Building/Buying off Ebay
se99paj
Posts: 22
So now that the weather has got better in the UK, I've decided to get out the old mountain bike and try some off road trails near my house. I already have a road bike but wanted to get some variety.
Unfortunately my current mountain bike is ancient, so after going out on the bike for the first time last weekend in probably 10 years it was a pretty bumpy ride. I'm interested in getting a better bike.
I've had look on the market for buying a new bike but I don't really have much cash, I know Halfords have a few bikes for £100 but I'm guessing they won't be that reliable.
I'm keeping an eye on Ebay for complete bikes but its not easy winning a bid.
I've noticed that there are quiet a few people selling 2nd hand components on ebay, so I was thinking would it just be cheaper to buy the individual components and build a bike myself? I've done a bit of research and the general feedback is either (a) its not that difficult to do or (b) its very difficult and you should just take the parts to a local bike shop to put together by someone qualified..
I'd be interested to hear your opinions?
Unfortunately my current mountain bike is ancient, so after going out on the bike for the first time last weekend in probably 10 years it was a pretty bumpy ride. I'm interested in getting a better bike.
I've had look on the market for buying a new bike but I don't really have much cash, I know Halfords have a few bikes for £100 but I'm guessing they won't be that reliable.
I'm keeping an eye on Ebay for complete bikes but its not easy winning a bid.
I've noticed that there are quiet a few people selling 2nd hand components on ebay, so I was thinking would it just be cheaper to buy the individual components and build a bike myself? I've done a bit of research and the general feedback is either (a) its not that difficult to do or (b) its very difficult and you should just take the parts to a local bike shop to put together by someone qualified..
I'd be interested to hear your opinions?
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Comments
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Building a bike up from components is relatively straightforward - an advantage is that the components often come with instructions. If you've always done your own repairs, go for itSpecialized Roubaix Elite 2015
XM-057 rigid 29er0 -
Building a bike is easy. I built both my bikes up and the only thing I didn't do was the headset and crown race. Everything else was installed using a 30 quid bikehand toolkit.0
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Barrelmaker wrote:Building a bike is easy. I built both my bikes up and the only thing I didn't do was the headset and crown race. Everything else was installed using a 30 quid bikehand toolkit.
As above, although I let the LBS do my bottom bracket too as it needed facing.0 -
Building a bike is easy, but for best value get a good used one, with patience you can find one on ebay for circa £120, look for auctions ending at funny times, badly listed or 'requiring work' and be patient.
Gumtree is worth considering as well.Currently riding a Whyte T130C, X0 drivetrain, Magura Trail brakes converted to mixed wheel size (homebuilt wheels) with 140mm Fox 34 Rhythm and RP23 suspension. 12.2Kg.0 -
I think you'll struggle to build any sort of bike for £100. Even with parts from ebay.Planet X Kaffenback 2
Giant Trance X2
Genesis High Latitude 2x10
Planet X n2a
Genesis Core 200 -
And don't buy any bike with "Apollo" written on it!2011 Giant Trance Ltd, 2016 Revs, XT bits etc.0
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Thelonegroover wrote:I think you'll struggle to build any sort of bike for £100. Even with parts from ebay.
I think I could stretch to £200 but anymore and I might as well buy a prebuilt bike.Bishbosh10 wrote:And don't buy any bike with "Apollo" written on it!
Most of the bikes I had as a kid were Apollo, won't go anywhere near them though.
Thanks for the advice guys, I'll keep an eye on Ebay for the time being and do some research on components, etc0