Building own bike?

CalumR

I have a decision to make... I'm really not sure whether to buy a brand new bike...buy a 2nd hand bike..or source parts and build my own bike...
I think the budget will be a max of 1k but not sure whether i would trust myself buidling a bike.

So how hard is it? is it worth it over new bike prices?
Really not sure what to do!

By the way, its an XC race bike I'm looking for!!

Muchos Thanks

nicklouse

it al depends on what tools you have.

have a read through all the topics on Parktools and see what you feel you can or can not do.

The Rookie

When I first got back into cycling I built my first bike from a near bare frame and a pair of forks, I bought a reasonable book, but to be honest Park tools and Sheldon brown will give you nearly all the info for free, I use a basic Lidl tool kit (about £23, but similar from better brands can be had for £30-35). Since then I've built another 6 bikes, 4 from a totally bare frame up.

Building your own bike has 2 big advantages
1/ You can spec it exactly how you want, so while to build to the same spec with new parts as an off the shelf bike will cost a lot more, you save on replacing those parts you want to change straight away (so if your going 1x9 and buy a conventional 3x9 bike you have redundant shifters/cables/rings/mech you bought for no reason for example).
2/ Buy used parts judiciously and you can build your bike for cheaper than new, and anywhere you settle for 'second best' you know that is what you have done, you know any weak points on the bike and target them to change first, you can also 'cascade parts' for example my commuter had an an LX rear mech (now on the Doris bike) and an XT (now on the MTB) and is now on an X9 (with twist shifter for neatness as its the comuter), changing would cost me money but as I needed to get mechs for those others anyway it meant I could swap to what I wanted for 'free'.

My MTB is based on a Kraken frame, has Air forks, Juicy5 brakes, XT rear mech and all in cost just under £300 (excluding seatpost and saddle which are shared with my commuter), the weakset link are the wheels and are first for an upgrade in future, it weighs just under 25Lb.

Simon

nwmlarge

i'm a fan of building your own.
i love spending hours in the shed though lol