Building a bike for the 1st time, advice, should I do it?

rchip

Hello guys! I got back into mountain biking last year when I purchased a kona kula, loving it so far!

Now, I've had an itch to build my own bike up from parts. A hard tail single speed, v brake bike, just for using down the cheshire line where unfortunately I do most of my riding!

I've been thinking of keeping my eye out for a really light cheap hard tail frame, trying to find a cheap carbon v brake compatible fork (on one maybe?) and going from there.

I have no real mechanical bike knowledge, how much would an LBS normally charge to put together a bike like i described from parts!?!? My dads a car mechanic and could probably do it if we read from online guides but to be honest i think it'd be better if I gave it to a pro!

My second question is, what do i need to buy to run it single speed?

Say I buy just the frame on its own, could you guys tell me what parks i'd need to buy? I've been browsing bike shops online but it's not clear what parts i'd need! Do I need a specific wheel for single speed or is any v brake wheel okay?

Hah so I guess I'm not really building the bike myself, just picking the parts. Just wondering if you guys think a novice like me will be making a mistake doing this? Are there any common pit falls I need to avoid?

I think it'd be a cool thing to do just buying the parts over time when I spot something cheap!

Advice is really appreciated!

supersonic

To start with find a spec list of an existing bike: this will tell you what you need. Then you need to think about compatibilty - you need to research what fittings the frame has, and go from there.

Park Tools has lots of guides on building.

We have an article on single speed in the FAQ.

Paulkingk

If you really want to do it, just get what you think you need and have a go, you'll buy a few wrong parts and it may drive you to your wits end but by the time you finish, You'll have picked up loads of invaluable advice and learnt loads of new stuff. go on get stuck in.

WILL 1 AM

Just make sure the sizes are correct for frame etc.
I built a jump bike first a bought wheels with 20mm front hubs when I had qr forks.
Seat posts, qr's, hubs, bottom brackets,

It takes a short time to get your head round it but it gives you a better understanding of your bike, especially when you build it from scratch.

Big Question

In the process of doing this myself as a complete noob. So far ive got the bike fully assembled apart from front mech which clamp was too low. I swapped bits from another bike so had the luxury of finding out what physically wouldnt fit. I would say its straight forward as long as you do plenty of research before before making a component purchase.
Having the correct tools would be a help, i towed my arse off with a pair of mole grips to replace suspension bushes on the other hand surprised how easy it was to fit a headset with a lump of wood and a big hammer.

good luck

btw if you want a cheap frame i have a rockrider 8.1 like new that i want rid of

captainfly

I'd say go for it, but you will probably want a bike shop prepare the frame meaning to intsall the BB (after a face and chase) , fit the headset cups (after a face and ream) and while they are at it fit the crown race to your forks everything else is spanner work,

I built up a parts bin Handsome dog XC 01 frame for my Dad and it is light and handles well, would be a wicked light build with exotic carbon forks
http://www.allterraincycles.co.uk/product/6479.html
http://www.carboncycles.cc/?s=0&t=2

for wheels some crc custom mavic xm317s on shimano XT hubs would be my first choice

To run a framwe with vertical dropouts the easiest wasy is a single speed conversion kit that replaces the rear cassette and a tension device to take the place of therear mech.

SIMONFREESE

Recently went through my first build, with most parts source from this place! I found that the people who sell things on here really know their stuff, so it is worth asking will it fit etc when you are considering parts. I really enjoyed the whole build process, but it does require a lot of research, and it is certainly worth getting the tricky bits done by an expert as it will save you a lot of aggro.

When you finally get the bike done, the feeling of going out for that first ride is excellent, as with most things in life you get out what you put in, and the extra effort required in your own build is well worth the smile factor when it is all done and rolling.

My bike was nicked a couple of onths ago, which is definately more depressing if you have built it yourself. I am now building another bike to replace it, and am enjoying it once again!

The Rookie

My first bike after nearly 20 years without one was built up from an 'almost bare' frame, since then I've built 2 more for myself (from totally bare frames), 2.5 for my daughter (the 0.5 was a near total rebuild of an abdoned project), one for the Doris and one for my younger daughter.

Buy sensibly and it can be done quite cheap, if you have to make a compromise you know exactly what compromise you made and can fix it later, this way you can end up with a lot better bike for your money than buying new (good quality used parts are great!), I've also used the cascade approach, so when building the Doris bike upgraded my commuters rear mech to X9 (with twist shift) moved the XT (and trigger shift) to my MTB and the LX off that to my wifes bike, so instead of buying an 'OK' rear mech for a tenner, I got a good used for £15 and upgraded both my bikes for a net cost to me of a fiver over buying a cheaper one!

Simon

gilesjuk

Do it, you'll never buy another complete MTB again!

Best thing I ever did. You learn a lot about bike set up and maintenance.

Building wheels is next, I'm glad I took that up too

Paulkingk

Gilesjuk me too! check out the blog the front wheel on my Blender was built by me last month, after years of truing and replacing spokes decided to bit the built. Once laced it was a pretty easy. it's been hammered over the jumps at Danbury and home the last few weeks and is as tru as. well chuffed
http://reatinrides.blogspot.com/2011/08 ... pdate.html

Paulkingk

bite the bullet :oops:

rchip

Thanks so much for these great replies! Really enjoyed reading them.

I'm going to go to my local bike shop tomorrow and have a chat with them about it, they're really nice in there, they did some work on my kona for payment with a subway sandwich so hopefully they're give me some good honest advice!

Just the clarify, I buy a single speed conversion kit, then do I also just buy a single speed crank arm set, because that's all i need!? I'm sure that would be the case but just thought i'd check i'll obviously be bugging you guys with a million questions so you may which you never encouraged me to do this!

Here is what i'd like the bike to turn out like basic spec wise

Kona kula scandium frame with v brake mounts
On one or Exotic carbon forks
Cheap carbon bars and seat post.
XT V brakes
Wheels - I don't know much about so i'll be looking for relatively light cheap ones!
Crank arms i'll have to look around!

That bike would be perfect for me!

matt@theforce

IMO the only BIG downside to building your own bike is once done you'll want todo it again

I built my 1st bike earlier this year and have covered 300-400 trouble free miles and still love it but have the urge to build another one so SWMBO's bike is going to be upgraded over the winter months as she only ever rides her bike in nice weather.

I'll echo what others on here have said, I got alot of advise/parts from this forum which prooved to be a massive help.

If you have an honest LBS then don't be afraid to ask what old model parts they have laying around, I got a few 2009 parts that were less than half the new price