Self build or not?

Tiberius007

To date I never went the self build route. I was worried I would spend a lot and make a hash of it. Therefore wasted investment.
REsult still looking :-(

oldbazza

Here's one I did earlier


It's a true 'bitsa' but to be fair it was enforced as I had previously had a too large bike.

I was just going to transfer all the parts over but the classifieds had too much shiny stuff :roll: The only new parts as such are the Campy wheels and Planet-x brakes so the 105 bits are all that's left from the old bike.I do still have the wheels and other odd bits and these may be used for a winter/cross bike and the wheels can still be used on the Icarus.In the end I have broken even by selling the frame and some other things I didn't need any more and I'm really pleased with the end result.

One thing to note if you do build yourself is that it's a lot simpler with the right tools and a decent workstand;of course they are an added cost but once you have them you can do all the servicing yourself,bikes are pretty simple things really and there are loads of good(and admittedly bad) tutorials about.

StillGoing

boydster76 wrote:

philthy3 wrote:

I built my winter bike myself and have built a couple of bikes for others and found it therapeutic and easy. If you want a specific frame and build, it's the way to go. There are plenty of internet shops/suppliers out there offering new parts at a fraction of what a LBS can supply them. I managed to obtain a genuine new 2013 full SRAM Rival groupset for one friend's bike at a fraction of the cost from the LBS so it can be done.

I agree and there is a real sense of achievement gained, both with the finished article, and through the bargain hunting process. One small example from yesterday - Cane Creek 40 headset - LBS price was £45.00, CRC was £40 and Merlin Cycles was £30.

I source the bits from various suppliers i.e. brakes from one place, shifters from another etc etc until I end up with a full group set none of the retailers could compete with as a whole group set.

I don't use a spreadsheet to plan a build. Know roughly what things are going to cost and overestimate. If you've got change at the end of the process, all's good.

jameses

I went down the self build route this time last year. The advantages, as far as I see them:

-You can spec the bike exactly how you want
-You soon realise bikes are pretty straightforward and fettling really isn't difficult
-It can work out significantly cheaper than buying off the peg - my total build cost about £850, including tools; the equivalent off the shelf would have set me back at least £1500, and that's not even taking into account the cost of things like saddles and stems that often need changing from a stock build, not to mention the crappy wheelset that usually comes with low to mid range bikes. I know it isn't the be-all and end-all, but my build also came in lighter than about 90% of the bikes featured in the recent 'Bike of the Year' thing.

The disadvantages:

- Time. It may take a while to gather all the parts, especially if you're working on a budget.
- It can be frustrating if you haven't done much maintenance before (don't let that put you off, though!)

MrJim007

I dived in head first and did my own self build for my TT bike. I learnt so much from doing it and have not had to pay to have any of my bikes repaired since!!
Echoing what some of the others have said, take your time over building it and sourcing the parts. The web helped me out immensly and most things can be sussed out from a web search and a forum or 2! I probably didnt save a huge amount of money over buying a complete bike but I had a real sense of satisfaction knowing I had put it together using all the exact parts I wanted.

Tiberius007

Some time has passed since I originally wrote this. I actually have now built my own bike in the confines of a safe and pretty cheap environment. I listened to all the advice that was given and decided to strip down my 25 YO Raleigh MTB, and built it right back up with new parts. Sourced all the new shimano parts over the summer months and turned the old 18 spd into a nice Deore 27 spd.
Everything except the handlebars and frame are new, and cost me just over £100, found some real bargains. It was a good learning session for me, and allowed me learn what to do without fear of expensive mistakes.
Although still learning I would now feel more comfortable upgrading my road bike groupset next summer.
Anyway just wanted to say thanks for all the advice.

DKay

Building up your own bike is great. Doing it from parts collected over on the cheap over time is even more satifying.

I built-up my own bike from scratch this summer and I loved it. If anything goes wrong, I have complete confidence I can fix the majority of problems on my own.

Matthewfalle

I always do self build now - plan what I want well, well in advance and track down bargains as and when they appear. Order down, pop them in a big box in the workshop until needed then get a couple of days off work, stock up on Lavazza and Garibaldis and build it up - de-stessing, money saving and a great sense of pride in doing a job well.

Also teaches you a lot about mechanicing.

Every time you ride it you also get a soft warm glow because it's your bike, you chose the parts and you built it. People also, for some random reason, also seem quite impressed that you built a bicycle, although it's not actually that difficult. It's a bicycle, not a space rocket.

You only need a couple of special tools (headset press, crown race thingie, b/b thingie) either splurge out and get these, make your own if you plan on doing this again or, if you're friendly with your LBS, they will do them for nowt.

Monty Dog

Out of the 20-odd bikes that have passed through my hands, only 2 have been bought complete - both MTBs - all of my road bikes have been built from scratch. I expect if I were to go to a bike shop and spec a bike, I'd get charged full-retail and you pay the biggest margins on individual parts - but I really do it because I've created something truly unique. My current project is a custom titanium framed fatbike for 5" tyres - frame and carbon rims bought direct from China and the rest sourced from all over the place including ebay, Germany and the Netherlands. The parts alone have cost over £2k but if I were to try and buy a similar spec from a shop, it would easily be well over £3k and wouldn't have any unique custom design features.

StillGoing

Once you've done it, you will never understand why people take their bikes to a dealer for servicing and upgrades etc.

paulbnix

I decided to build a bike after I saw an unmarked Planet X Pro Carbon frame on Ebay.
I fitted it out with bits bought off ebay and in the sales except for the wheels.
As I can only ride one bike at a time I just swap the wheels over.
Until I bought a new seat post I also swapped the saddle and post between the bikes.

Tiberius007

Yup - pure satisfaction it is - totally agree. Cost me next to nothing and the frame is over 20 YO but its all my own work.

And as you say it builds confidence to do other things. :-)

dudley heinsbergen

+1 - if you build it yourself are much better placed to fix it / fettle / clean and re-grease etc.