Can i build a carbon bike for £600 ?

mattyboy199

Been looking high & low for a carbon road bike, missed out on ebay by jus a few £'s & now struggling to find a bike thats the correct size (48cm). So yesterday it occured to me can i actually build a carbon bike for £600 ?

If i can find a used carbon frame & forks with a headset & seat clamp £300
Wheels £100 ?
Bars, seatpost, saddle & stem £100
chainset, mechs, chain, shifter, brakes ? £100

I m not an expert on road bikes at all, wondered if you guys can help, you may even have parts i can buy all parts could be used it doesnt bother as long as they work & suffer only little wear.

Is there any reason why i couldnt use MTB parts ? (i m far more knowledgeable of them)

nochekmate

mattyboy199 wrote:

Been looking high & low for a carbon road bike, missed out on ebay by jus a few £'s & now struggling to find a bike thats the correct size (48cm). So yesterday it occured to me can i actually build a carbon bike for £600 ?

If i can find a used carbon frame & forks with a headset & seat clamp £300
Wheels £100 ?
Bars, seatpost, saddle & stem £100
chainset, mechs, chain, shifter, brakes ? £100

I m not an expert on road bikes at all, wondered if you guys can help, you may even have parts i can buy all parts could be used it doesnt bother as long as they work & suffer only little wear.

Is there any reason why i couldnt use MTB parts ? (i m far more knowledgeable of them)

Secondhand carbon frame for £300 is possible and new Chinese carbon frames can be had new for about that price - read long thread on this!
Wheels for £100 - yes Fulcrum 7s, Shimano RS10/20 are not much more than £100 but you need to budget for tyres & tubes too £30 at least really.
Bars, seatpost etc for £100 - yes if you shop around secondhand - new not that easy.
Groupset is where you will have problems - £100 will get you nothing even secondhand of any great interest to be honest. Decent 105 shifters might cost you that alone.

Can you buy one secondhand for £600 - yes definitely. Cheapest I've managed was for a colleague - Isaac Pascal with 105 groupset for £400 and a Kuota Kharma for £450

turnerjohn

mattyboy199 wrote:

chainset, mechs, chain, shifter, brakes ? £100 - not for £100, your looking for double that.

I m not an expert on road bikes at all, serious question.....are you sure your capable of building a bike?...does take a fair bit of knowledge to do....just throught Id ask as a shop will charge you around £100+ for buildup

Is there any reason why i couldnt use MTB parts ? you can use 9speed MTB stuff (which is the kind of budget your looking at...or 8 speed and again their compatable. The new 10speed Dyns (whatever Shimano call it!) isn't compatable as its a different cable pull.....10speed road will work with 9 speed road and mtb mechs as you could use a short mtb mech and normal front mech on a compact and it should be ok (I've done it myself )