bike build

boydmtbrider · February 2011

Hi im new to mtb and have a carrera lx hard tail frame that i wish to build a bike with, thing is i aint got a clue what i need so suggestions welcome.Im not looking to build a seriously expensive bike just a bike that can handle a bit of rough terrain yet still comfortable on the road.I need everything as i have a bare frame and like a challenge so what do you suggest?

jklash1987 · February 2011

I Personaly think its better to buy a half deacent bike first, enjoy riding it, discover your riding style, ad what you enjoy most, get to know your bike, service it, learn a few things, then see if its realy for you. Thats only my oppinion.

boydmtbrider · February 2011

i have a saracen raw2 that i ride daily and the carrera frame was a friends that he was throwing away and decided to have ago at building my own bike.I tend to mod cars and restore motorbike but that got really expensive and need alittle project to keep me busy.

Atz · February 2011

Why not swap the parts from the Saracen over to start with?

boydmtbrider · February 2011

because i plan to sell one of them once i have finshed and defeats the object of building one.The problem is there are so many different parts for mtb bikes its hard to know whats good and whats rubbish!

cooldad · February 2011

'Good' parts and you'll end up spending thousands.
Suggest you make a list of what you need (everything) and start checking the classifieds and Ebay.

boydmtbrider · March 2011

thats why i need people to suggest what i should get ie which brands and models to build a half decent bike.

cooldad · March 2011

Good luck with that.

supafly1982 · March 2011

im pretty new to building bikes but i thought i would have a bash anyway, i got a bike built by someone i know, wasnt happy with it and stripped it down and rebuilt it, i was busy for ages looking on the classifieds and reading posts to get an idea, its not too long before you start to see wnats popular, certain names pop up, also look at fully built bikes and see what sort of kit is on them.

shimano xtr is good gear, xt slightly less, then you get the likes of slx ,lx, alivio, some of these Deore.

same with forks, read plenty, i was on a budget and i bought rockshox Tora 302 SL

brakes Hayes stroker ryde, you wont be long in picking bits up if you do a bit of reading, as i said im fairly new to this i would of thought the more experienced crew here would have more imput for you.

cheers
scott

boydmtbrider · March 2011

thanks scott ive been searching and looking on the web and gotta say that mtb scene is huge and a vast range of upgrade parts to choose from does make it seem daunting.

Fodder666 · March 2011

Hi there,

I built my bike just under 5 years ago and ended up buying parts from ebay, evanscycles, merlin, chainreaction and 2 local bike shops. I most certainly spent more than I would have done on a similar pre-built model but I wanted the challenge and more importantly got more or less what I wanted and built it to last. I did use a bike shop to get the forks and headset fitted otherwise stumbled through the rest myself. You'll probably find that setting up the gearing will be the most frustrating and problematic part. It may be that you compromise on certain parts as these can always be upgraded at a later time but you shouldn't necessarily go for the cheapest parts. Good luck if you decide to continue with the project.

boydmtbrider · March 2011

Thanks fodder,its more the challenge of the build that interests me rather than a building the ultimate bike.Im a engineer by trade and have equipment to blast,strip repaint anything i need too and like you said i can use a local bike shop to get things set up properly.

The Rookie · March 2011

I built my MTB up from a bare frame, Carrera Kraken frame, Spesh wheels, juicy 5 brakes, XT rear mech, LX front other reasonable kit, all in cost me £290 (Frame costs about £55 once I'd repainted it), weakest point is the square taper Deore crankset, but it can be done, just needs patience on ebay/classifieds. It may be worth swapping teh best bits off the Saracen and replacing them with cheaper to sell!

Simon

kagefisk · March 2011

You sure get more bike for the money if you buy a complete bike, but I understand why you like to build the bike your self. I'm in the middle (acutally almost finished) of the proces myself. For me, the challange and fun of building the bike myself also attracts me. Besides, you get to choose all the components your self.

In your case, your description of what bike you wan't to end up with is pretty vauge, so recommending parts is guesswork. So...i will try that.

Your bike COULD look like this:

Shimano Deore M595 disc brakes
Shimano XT Rotors

FSA Orbit MX headset
Wellgo V8 pedals
Charge Spoon saddle
Seatpost, seat clamp, grips, bar and stem of your choice.

Shimano Deore M590 chainset
Shimano Deore HG50 9sp cassette
Shimano Deore front derailluer M531
KMC X9 93 chain
SRAM X7 trigger shifters
SRAM X7 rear derailluer
Some good gear cables...like Jagwire or Gore

A hardtail frame where disc brake can be mounted.
And some forks which suits the frame.
Wheels for the rest of the money.

You will be able to assemble this bikes for less than 800 gbp i think. Is that more of less what you had in mind? In my opinion this bike will be more than half decent... but that is of course relative.
If you wan't it cheaper you will have to find some of the parts used. I got some Formula RX at half price and they were almost new - so it is possible.
Oh, and remember the cost of tools you don't have, will be added.

Now you at least have a kind of reference list and you can upgrade/downgrade certain parts. I guess that was what you wanted...

02gf74 · March 2011

boydmtbrider wrote:

.The problem is there are so many different parts for mtb bikes its hard to know whats good and whats rubbish!

generally price is a good indicator.

For mtb gears it is a choice of Shimano or SRAM.... and each come in various flavours.

There is more choice in disc brakes, seat posts, saddles etc.

re: disc brakes - I like Shimano* since they have a bleed nipple like you find on cars and motorbikes so easy IMO to bleed. A number of makes e.g. Avid and Magura need a pair of syringes to push/pull brake fluid through the system which is a poin the backside, as you will see by the number of posts about problems for these type of brakes.

* there are other brands weith this, I think Hope are one.

boydmtbrider · March 2011

thanks kagefisk thats a huge help.And all im looking for is a bike that can handle well on rough terrian when i decide to go on trails.Im not a hardcore rider and i have taken my sacracen out few times but it just didnt feel comfortable when the going got tough.

And looks like i will be going with shimano brakes like 02gf74 suggested and i have noticed several topics on brake bleeding, best crack on with my list!!

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