Building a bike.....

Simon1890

I'm thinking of building a new MTB from scratch with the parts i want......but not got a clue where to start.

I'm thinking of a carbon frame and found this on ebay.....now i know very little about frames and what's good and what's not......any thoughts about this frame:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Full-Carbon-Fiber-Bike-MTB-Mountain-16-Frame-NO-Logo_W0QQitemZ220549634571QQcmdZViewItemQQptZMountain_Bikes?hash=item3359c85a0b

Any advice on frames would be much appreciated....don't want to break the bank.

Cheers

supersonic

There have been a number of threads on cutsom builds recently - be good to search them out for ideas on what is involved and parts list.

Do you have all the tools to do it? Any guides for fitting? And be aware it usually costs far more than an off the peg bike.

There are many carbon frames about, most are pretty good. But you will have to pay import taxes and VAT on foreign frames.

40427

if your new to mtb then you need to know what sort of riding ur going to be doing. it is probably better to buy an aliminium frame from a shop as they are stronger and will propbably take more of a hammering if your going to crash, being new its pretty inevitable.

stumpyjon

Not sure an ali frame is stronger but I would guess it is easier to screw up a carbon frame during a build process. If it was my first build I'd stick to an ali frame and get my LBS to face things like the bottom bracket.

As 40427 says the first thing is to decide what sort of riding you want to do, this should narrow down the frame choice a bit. From there the frame will dictate fork travel, steerer size etc.

Not sure I'd buy a frame off Ebay like that either TBH. As a starting point I'd consider the Kinesis range of frames, they cover most disciplines and can be bought through UK suppliers. Ideally buy it through a bricks and mortar shop, then when you want a suitable headset, seat post clamp, front mech etc. they should know what you need and be willing to help.

When I did my own build a couple of years ago I admittedly bought my frame online (CRC) and had the full groupset from a competiton win but I did go to my lBS to buy forks, bars and other bits. It paid off too, spent and hour and a half with the owner speccing up the bits I wanted, he sorted out a compatible headset for me while their mechanic faced the BB shell and installed the star fangled nut on the forks for nothing. They also let me swap the front mech even though I hadn't bought it from them.

richg1979

ive just built up a new cheapish xc bike for commuting ect using a kinesis xc2 frame,

i was not expecting the frame to be of such high quality giving the price i can deffo recommend a kinesis if your looking for a cheap lightweight ht.

sourced most the parts off ebay or classifieds and parts are all new or almost new.
just find out what you want and shop about, dont pay shop prices.

this build cost me £625 but would of been well over 1k if bought parts from retailer.

kinesis xc2 frame -new
2009 reba duel air sl poploc forks -used but as new
2010 deore crankset with xt outter ring -new
xt front and rear mechs -new front mech mint used rear
slx shifters -new
sealed bearing hubs with alex 100d rims -new
michelin dry2 tyres
deore cassette/chain -new
fsa stem/bars/post -new
hayes stroker ryde brakes -new
charge spoon saddle -new

bulesz

Hi,

Do you have that wheelset which come with sealed bearings hubs? How do you like that wheels? I am asking coz I m planning to buy them..

Cheers,
Bulesz

dogboy73

Check out my bike rebuild blog. I didn't have a scooby when I started this but I've learnt loads over the course of the rebuild. You might even pick up a few tips from one bike building newb to another