Build or buy complete?

Lolage

Hi,

I'm in the market for a single track bike which will be used mostly for the trial centers in the UK. I have about £700 to play with and would ideally like a full susser.

Seeing as these bikes sometimes need little tweaks to fit perfectly for single track I figured it might be a good idea to buy all the parts seperately second hand? Or would it be cheaper to buy a complete bike second hand?

Thanks!

delcol

do you have the tools and knowledge to build a bike...

personally i always built my own and specced them how i want.. apart from my first rockymountain hartail. and my spesh demo..

if you are a novice and dont have the tools then a complete bike will be your best bet...

you will get more bang for your buck with a hardtail......

Lolage

delcol wrote:

do you have the tools and knowledge to build a bike...

personally i always built my own and specced them how i want.. apart from my first rockymountain hartail. and my spesh demo..

if you are a novice and dont have the tools then a complete bike will be your best bet...

you will get more bang for your buck with a hardtail......

Personally - I probably don't have all the tools and knowledge required but I know for sure my dad will. I presume I could spend the £700 on good components, with a hardtail frame. Then when/if the time comes I could always upgrade to full sus..?

supersonic

It can be done with careful buying - but it all has to fit. Certianly much easier to buy a complete bike, with warranty and peace of mind.

£700 gets you this new:

http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/products.p ... Suspension

Chunkers1980

You don't upgrade to FS.

delcol

if you set your heart on a full suss then go for one.. i was just sying you would get more bike forr your money with that kind of budget...

to be honest it aint really that hard to build a bike there are a few specialist tools like headset press to fit the headset cups. bottom bracket tool to fit the bb. thats pretty much it the rest is just allen keys.

oh crown race setter for the crown race and a starnut setter to do what it says set the star nut...

indexing the gears can be awkward if you dont know how to do it..

youtube is your friend there are videos covering most things you wwill need to build your bike...

intresting read for you.
http://www.bikeradar.com/news/article/b ... 000-29222/

Lolage

supersonic wrote:

It can be done with careful buying - but it all has to fit. Certianly much easier to buy a complete bike, with warranty and peace of mind.

£700 gets you this new:

http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/products.p ... Suspension

I remember your name from the whatMTB forum days!
With regards to that bike, looks good- however it doesn't bother me going second hand to get a better spec!

supersonic

That was a long time ago! I write for WMB nowadays ;-)

You might struggle to get a bike as good 2nd hand! Plus always have to be careful of condition - no good if needs all the bearings replaced and suspension servicing.

miss notax

Building a bike is also infinitely more complicated, time-consuming and costly than you initially think. Trust me. But you do end up with a one-off that's perfect for you

I custom built my first bike, and got my second complete....

Anonymous

It's not that bad. Though I'd leave it if you haven't done much maintenance yourself. Once you've worked out how to pull apart and fix up an existing bike, building one is pretty much the same. You're likely to have the relevant tools also.

The cost comes more from deciding to get certain components but then on shopping around you go for the more expensive options

MountainMonster

Here in Austria due to price differences, single parts are much more expensive. For buying everything separately, your looking at a huge chunk of cash saved by buying a full bike.

Pudseyp

I would go down the FS second hand route, try the classifieds and ebay, though view the bike before buying or bidding to ensure you don't buy a dog...

Check the suspension stanstions and rear can piston for excesive wear, check the chain rings for wear and also the brakes work with no dragging and the pistons work ok...obviously you will get cosmetic damage chips etc...but by being a bit savvy you could get a bargain especially after christmas as people pay a premium this time of year for presents...

diy

Complete bike (preferably used) then change what is needed.

Dirtrider

I think second hand full suspension is the way to go.

I bought a second hand Giant VT2 from here and it's in very good condition, wheels had never been used and it really has got me back into it. You could get a very nice second hand bike for £700.

1mancity2

Even if you buy new you will end up swapping components, second hand full suss i reckon, loads about,

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2008-SPECIALI ... 4160277fe9

Anonymous

1mancity2 wrote:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2008-SPECIALIZED-STUMPJUMPER-ELITE-FSR-MOUNTAIN-BIKE-/280786075625?pt=UK_Bikes_GL&hash=item4160277fe9

Spotted that one yesterday. Great spec and very good condition it seems.

Selling history is all private auctions (why?), but their buying history isn't. Last item bought turns out to be the same bike - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/310361819926#ht_500wt_1202

Note that it's a 2007 in that listing and was sold with Hope X2 brakes yet the new listing claims it had Juicys and that's what you'll get despite the Hope in the picture.

Seems they're buying bikes, stripping off good bits and reselling them for a small profit. I'd just be wary about the "no PayPal" part (in breach of ebay's rules given it's listed as accepting PayPal). Definitely only pay cash on collection and give it a good check first. Oh and accepting offers by phone I think is in breach of the rules too. But then to make money on doing this they're obviously minimising costs, i.e. fees.

1mancity2

Just the first one I saw but plenty more on, like DK says be careful and always check selling/buying history

Gav888

I was in the same boat as you and looking at what I could have got for my budget once im finished it would have been a good spec bike 2nd hand, but I ended up buying an Anthem X frame and im currently building it up.

My budget new would have gotten me an Anthem X4/X5, buying 2nd hand would probably have gotten me an Anthem X3/X2, but me building one has gotten me an X0 spec'd bike, but its taken months of careful and very lucky buying! I guess im lucky that I have another bike so I have taken my time to get exactly what I want at the price I wanted to pay.