building a bike
Comments
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Generally, its cheaper to buy a complete bike in comparison to building it yourself - the only exception is sourcing bargain parts and spending time on ebay or if you want a particular, non-standard spec. www.parktool.com for all things mechanical.Make mine an Italian, with Campagnolo on the side..0
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Hi Brinko,
It really also depends of your mechanical confidence, by building it yourself particularly if it is your second bike you can spread the load. I also find I get pleasure and relaxation on evenings I'm not or can't ride in tinkering. You will also have the smug satisfaction of knowing it’s all your own work and you will know your bike better.
As Monty Dog says park tool is a good source of knowledge.
Cheers
Mrip0 -
I've built my last two bikes for less than an equivalent off the peg bike. It doesn't always involve trawling Ebay, but careful buying from Ribble, CRC, Merlin etc can mean picking up parts at the right price. You also have the benefit of not having to change or upgrade things such as tyres, saddles, wheels etc which are invariably economy offerings on off the peg bikes. It all depends what you want - if Planet X or Wiggle are running special prices then it will be cheaper initially but remember to add in any cost of changing parts that you don't like.Carlsberg don't make cycle clothing, but if they did it would probably still not be as good as Assos0
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I bought a really beautiful ultra lightweight Italian steel bike for £200, intending it as a commuter. But then I put so much Record and Chorus bling on it that it has to stay at home for weekend use.
I then could not resist a Ciocc in Columbus Aelle steel - nothing special, actually - which will now be my summer commuter. It came with some Shimano 600 stuff on it.
These are in addition to a Trek 1.7 that I bought on the cycle to work scheme.
So with my ordinary commuter - a 30 year old Claud Butler saved from the office carpark - I now have four bikes.
In short, there is no economy going on here. Buying bits individually is quite pricey even on eBay. My lightweight Italian number probably cost £750-850. The Ciocc will be £350.
By comparison, the cycle to work Trek was a screaming bargain at approx £400 (just as well my daughter is using it) and the Claud Butler was free.
Some things will be difficult to do through lack of tools or expertise - ie fitting headsets and BBs. So that's an additional expense. On the other hand, I would recommend it for satisfaction.0 -
Hi,
I've just finished building my bike, I mostly used ebay but its good to check the price things go for on other sites first as I've found some things were cheaper than on ebay.
I started off by buying a really cheap 2nd hand bike off ebay and then moving everything over to a new nice frame that I also got off ebay. The advantage I got from this is that I got to see how everything worked and fitted together, then I slowly began buying new parts to replace and build the bike up to something respectable. This way it also meant that I could ride the bike most of the time as I was complete, just not with the spec I wanted.
Don't be pressured into buying things immediately because you want them now or they are cheap now, I made a few mistakes along the way: 1 1/8" forks and headset when I needed a 1" for my new frame being the big one! And just be sure you've got all your measurements right as it can be annoying - I brought a cheap pair of northwave shoes so I could use my clipless pedals but they were too big and just cause bad feet pain.
Make sure your happy with your LBS for when you need their help. From my experience they seem to be great with off the peg bikes and can fix anything on them but as soon as they are given a custom bike they tend to panic and not be able to fix anything!0 -
Do it .... if you want to learn, building somthing like this is the best way to learn how it all works and also a chance to get all the tools you need to keep things running smooth in the future.
I bought my off the peg GT in feb for £425, I am now in the middle of building a fg with a mix of new, nos and used parts. The final bill will be less than the GT but not by alot and I'v not had to buy the bits you need for a geared bike.
The learning curve has had more value as I can now do more on the GT with out the worrie of the unknown and what if I bugger it up etc thoughts going through my head.
As for web site info http://www.sheldonbrown.com/gloss_ch.html has alot of info and was recomened to me on these pages.0 -
Unless you're prepared to really shop around for a bargain, it will probably work out more expensive to build your own.
However, DIY has three massive advantages:
1, You get the parts you want. I stripped my Roubaix, used the parts for my winter bike and have now specced it up exactly to my liking.
2. You get to know your way around your bike - no more mechanic bills
3. The sense of achievement is amazing and unrivaled (and just wait till you get on to wheelbuilding)0 -
Nuggs wrote:Unless you're prepared to really shop around for a bargain, it will probably work out more expensive to build your own.
However, DIY has three massive advantages:
1, You get the parts you want. I stripped my Roubaix, used the parts for my winter bike and have now specced it up exactly to my liking.
2. You get to know your way around your bike - no more mechanic bills
3. The sense of achievement is amazing and unrivaled (and just wait till you get on to wheelbuilding)
^^ - perfect advice!
Not always cheapest but you get what you want and a massive sense of satisfaction!0 -
when you self- build, there's always the temptation of the: well, this bit is only £10 more, and it's much nicer... and you end up with a slightly more expensive bike than you bargained for. (like i did - oops)
you really need to watch how you're speccing things. it is, however great fun to decide which bits you want - getting to choose everything from the inner tubes to the headset spacers is just brilliant.
and, as others have said, your spanner-wrangling skills increase no end.0 -
Careful Brinko...building bikes is strangely addictive. After building a mountain bike over the winter I've already started building a cyclo crosser and I've started planning a complete rebuild of my Bianchi for next winter (its getting a bit old, at least thats my excuse).
If you want something thats perfectly tailored to your riding style and you want something totally unique then building your own bike is definitely the way to go. It won't work out cheaper than buying a complete bike unless you are a complete demon when it comes to spotting bargains but you will be able to mix components that just do their job for a decent price with parts that are a bit more exotic.
Most modern components are pretty easy to fit and as a few other posters to this forum have already said; your ability to fix your own bike will increase ten fold. My next challenge is to try and figure out how to build wheels._______________________________
I ain't fat, merely optimised for gravity.0 -
Its actually works out cheaper to go out and buy a bike, but once you've built your first bike you'll never want to buy a complete bike again.0
