Buy complete or build it?
ProphetofProfit
Posts: 3
What I'm looking for is a bike for general commuting and getting about town. It appears that a cyclocross is my best option but I'm stuggling to decide whether I should buy a complete bike or build a bike myself. My preference is for:
Steel frame
Disc brakes
Drop bars
Single speed
My preferred choice for the complete bike is the Genesis Day One Disc:
http://www.genesisbikes.co.uk/bikes/cro ... ay-01-disc
Plus:
Shimano A530 pedals
Brookes B-17 saddle
Gatorskin Tyres.
Cost = £887 (£760 bike + £42 tyres + £35 pedals + £60 saddle)
However I end up with an OEM saddle, OEM pedals and tyres I don't want, plus nasty wheels (or so I've heard about Alex XD-lite wheels) and OEM components. A few weeks ago I was reading some discussion about how building a bike from parts was much more expensive but I've found a way around this, namely Ebay and Tweeks cycles. If I go this route I end up with the components in the attached file 'Bikecomparison.png'
In short I've upgraded:
Frame
Levers
Stem
Headset
For a cost of £916 but I've yet to decide on the wheels. My budget is slightly flexible, as I expect the bike to be my primary mode of transport for the next couple of years (I hate cars) and therefore don't mind spending a little more on something that I'll use very often. If I go with the Day One Disc, the wheels could give up on me anyway, same with the headset and stem. The only other negative is that I'll have to build the whole bike myself, which is do-able, or pay someone at the LBS to help me out somewhat.
So what I'm asking is, would you in my situation buy the Day One Disc or build the bike yourself? Thanks.
Steel frame
Disc brakes
Drop bars
Single speed
My preferred choice for the complete bike is the Genesis Day One Disc:
http://www.genesisbikes.co.uk/bikes/cro ... ay-01-disc
Plus:
Shimano A530 pedals
Brookes B-17 saddle
Gatorskin Tyres.
Cost = £887 (£760 bike + £42 tyres + £35 pedals + £60 saddle)
However I end up with an OEM saddle, OEM pedals and tyres I don't want, plus nasty wheels (or so I've heard about Alex XD-lite wheels) and OEM components. A few weeks ago I was reading some discussion about how building a bike from parts was much more expensive but I've found a way around this, namely Ebay and Tweeks cycles. If I go this route I end up with the components in the attached file 'Bikecomparison.png'
In short I've upgraded:
Frame
Levers
Stem
Headset
For a cost of £916 but I've yet to decide on the wheels. My budget is slightly flexible, as I expect the bike to be my primary mode of transport for the next couple of years (I hate cars) and therefore don't mind spending a little more on something that I'll use very often. If I go with the Day One Disc, the wheels could give up on me anyway, same with the headset and stem. The only other negative is that I'll have to build the whole bike myself, which is do-able, or pay someone at the LBS to help me out somewhat.
So what I'm asking is, would you in my situation buy the Day One Disc or build the bike yourself? Thanks.
0
Comments
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Firstly, if the bike was going to be my primary mode of transport I wouldn't go singlespeed (but then I also have more than one bike and no hatred of cars). If you going to stick with SS, your choice.
Secondly, I don't imagine the wheels, headset or stem are going to just give up on you.
If you go with the Day One, ask the bike shop if they'll upgrade your selected parts and offset the price by them keeping the OEM bits. Often they will do this, or at least discount the price of the new parts. With regard to wheels, either ride the OEM ones until they break then replace/upgrade them, or buy the ones your want and keep the others for the winter. Perhaps most importantly, have you actually test-ridden the Day One? You might fall in love or completely hate it.
Are you able/can you bothered to build a bike from scratch yourself? Help from the LBS will certainly push the price up. BTW, you quote £50 for saddle in the chart but £60 in the text.
TBH, I'd go with the Day One and change/upgrade parts as they wear out. Building from scratch will always be more expensive (albeit more rewarding), but at this price point there are loads of good bikes to choose from.0 -
Thanks for the thoughts.
I'm probably not capable of building the bike myself in all honesty. That'll cause me some problems. And you're almost certainly right about the OEM components and Alex rims, they'll function fine for a while and I can upgrade later.
One more thing I forgot to emphasize is that the Day One frame has horizontal drop outs while the Croix de Fer has vertical drop outs, and as such requires a chain tensioner and is less suitable for running SS.
Ashamedly, one of my motives for buying the Croix de Fer frame is that I have a fetish for white frames.0 -
You should give the complete bike build a go, it isn't that hard, and it's fun, and of course you are constantly learning throughout the process. The only thing that put me off the Croix der Fer frame was the weight, you don't want something too heavy imo. Have you seen the Kinesis Decade Tripster? Alloy I know, but still for me a contender, especially as it's disc ready ...
http://www.kinesisdecade.co.uk/product.php?id=10
