboy

I've just done my first complete build - as mentioned above, the drop in headsets remove one somewhat specialist task that I've avoided previously. The only outside assistance I had for this one was getting the BB faced and chased.

gkerr4

easy enough and very satisfying too!

it won't be cheap though - unless you are very lucky with ebay - cos you will end up putting the bits you really want on it - a little upgrade here, a bit more there.. before you know you have spent a fortune - but you will have a great bike for it!

iga

I think the most daunting thing is ensuring compatibility between bits rather attaching them to the bike but as others have said there's plenty of info online.

magnetdoggs

i just finished building mine this weekend.

frame sizes were the same but the things ive noticed were.

due to frame geometry differing some of my cables were shortened and they only just attached to the derailers bolts.

the crown race is a censored to get off your old forks and the new one has to be installed with some force.

i bought a headset press thinking id need it but i didnt! doh! waste of £35

the new frames head tube was longer than my old one, so even with no spacers under the stem, it only just goes on, the steerer could do with being an inch longer but that means new forks!

my seat clamp will not hold the seat tube and it keeps slipping down, gonna need a new clamp.

& I sliced open my finger, blood everywhere :oops:

appart from all that it went very well and all the parts migrated over easily.

Ambermile

magnetdoggs wrote:

the new frames head tube was longer than my old one, so even with no spacers under the stem, it only just goes on, the steerer could do with being an inch longer but that means new forks!

Mine too actually... I used one of these to extend the head tube - and the sleeve that came with it was a perfect fit for the stem.

Then, since I was not *really* confident on the strength, I used one of theseas well, just in case! It meant using the long bolt to hold both the extension and the headlock but now I *know* it's not going anywhere and I could do away with that stupid star nut thing 8)

Arthur

giant_man

What about cabling guys? Dead easy or a right censored ? This is probably the only thing I would be cautious about.

Mystique

Cabling: Piece of cake...

magnetdoggs

unless they fall short then youd have to replace them.

they thread through easily.
most time consuming bit is resetting your derailers up.

Mystique

Never tried re-using cables - A new build is a great excuse to replace all the bits that wear/ stretch/ fray...

schlepcycling

Go on give it a go, I'm on about my 4th self build (1 was for a friend), check the 'my best bike' I built that myself . As others have said use the park tools website or this one http://bicycletutor.com/ and there's loads of tutorials on you tube. Just remember 1 thing 'measure twice and cut once'.

Matt-B

I'm building a bike up as a kind of side project (I had enough bits in the shed, and thought...why not!) and I'm completely mechanically inept. I would echo what has been mentioned before though - make sure you have the right tools, and the fitting itself is basically a piece of cake. However, it's a bit of a pain ensuring that everything is compatible, especially gearing/chainset wise! I have made a couple of mistakes, but that is the reason I wanted to do it - as a learning experience.

Mind you, I probably shouldn't talk about it properly until it's done, I've ridden it, and I haven't died and it hasn't fallen apart.

Foz72

Thanks for all the advice and encouragement - v helpful. I actually had two projects in mind. Firstly an MTB which I bought after too short a test ride and which is simply too big for me & becomes quite unpleasant on longer rides. Possible solution - get hold of another frame, prob off eBay, and transfer everying else over - lock, stock and headset.

Based on the advice given I'm inclined to go for it but if I can't get a smaller size of the exact same model, am I going to struggle horribly with compatibility isses??

If that works out then everything I learn can be applied to the (obviously more important ) road bike project......