Build a bike is good idea?

el_cartero

Would it be wise to build a bike same way i did my PC?

Been lookign at some frames at abotu 400 looks good but not sure what the rest would all cost me in total...

heard its good to go all XT stuff .
anyone built and think its better than buying a built? cheaper?

ilovedirt

building a bike is the way to go, if you know what you want, i built both my bikes from scratch near enough, it can be more expensive though if you buy everything brand new but worth it i think.

XT is good, but so is SRAm x.7 and x.9, people will rave about both. If you can afford it, do it.

loltoride

Not a bad idea but if starting from scratch you will find more expensive than buying high spec bike, which I presume is what you are after.

freeride-mike

building from scratch is deffinetly better IMO bcoz u get exactly what u want and how u want it only downside it tends to cost alot more buying bits individually :?

fcumok

It will cost more but I love my custom built bike a lot more than the ones I've bought off the peg.

diy

building from scratch is only worth it if you want something very specific. Basically unless you start with a decent donor bike, you'll spend a grand to get an 800 quid bike.

The Northern Monkey

fcumok wrote:

It will cost more but I love my custom built bike a lot more than the ones I've bought off the peg.

this.

The Northern Monkey

diy wrote:

building from scratch is only worth it if you want something very specific. Basically unless you start with a decent donor bike, you'll spend a grand to get an 800 quid bike.

a 800 quid bike that you're likely to spend over £200 on upgrading/changing to suit your needs.

ravey1981

Building bikes never works out cheaper than buying off the peg but is so much more satisfying, I recently built a custom inbred (see below) and it turned out way more expensive than I had planned as i simply didn't compromise on any of the components...they were all exactly as i wanted them...but i love it more because of that...

XT stuff is what I would call the benchmark and I put it on most of my bikes...XTR is overpriced and you don't get any better performance in real terms (a bit lighter thats all) However I would recommend SLX as a good compromise. You can often find full groupsets at good price (try merlin cycles), usually cheaper than buying the individual components, and then offload any parts you might not want.

beany123

building your own custom ride makes this whole mtbing experience a whole lot better, im currently halfway through a build and loving it!! there are however some negatives particually if you have a bird/wife as they moan more than usual at the amount of time you will spend trawling the net, buying mtb mags etc looking at what trick bits you can buy to complete ur ride, oh and another recommendation always have a mtb already to go as i only have 1 ride and cant get out cos of the build.... get building bruv!!

GHill

Don't forget you might need to budget in some tools too.

Unlike with computers, a self build is more expensive than off the shelf.

el_cartero

Could anyone list the parts needed to build a bike apart from frame im not sure how many different bits there is , surely there is a cheap way to build that wotn cost more than off the pegs.......?

and cost of parts?

Prob to about xt standards

nicklouse

only is you get lucky on Ebay.

List of parts!

you put up what you think and we will tell you what you have missed.

Or look at the template in the your rides bit for most (not all) parts.

and the cheapest way is to buy a fully built bike.

ilovedirt

we can't really tell you how much the parts will cost if we don't know what you want, but it's definitely cheaper than buying off the peg, anyway
frame
wheels
forks
tyres
tubes
handlebars
stem
headset
grips
seat
seatpost
seat clamp
cranks
bottom bracket
pedals
chain
cassette
front and rear mechs
front and rear shifters
gear cable inners and outers x 2
brakes + rotors
bar ends?
QR skewers

el_cartero

ok
2 wheels
2 pedals + crank + 3 cog thing ( for 27 gear)
9 cog thing at back
derailer
chain mover thing hehe and chaing ofcourse.
seat and post.
front sussie.
handle bar grips brakes front and back and brake leavers.

just a quick guess.

el_cartero

ok now tell me the instructions to build it :oops:

ilovedirt

if you don't know the basic mechanics of a bike, i think you really need to rethink buying a bike in parts, or have a shop do it for you.

warrerj

Unless you already have a donor bike you won't build a bike cheaper than you can get 1 off the peg. Unless you know what you want and want something specific it's cheaper off the peg. Most off the peg bikes are a compromise. Normally poor fork or wheel set to keep the price down. If like me you know you want specific wheels, forks, brakes etc then a custom build is the only way. You'll need :

Frame
Forks
Wheels
QR for wheels (depands on fork, frame and hub options)
Tyres
Tubes
cassette
chain
chainset & bottom bracket
pedals
front mech
rear mech
brakes
gear cables
shifters
headset
spacers
stem
bars
grips
seat post
seat post clamp
seat

Add to the above tools, grease, threadlock, antiseize & lbe etc. Some jobs require specialist expensive tools (e.g. facing brake mounts and BB) you may want to pay your LBS to do these jobs for you. What you will get from most LBS is a big discount on parts if you get the whole lot from them and get them to build for you but that's half the fun.

The Northern Monkey

el_cartero wrote:

ok now tell me the instructions to build it :oops:

Epic Fail.

nicklouse

read Parktools

find out what you cant do and then buy a ready built bike.

Northwind

You don't have to be much of a mechanic to build a bike but it's not as easy as having someone else do it for you. If you've never set up gears or brakes, stuff like that, then you're looking at a steep learning curve.

And it does usually work out expensive, unless you're able to buy cheap (including good quality used parts, without buying any wrong parts or damaged ones). But it's nice to do, and you can tailor the bike exactly to what you want, and also if anything ever goes wrong with it you'll be able to fix it.

josborn

it's a pretty good plan if you know what you're doing, but it sounds like you massively don't!
it'll cost more than getting a whole bike, and that's without the extra bits like tools, workstand etc. that have already been mentioned. Obviously if you screw anything up the cost will be even higher.

if you want a specific spec, then you're prob best off buying the whole bike (especially if you want a pretty normal full XT build anyway) and then getting the shop to swap a few parts, they'll prob let you just pay the difference in price.

ravey1981

No offence mate but if you don't know what all the parts of a bike are then you're not going to know what spec parts you want on a bike...You'll end up buying the wrong parts, that might not fit and when you do try and fit them you could well knacker them if you don't know what you're doing...

Do your self a favour and just buy a ready built bike...

something like this...which is actually a bloody good bike for the money...

http://www.merlincycles.co.uk/custom-mo ... ition.html

Buckled_Rims

It's not impossible to build a bike if you're not experienced, but will be difficult. The time, effort and tools just wont justify trying to save money. Everyone starts knowing nowt about a bike, but usually it takes a few years experience to build mechanically proficiency.

What I'd suggest is you buy a frame, forks and chainset. Then get a bike mechanic to build that up. That'll leave you with the easier items.

loltoride

This is a total non starter yes it is not hard to build a bike if you have some experience of bike maintenance but from the questions asked this chap certainly does not seem to have any experience. I would suggest go to your local bike shop tell them that you want a bike built give them the spec and pay your money.

rowlers

el_cartero wrote:

ok
2 wheels
2 pedals + crank + 3 cog thing ( for 27 gear)
9 cog thing at back
derailer
chain mover thing hehe and chaing ofcourse.
seat and post.
front sussie.
handle bar grips brakes front and back and brake leavers.

just a quick guess.

If you don't even know the correct names for the parts of your build, I'd suggest a bit more research and gain a bit more knowledge before you jump in buying bits for a build, you could end up getting stung, i.e. buying incompatible components.
It is by no means difficult, and indeed very rewarding, but you do need to know your way around a bike!

salsarider79

To be honest if you get your LBS to face the frame, fit the BB, headset and star nut, then book the bike in for a service to set it up, you can build the bike easily enough. The rest of the bike you can pretty much do with a multi tool. Torx T25 for the disc rotors, 4, 5, 6mm for the rest of the bike. I'm generalising of course. I work in a bike shop so know which end of an allen key to use.

Main things to remember:

Do not to force anything, or do things up too tight.
Think about what riding you'll do, then build accordingly.
If your not sure about something - ask.

There is a lot more and it can quite easily be £1000 to get all the parts you need (Forks and wheels can be very expensive).
If you still want to do it, go to your LBS and see if they have any offers, second hand forks, wheels, etc. The bike shop I used to work in, sold the bikes we built, or parts of to upgrade. Some people got very good deals....

missmarple

rowlers wrote:

el_cartero wrote:

ok
2 wheels
2 pedals + crank + 3 cog thing ( for 27 gear)
9 cog thing at back
derailer
chain mover thing hehe and chaing ofcourse.
seat and post.
front sussie.
handle bar grips brakes front and back and brake leavers.

just a quick guess.

If you don't even know the correct names for the parts of your build, I'd suggest a bit more research and gain a bit more knowledge before you jump in buying bits for a build, you could end up getting stung, i.e. buying incompatible components.
It is by no means difficult, and indeed very rewarding, but you do need to know your way around a bike!

Agreed. For the moment, stick to Crossfire, Quad Core and SLI!

diy

buy a used bike of ebay and then learn how to build a bike by customising that. Its more than just knowing the parts, part of the point is that you take your time properly adjusting everything, bedding everything carefully with grease. Taking time to consider how components work well together, considering the geometry of the bike and how it will suit your needs.

Would you expect to make a better quality suit, buy buying higher quality cloth and sewing it together yourself?

In addition to all the parts you will also need some specialist tools. If you buy a new frame it will need facing, you'll need crank tools, cassette tools.

Even a simple job like inserting the forx in the fame is not easy without the right tools.

fat and happy

diy wrote:

buy a used bike of ebay and then learn how to build a bike by customising that. Its more than just knowing the parts, part of the point is that you take your time properly adjusting everything, bedding everything carefully with grease. Taking time to consider how components work well together, considering the geometry of the bike and how it will suit your needs.

Would you expect to make a better quality suit, buy buying higher quality cloth and sewing it together yourself?

In addition to all the parts you will also need some specialist tools. If you buy a new frame it will need facing, you'll need crank tools, cassette tools.

Even a simple job like inserting the forx in the fame is not easy without the right tools.

I was going to suggest pretty much the same thing, buy a cheap bike and spend more upgrading it. This way you will have something to ride immediately and you only need upgrade the parts you are able to/want to get the lbs to do for you.