building a bike from scratch

craigy boy

hi guys first time post so take it easy ,

looking at building a bike from scratch atm ive been looking a specialized hardrock sports frames 2009 model, to base my build on

what do yous think ? is it a good bike to base a project on or is there any other suggestions any better ideas feel free to let me know

cheers

supersonic

What is your budget? Is not a bad frame, but depends what parts you want to put on it. Need to budget for tools too.

Almost always better to buy new for about £500.

nicklouse

What bike tools do you have?

Have you looked at the Parktools web site?

craigy boy

i dont have a budget as such, im a mchanich by trade, i know i can get good bike buying new, but i want to build my bike from scratch much more fun and interesting, i have a lot of tools maybe needing to look at tools like bottom bracket tools and things like that but im thinking of just buying a bike tool kit.

budgeting about £100 for the frame 2nd hand? i dont mind too much ?

and as for the rest im in the middle of saving up i probably have about £200 atm to buy sstuf and make a start on it.

craigy boy

i would like maybe 110mm - 12omm forks and some good parts ? money isnt to much of an issue

cat_with_no_tail

You must have some idea of how much you want to spend overall.

£200 could either buy a single shifter, or an entire groupset. A hub, or a complete wheelset with tyres & tubes.
And so on.

It's impossible for people to give you advice without knowing at least roughly what you want to spend.

£100 really isn't a lot for a frame, you might get a 2nd hand on-one inbred frame for that though.

craigy boy

i dont mind a 2nd hand frame at alll and all in all im willing to spend £500 - £600

cat_with_no_tail

£300 - will get you a full deore groupset with wheels.

£110 - will get you recon silver TK forks

£130 gets you a brand new Merlin Malt 2 frame

You still need headset (+fitting), tyres, tubes, bars, stem, seatpost, saddle, grips, pedals. Budget at least another £200 for that.

Then you'll need to spend a bit getting the correct tools, stuff like HTII BB tools, chainwhips, that sort.

craigy boy

cheers for your help i will certinly go and have a good proper look at some stuff i just wanted to hear what other people are thinking

nicklouse

By a bike for £500? It will save you money.

craigy boy

i know its going to save me money but ive been wanting to build a bike freom scratch exactly the way i want it ?

cat_with_no_tail

I think the point Nick is trying to make is that £600 is a very low budget for a self-build. You'd not so much be building what you want as whatever you can afford.

A £600 off-the-peg bike would probably be a better spec, for the same money and less hassle.

craigy boy

yeah cheers for the advice im now in 2 minds i was just looking at a couple of bikes and i see what yous mean think i might go for a new bike any suggestions £500 mark ? still need to get some clothing plus helmet and camel back

Cannondale12345

Decathlon rockrider 8.1 £500
orange G2 2011 £500 - http://www.cyclesurgery.com

hope this helps

Ouija

Always better to buy an off the shelf bike close to what you wanted and then modify it than to build a bike from scratch (not that that's ever stopped me). Mainly because the off shelf bike will have been built by a company who buys all the components in bulk, at considerably less price than you would pay for the exact same components bought separately.

Simply sell the bits you didn't want and then use the money to replace them with the bits you did. Works out cheaper.....

rockmonkeysc

One of my bikes was a custom build & even with seriously compromising & buying cheaper parts than I would like it cost me £1500 to build a reasonable hardtail.

MountainMonster

Just another echo here about the price of building, even with having a bike for the majority of donor parts for my new cotic soul frame, i've laid out about 800 just on forks, frame, front wheel and other small parts that couldn't transfer. And most parts were with serious discounts from a buddy of mine at the lbs, including forks which have been in the shop for voer 2 years without anyone taking them, and getting them for well under 50% of the asking price.

craigy boy

cheers for the advice cannondale

i went onto that site u sent me i was looking at the g2 but then i seen the g3 with rockshox toras and avid elixer 3 brakes think it will be worth while coughing up the extra bit of cash and buying that?
http://www.cyclesurgery.com/pws/UniqueP ... CORA0129EE

supersonic

The Decthlon is better than that Orange, yet £150 cheaper.

Cannondale12345

Yeah I would say, spend bit extra on that g3, looks good and at the end of the day go for the one YOU want, I'am just advising you

styxd

Go for it, its the best way to do it (aslong as you dont mind buying 2nd hand!)

I've built up quite a few bikes from scratch for mates for around your budget (less even)

You'll end up with a far better bike built how you want it. You've just got to be patient and get the bargains when you see them i.e.

On One frames Ive seen go for as little as £60 2nd hand
Hope XC/Mavic wheels for around £100
Decent set of brakes £50
Forks £150
Thomson seatposts and stems can be had for less than £30 each 2nd hand.

The Rookie

Or carrera Kraken frame - £35
Mavic Crossrides - £85
Juicy 5's - £40
Manitou Skarebs elite (SPV) - £55

Mine also runs XT rear mech (£15)
LX front (£7)

etc etc

Simon

craigy boy

yeah it still is very tempting but recently ive been looking at the decathlon rockrider 8.1 for £500 or the orange g3 for £650 must be said ive been reading the reveiws on the rockrider and the specs i think thhe rockrider has the edge

craigy boy

also does anyone know where al get finance on the decathlon rockrider ?

The Rookie

Bank or interest free credit card, decathlon don't offer it as far as I know.

Simon

Anonymous

If you want to build it and don't mind the money, go for it. Just it often works out more than you think as you buy this and that and the tools, then more bits you hadn't considered or decide to splash out a bit more for and so on.

For my bike build I did it by reusing components from my old bike having bought a new one. Bought a frame and stuck on existing components. Then ended up spending £500 on top on upgrades I didn't need .

I already had the tools having done much maintenance on the old bike, but had bought those over time. Tools, there will be standard tools and specific stuff for the components and frame you have, and then some expensive things you may or may not want to get and perhaps bodge instead or borrow tools (if not hand the thing to the LBS to do).

You do learn a huge amount building a bike, even just maintaining one especially if you strip one down to replace or service bits. They're not all that complicated really, just sometimes a hassle when a 2 minute job takes an entire day.

Prescient

I have built a few bikes in my time and there is nothing better nor more satisfying than achieving a masterpiece or even a mismatched dog if you get it wrong. You just don’t get that same feeling buying an off the shelf bike and cost becomes irrelevant.

However, for 98% of the satisfaction you can buy a brand new bike, then strip it completely before riding it and simply re-build it on your lounge floor. This has many benefits including that; you know all the parts will work and fit, it may work out a lot cheaper especially as you won’t need to get the headset pressed in / steerer cut etc unless you have all the tools, and the bike will have a full warranty with your LBS / Retailer. Buy a few simple upgrades to your off the shelf bike and add in to the re-build to make it your own.

With lots of sales still on, you can buy 2010/11 bikes far far cheaper than you could build for but then since when is money the object.

If you have some patience, buying second hand can make a self-build extremely cost effective but the chances of parts coming up all at once are slim so it can take 2-3 months or more of waiting for the right ebay sale. I am starting a project using this approach for a single speed beach front cruiser ready for the summer.

I was going upgrade one of mine recently, right through leaving only the frame as stock. Turned out £200 cheaper to buy a brand new sale bike and that is before I got some money back from selling the one I was going to upgrade.