Building rather than buying

Hidden Hippo

Reading around, everyone seems to suggest that you need to be spending £600-£700 minimum to be getting a reasonable spec road bike that isn't going to weight a ton.

I've obviously looked at the Triban 3 @ £300, which received a very positive review in this month's CA, but my concern is over the brakes - apparently they don't feel particularly positive, and I think if I'm tucked in then I'll want to know that a brake will stop me easily, like my MTB brakes.

So, my question is, can you build a bike which is a reasonable (sub-10kg) weight with a decent spec for less than £500? I'm guessing that the most important things are the shifters/levers for brake feel, wheels and frame for weight?

If it is possible, please could you spec me the required parts.

Thanks.

smidsy

Usually it will cost more overall to buy individual components and build a bike.

Manufacturers buy in bulk and can offset the costs as they get bigger margins at the higher end to compensate for the entry level bikes.

You will struggle to buy a groupset and wheels for £200 let alone the rest of the bike for £300 all in.

iPete

You could certainly buy one second hand for that money.

frazered

Have been looking at same options. For new items

Carbon frame and forks - 350 to 400 ribble, Chinese, Dolan, planet x
105 Group set - 400
Wheels - 160 askiums
Accessories - 100 ish. HeAdset, bars tape seat, seat post. Some 2nd hand items here

Just over a grand.

Could buy a planet x sl pro for 900 with rival group set plus freebies thrown in. Gutted I did not, but timing was not right for me.

Second hand seems he route next but not that much out there and some high prices it would seems for older stuff with no warranty.

Hidden Hippo

That's a shame - I was hoping that the market would be similar to computers where the cost of building dramatically reduces the cost.

The second hand market seems a bit flat at the moment, particularly in the sub-£500 region. Most of the stuff I see is again £650/700+.

frazered

Agree. I forgot to add tyres and tubes also !

An eBay scavenge hunt would be doable also. Should drop the price a bit further.

getprg

I just bought a 2 year old Giant Defy 2 with tiagra compact group set and upgraded wheels for £270 and have shipped it to Spain as my holiday bike (cheaper and more reliable than hiring on costa del sol). Deals are out there - just keep looking and be patient - try gumtree and see before you buy.

tim_wand

You certainly get more for your money second hand, and a good build in your budget is possible via this route.

New bikes are more than the sum of their parts (Due to the aforementioned scales of economy) and you will be hard pushed to build a bike with new bits for less than off the peg.

I build bikes more as a hobby and to have something unique or with preferred components from years of riding, but they rarely come in cheaper than off the peg and you always have to budget an extra 10 -15% for things such as cables, bar tape , cable guides, headsets, bearings, tubes and all sorts of things you forget.

If the Triban is your budget and only the brakes put you off. then have the Pads changed out for Cartridge backed (Metal backing on the pad) from those specced, I also find Yokozuma cables sharpen up any brake (But they are pricey)

You could pick up a second hand pair of 105 (5700 calipers) for around £40 and these would sharpen things up.

MrChuck

I think you build bikes because you want to, certainly not because it's cheaper! As said above you can't beat the price that manufacturers can do the bits for.
I suppose you could get close if you were prepared to haunt eBay for months and months, but then you could've just gone and bought one and been riding it for those months instead.

snoopsmydogg

Hidden Hippo wrote:

That's a shame - I was hoping that the market would be similar to computers where the cost of building dramatically reduces the cost.

The second hand market seems a bit flat at the moment, particularly in the sub-£500 region. Most of the stuff I see is again £650/700+.

This week should see the finish of my build and has come in slightly over budget but still a hell of a lot less than buying new.

7020 handbuilt alu frame
Full carbon fork
R501 wheels
Full 105 groupset exc. Brakes (had to get those elsewhere)
Kore os bars
itm seatpost
Raceface stem (had itm stem already but ordered wrong size bars doh!!)
Bar tape etc.

Had to cut costs/corners with wheels but then so do the manufacturers and these can be easily upgraded later.

If you have the patience it can be done

kleinstroker

I would never buy a car from a car dealer, likewise I would never buy a bike from a dealer. I have only ever built my own bikes, I'm onto bike 11 starting soon. I probably choose to build bikes because I always think it's going to be cheaper, though I always go over budget .
My current bike is a De Rosa Merak with mixed Tiagra group and Bontrager Race Lite wheels, cost me around £600 to build. You learn a lot building a bike though it can be frustrating at times. If you can find a decent frame somewhere at a good price, you're onto a winner, as there are always tons of bikes you buy, strip down and transfer parts.
Everyone is different though I know, I'm just a natural born tinkerer!!

Hidden Hippo

snoopsmydog - how much is that build coming in at in total?

Building does seem substantially more expensive looking around though - frames are £200 minimum for something that doesn't weigh a ton, and getting a decent groupset in addition would as you say eat up all of my budget.

What would you suggest to look for in my budget (absolute max £500)? I've debated the Triban 3 to be honest and then upgrade the 2300 groupset to at least a Sora if that's within budget, or perhaps to drop the weight a different pair of wheels. My biggest concern, as mentioned, is that I like to feel my brakes stop me easily - the discs on my MTB have a very nice response and if I squeeze, I can feel them stopping quickly which is my concern with the Triban brakes.

Edit: Is this any good?

http://www.merlincycles.com/bike-shop/b ... ecial.html

Sora groupset, 9.9kg. With discount/shipping comes to about £490.

Brommers76

I am building up a bike but have found that ebay isn't that great. Some rediculous prices bid for groupset parts that push the costs within a few pounds of buying new online. I find it is taking longer than I anticipated, particularly when trying to keep the cost down.

I think what has been said above is correct - if you want a bike with x groupset and wheels weighing xx at the lowest price then buy new but if you can wait for the bike and want to go through the journey and are less concerned with ££ - then build your own.

Hidden Hippo

I've seen one thing in my range, but it's a TT frame, so probably not ideal. I'm looking at Ribble at the moment - their bike builder looks pretty neat to be honest - get yourself the exact parts you want in the spec. Anyone had experience of them - are they decent quality?

snoopsmydogg

Hidden Hippo wrote:

snoopsmydog - how much is that build coming in at in total?

Building does seem substantially more expensive looking around though - frames are £200 minimum for something that doesn't weigh a ton, and getting a decent groupset in addition would as you say eat up all of my budget.

What would you suggest to look for in my budget (absolute max £500)? .

will try to work out the total cost but think it definately less than £600. If I broke it down to sell for parts then I shouldn't lose money on it. The good thing about building yourself is you can buy in stages so you arent spending one big lump sum and learning about the bike as you go (including getting some shiny new tools).

With a £500 budget for a new bike then I would be looking for a good frame and forks initially, I know this goes against a lot of others on here but with a good frame upgrades can be done over time and have less of an impact on the wallet. If you go the other way and get a good groupset then a new frame and forks are pretty much bought together which can be £££'s .

If you have the time look to build (ebay, forums and local clubs) and get the bike you want or even look second hand, have seen loads of allez elites and treks go for around that price recently but they were just too far away for me to go and look at.

Hidden Hippo

To be honest, I think it's unlikely I'll build. It strikes me as a great thing to do, but I need to have the money there to snap up deals when they appear. However, if I've got the money there I might as well just purchase a full bike.

I was actually looking on Ribble earlier, and I could get a full carbon road bike for £750. It would have a Sora chainset and probably quite heavy wheels, but the frame is light and it would be a reasonable basis to start from wouldn't it? I could always pick up a decent second hand 105/Ultegra chainset later down the line and some new wheels to shave weight. Alternatively, for £600 I could get a 7005 ally frame with the same hardware, basically I'd be paying £250 for the carbon frame (saving about 600g) - is that worth it?