£1500 Spec me a self build

Philgr

Im really starting to get into this biking lark

I currently have a Rockhopper Disc 08, which is great, but recently i borrowed a friends bike, full sus, very light etc.. i loved the way it felt etc..

I love spannering and i figure the best way to learn about the bikes is to have a pop at building one myself

So what can i build for £1500, the bike will be used for crashing round the lakes, whinlatter, grizdale etc..

Sorry if this as been done before

Regards

Phil G

nicklouse

buy the best bike you can for that money as a self build will noy come close in spec.

M6TTF

It's a shame, but it's true, self builds are just too damn dear!

Philgr

bugger

i really like taking things to bits and putting them back together

ok then if they are too expensive to build what upgrades for the rockhopper, weight wise ??

Burkie

After a demo day ride on a Pace which i absolutely loved, i looked at doing a self build, basically because i couldn't find a complete pace anywhere. By the time i'd aded all the components, and i tended to stay middel of the road, not going for the top kit, the total cost was well over twice the frame price. I think that a self build for 1500 is going to be a real stretch to get anything decent.

If you are determined, spend the money on a top frame, with cheaper components, and then upgrade the bits as you go along. That way, you could have a top bike in a couple if years, depending on your budget.

Otherwise, follow the earlier advice and buy a complete bike for 1500. Looking at the reviews, there are lots of great bikes out there for that money!

Airienteer

I sppecced myslef a 1500 lightweight hardtail a bit back. For this price you won't get a decent full-sus build though. I looked at either a Kinesis or Giant Frame and was able to have a complete XT Groupset, wheels and Reba Forks. Infact it was challenging complete bikes of a similar price.

Steve_b77

I did a self build with a Cove Handjob in November last year, just before the frames went up to £500, I got the frame for £350.

Still spent just under a grand all in, not including tyres & tubes and brakes as I already had them.

This was with sale/'08 drive train and forks and cheap (mavic EN321's on Deore Hubs) wheels.

Since I've added a set of new Mavic Cross Rides and Ignitor Exceptions, these alone come in at around £200.

You could possibly do it, but considering the price rises it'd have to be a hard tail.

You could always go the budget route of ebay, classifieds and older bits in sale clearances to keep the costs down.

ashfanman

You could always buy a really nice frame, move all of the components across from your Spesh (sating your spannering apetite) then gradually upgrade them as they wear out?

If you were willing to spend £1500 then you could spend £800-1000 on a new frame now, then £500-700 on some new forks and maybe some new wheels. Maybe even get yourself a nice bar/stem/post combo too.

That might be a good way to get started without ending up with an overpriced or underspecced bike?

KnightofCydonia

ashfanman wrote:

You could always buy a really nice frame, move all of the components across from your Spesh (sating your spannering apetite) then gradually upgrade them as they wear out?

If you were willing to spend £1500 then you could spend £800-1000 on a new frame now, then £500-700 on some new forks and maybe some new wheels. Maybe even get yourself a nice bar/stem/post combo too.

That might be a good way to get started without ending up with an overpriced or underspecced bike?

that's my thoughts.

eg http://www.leisurelakesbikes.com/produc ... x?&id=7069

fred1star

Philgr wrote:

bugger

i really like taking things to bits and putting them back together

Ok... buy the bike... take it to bits then put it back together again..

ashfanman

KnightofCydonia wrote:

that's my thoughts.

eg http://www.leisurelakesbikes.com/produc ... x?&id=7069

DAMN. Niiiiice. Okay, I want that now.

passout

Why not buy a complete bike for 1.5k, take it bits and then re-assembe. Sorted!

The Northern Monkey

Yea, custom builds get expensive.... i'm dreading counting up how much i've spent

Its always...
"i'll get the mid range part"....
"ooo the higher spec is only £20 more"
"actually sod it, I might as well spend £50 extra and go the full hog".

it mounts up, trust me

I doub't i'd do a custom build again, BUT the knowledge i've gained about bikes and how they work had increased drastically. I'm not very confident that I can fix pretty much any problem with it (all be it with a lot of help from people on here though!!).

My next bike will be a fully built job that i'll upgrade as parts wear out.

xtreem

[b]bigbenj_08[/b] wrote:

Yea, custom builds get expensive.... i'm dreading counting up how much i've spent

But your bike is unique, there aren't two bikes like yours.

Philgr, pick:
- Unique and very good looking bike.
- Best spec bike for the money, not the best looking and 2000 guys have the same bike.

(If you aquire under £500 frame go for it)
[edit]By the time you're building it, you can probably strech to £2000.[/edit]

The Spiderman

Your existing bike already has a very good frame.Have you thought about buying better forks and wheels?

supersonic

When you can get a bike like this:

http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/products.p ... Suspension

for less than 1200 quid, you can see why the self build is not cost effective. However why not buy a full bike, immediately sell the bits you want to chnge and buy the bits you want?