Building a Bike

mtb3

Hi, I am currently thinking about building prefer not to buy a complete bike, would like a Light, easy to ride durable Hardtail XC MTB. I have a max budget of about £650

I am 15 and way 56 kgs and I am 5ft 6 1/2. I want some advice on what:

Frame
Forks
Full Disc Brake System
Rims
Tyres
Seat
Riser Bar
Gearing System
Derailer
Hubs
Pedals and Drive System

I ust to have a 2007 Stump Jumper Comp Hardtail wich was perfect for me in weight. I want something enjoyable and fun not something wich makes me slogg and regret what I have bought into.

cat_with_no_tail

Budget?

Any reason you want to custom build? You get much better value from buying a complete bike.

If you used to have a rockhopper and it was perfect, why not just get another?

mattv

You can get a new Rockhopper for your budget, in fact you can get a 2010 model for less than that! Its usually MUCH more expensive to build a bike yourself rather than buy one off the shelf, unless you have specific components you want and would have to swap them into it later.

mtb3

The reason for me wanting to build is to give me something to do as I enjoy making and building things.

Also I don't have the money to buy a complete bike at this moment and it would take up to 1 year maybe longer to get the bike I really want.

So I thought by building I could buy the componets I won't when I have the money.

cat_with_no_tail

For a total budget of £650, a custom build is do-able, especially with 2nd hand parts. But it wont be as good as something "off-the-peg".

If I were you, at that pricepoint, if you insist on a custom build, I'd be looking at something like an on-one scandal with deore group and wheels from Merlin and some Recon forks or something.

Remember though. In addition to the cost of the parts, if you've not built a bike before, there will most likely be certain tools you need to buy, or a certain amount of labour to pay your LBS for stuff like having the BB and headtube faced and fitting the Headset.

nicklouse

dont forget the cost of getting the tools and the parts fitted that you dont have tools for.

buy a ready built bike and put your money into upgrading it over a year.

diy

buy a quality used bike thats had a bit of a thrashing and then fix and replace the failed parts.

thisischris

Tools and all the other bits add up. Dont forget that a decent bike stand as this makes building up the frame a lot easier.

Probably agree with DIY, get a a thrashed old bike a build it back up. Providing the frame is true there is nothing you cant put right. (dont hold me to that) Maybe something like a 2nd hand Carrera. They are nice and cheap on ebay and seem to get good reviews across the forum. Pick one up for a couple hundred, ride it for a bit then decide where next to spend the money. You'll then get a feel for what need s upgrading first and what can wait. Best off you can ride inbetween workshop sessions!

Fogliettaz

I built this for not a great deal more than your budget, go ahead and do it, and you get a lot more pleasure knowing you are riding something original rather than an off the peg bike.

thisischris

Thats a cool carbon frame, where'd you find that?

Fogliettaz

Ebay ex China

matt@theforce

mtb3 wrote:

Hi, I am currently thinking about building prefer not to buy a complete bike, would like a Light, easy to ride durable Hardtail XC MTB. I have a max budget of about £650

I am 15 and way 56 kgs and I am 5ft 6 1/2. I want some advice on what:

Frame
Forks
Full Disc Brake System
Rims
Tyres
Seat
Riser Bar
Gearing System
Derailer
Hubs
Pedals and Drive System

I ust to have a 2007 Stump Jumper Comp Hardtail wich was perfect for me in weight. I want something enjoyable and fun not something wich makes me slogg and regret what I have bought into.

I have just done this and have done the following, I bought a 2nd hand frame with the closest geometry to my old Cannondale as I know that suited me which ended up being a Kona Caldera. This came with an XT Bottom Bracket which looked like it had been recently fitted and a fully functioning XT Front Mech  , Seat Post & Clamp.

I bought some wheels from Ebay that had been swapped off a New bike with XT Hubs & WTB rims for £100 (also came with 160mm Rotors

My Bike Build So Far
Kona Caldera 18” Frame with XT BB, WTB Seatpost & Clamp (Ebay £70)
XT Hubs, XT Quick Release Levers with WTB Rims & 160mm Centre Lock Rotors (£100)
Shimano Deore Chainset & BB Included (Lex Cycles LBS)
Shimano Deore Shifters (Lex Cycles LBS)
Shimano XT Rear Mech (non shadow(discount available) Lex Cycles LBS)
Shimano Deore Hyrodlic Brakes (Lex Cycles LBS)
Cane Creek Headset (Lex Cycles LBS)
Easton Bars + FSA Stem + Hope Spacers + Kona Grips (CRC)
Swalbe Black JackTyres + Slime Inner Tubes (Wiggle)
Peddles, Had some spare
Shimano Rear Cassette & Chain, Re-used from my Cube

In my experience unless you have lots of inner/outer gear cables/disc brake hoses, olives etc its not worth buying Shifters/Brakes 2nd hand (unless they come with all the necessary bits in the correct lengths.

I have the forks still to buy and am worried about buying 2nd hand due to not knowing exactly what stem length I need. There are a lot of people on here who are very helpful & Supersonic was more than helpful when I enquired about his forks that he had for sale. I still have to make my mind up on which forks I want but need to wait until next payday unless I do a car boot sale before the end of the month.

I’ve stuck to Shimano products as I’ve been using them for years, when it comes to which models to buy I’ve just bought what I wanted (not too fussed about the weight) and have relied on advise from people on here and my LBS/Friends.

Good Luck with your decision, My build has come in at less than £550 including me budgeting £120 for a fork and will weigh approx 28lb when complete

macky1

It's really hard to build a new bike for the same cost as a pre-built one.
This is my new build (sorry no picture haven't worked out how to add one yet).
Total cost was between £550 - £600 excluding tools, and the wheelset/front mech/seatpost which I used from my old bike. Only job the bikeshop did was cut and fit the forks.

Frame: Dawes Edge Comp 18 inch, powdercoated in white (nice frame)
Forks: Rockshox Tora 2010 SL Coil 100mm (black)
Headset: FSA Orbit MX
Wheels: WTB with Quando hubs
Tyres: Continental Race Kings (2.2 front, 2.0 back)
Front mech: Shimano Deore
Rear mech: Shimano Deore Shadow (2010)
Shifters: Shimano Deore 9-speed with full-length outers (2010)
Crank: Shimano Deore with external BB (2010)
Pedals: Outland Kustom sealed-bearing flats
Cassette: SRAM PG-950 9-speed
Chain: KMC silver
Brakes: Avid Juicy 3 (160/160mm soon to be 160/180mm)
Stem: Planet X Superlight team 3D (white)
Bars: FSA Carbon Pro (black)
Grips: Superstar lock-on (black)
Seatpost: Titec XC Pro (black)
Saddle: Charge Spoon (black)

Weight: approx 30lb including pedals, about 28lb without