Bike building cost ?

RandG

Ok bit of a loaded question I guess, however, I'm in the market for a 29er fs xc bike, and as it stands I can't really see what I want on new models. For example, might not have the forks i want or right forks but wrong frame etc etc. So my question is, will a build it myself type bike cost me more/same/or less than buying a new bike ?

Bearing in mind I would probably source said parts from here or stw, oh and btw, I've never built one before so have no idea of how much the some of parts would end up.

pesky_jones

RandG wrote:

Ok bit of a loaded question I guess, however, I'm in the market for a 29er fs xc bike, and as it stands I can't really see what I want on new models. For example, might not have the forks i want or right forks but wrong frame etc etc. So my question is, will a build it myself type bike cost me more/same/or less than buying a new bike ?

Bearing in mind I would probably source said parts from here or stw, oh and btw, I've never built one before so have no idea of how much the some of parts would end up.

It depends on how much your willing to spend. It depends on where, what and how you look for what you need. Noone will be able to say - if you build it up in "x" way it will be cheaper then buying a full bike for "y".

Personally, I would buy a second hand full bike - and then swap anything I dont like on it. If you get into it, you can build your next one from scratch.

Chunkers1980

Not too many second hand 29ers about, as their owners even if they don't like them won't admit it and sell it on ;-)

pete_s

TBH unless you're OK about having second hand parts on your bike it wont be cheaper than buying a good stock model. Both my fixed gear bike and mountain bike cost a small fortune when I built them and it took ages.

wayne10244

I built my own bike and in the end with the parts I wanted it cost me well over £5000 for a hard tail in the long run it all depends what you want and if you willing to spend that much on building a bike?

WindyG

I built my Scott up for a lot cheaper than it would have cost as as stock bike, bought a few things like the forks, shifters, rear mech and frame second hand the rest I just bought from various online sites including a couple of German ones.
I started off with a list of all the parts I would need and a rough idea of how much each item would cost and tried to keep under that figure, overall I went about £50 over budget.

The Rookie

3 choices to keep price sensable
1/ Get the frame and fit it out with mostly 'pre-loved' parts (this is how I built up my Kraken, link in sig)
2/ Get the frame and buy a nearly new bike (HT or FS) with the parts you want and making sure you get reasonable compatability (forks, chainset, not worrying about headset, front mech, seatpost and clamp).
3/ As 2 but get a cheap new bike in the sales such as at Pauls cycles to keep cost down.

I built my Kraken up using option 1 (link in sig), if you get lucky with parts it's often possible to upgrade later at minimal loss.

sofaboy73

if your looking to build with new frame / parts, its normally more expensive to self build as you're obvioulsy not benefiting form the economies of scale that the bike companies have in purchase power. Howevr if you shop around, use the german websites or can take you time with the build and wait for plumb sale items to come up, you can usually keep the cost close. The advantage being though you end up with a bike exactly to your spec and (budget allowing) no weak olink that you want to change.

I'm not a fan of buying second hand parts for a build as supply of them is, by their nature, erratic. You often either end up waiting ages trying to find the part you are after or making compromises in your choices to get something, negating the point of a custom build.

However looking at second hand frames isn't a bad idea? may have some of the issues above, dependent on what you wnat, but once you've got it you can crack on with the build with new parts. Often easier to tell with frames if there are wear / damage issues than parts, and a qucik respray makes them look good as new

quote="wayne10244"]I built my own bike and in the end with the parts I wanted it cost me well over £5000 for a hard tail quote]

as a matter of interest, how the hell do you spend 5K on a hard tail? i buildt my carbon nomad with pretty much top end spec all the way through for only a couple of hundred more

felix.london

There is another way...just take your time and wait for bargains to come up.

I've been piecing together my current build since last September (it'll be completed by September/October) and it will def come out cheaper than an equivalently specced new bike. All parts will be new except fork which I got used and pedals and seat/post which I'll be pinching off my DH bike as lifts will be closed by the time it's complete.

I only got the frame in June when the right frame (at the right price) popped up on an obscure French/German site. Just the crankset and the mechs to go...

http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=10017&t=12927265&hilit=votec

The Rookie

Another to speed it up is to buy some cheap basic parts and then fit what you really want later, as long as you are happy doing it that way of course!