Buying a lower tier bike and replacing parts over time

I've done similar to this, as for me the colour is a key part of why I own and ride a bike.

If it's not a colour scheme I like (With the exception of it being a utility bike), I either won't ride it, or I'll have to pay a fortune to get it repainted.

My approach was to buy the bike and as it was coming into winter, basically chuck a sheet over it and forget about it - in the interim I ordered a set of handbuilt wheels from Spokesman, and ordered a replacement groupset and integrated bars on the C2W scheme.

Then I paid my lbs to remove the original groupset, and fit the new one, plus wheels and bars - I am fairly mechanically competent having built up two bikes in the past from frame and parts, but critically those were rim brake and had external cabling, where as this had hydraulics and a pretty complex setup at the front end to fully integrate all of the cables.

I'd asked them to remove the 'new' original parts, and put them in the boxes from the new groupset, and I then sold it on ebay I think it was, or possibly fb marketplace, I forget now.

Economically I suspect your approach probably makes more sense though, especially if you know you are going to cover a decent amount of miles on it, and wear them out sooner - with my bike, it's my 'best' bike and I know the mileage is not going to be that great, so it would have taken me some time to start wearing ultegra bits out, to the point where they needed replacing.

Mine worked out cheaper than the off the shelf version from the manufacturer, and it was lighter.

The other bonus with it, is if you hand pick all the parts and finishing bits you REALLY want, you end up with a unique bike, that's hopefully as close to your perfect machine as you can get.

I went the opposite way. A top frame with budget components which were replaced over time. Still using that frame 16 years later so justified imo.

I bought a Giant Defy with Sora groupset. It was the very lowest base model. Ran it for a few years and really liked the bike so I treated it and me to a 105 groupset, new bars, seat post and saddle and wheels all of which I bought for bargain prices in sales over a 6 month period. It's now my best bike but hardly ride it! Mostly cos the saddle is shite and hurts my arse. (upgraded saddle was a nice Pro-Logo but it developed a nasty creak after 13 months so I chucked a cheapo on it)

The only caveat I would highlight is that the whilst you are replacing with newer stuff, the frame will still get worn. I have had bikes where it gets to a point the frame is so battered there is no point chucking nice upgrades on it. You end up sticking cheaper and heavier stuff on it and kind of end up back at square one!

Although, if you are fairly low mileage and the frame stays in good condition, this is far less of an issue.

I'm curious too. In the absence of serious crashes quality steel lasts decades. Mine lasted 15 years before a respray and even at that someone pre-spray thought it looked brand new from normal viewing distance.

Summary - Buy the frame you want and fit it with the best you can afford. Even if cheap it can be upgraded later.

I guess it depends on how you care for a bike. 14 years old, @ 70k kms, pre-respray.

In not sure that stacks up. You'll usually be replacing components as they wear out so when you decide the frame has had it you may still have parts with many miles in them, in which case getting the frame resprayed is a lot cheaper than buying a bike. I would always strip down and rebuild my own bike, I don't trust anyone else with it so that's a cost only in time, and it's likely to be in the order of 8 hours work in total. It also assumes that you're happy with an off-the-peg build.

You are right, it is a bit of a judgment call, and you can end up with perfectly viable bits on the bike, depending on wear rates and when you decide to call it a day with a particular bike. For example, my last winter bike was a Caad12. Purchased it in 2019 with sram force mechanical and a red quarq pm. As the force parts wore out I replaced them with some blingy red 22 bits. After winter of 2022/23 the crankset was pretty beat up, Brake calipers were knackered, the FD was bent due to a dropped chain getting stuck and the right shifter was completely broken. The frame itself was pretty marked up and had a few little dings here and there from minor crashes. I decided there was a bit of life left in it so I stuck some 105 shifters, FD and calipers on there. Used it for a few more months but by that time the chain rings needed replacing, rear wheel brake track had worn through and various other bits were shot (BB, Seized seatpost). I decided at that point to replace the whole bike, there was life left in some of the components and the frame is still viable, but it just made no sense to keep chucking money at it.

As I said above, the biggest factor will be how much you ride and what conditions you ride in. 15 hours a week for 50 weeks of the year in all conditions pretty quickly wears components out and will leave bike frames looking pretty tired within 2 or 3 years (and components regularly being replaced), regardless of how well they are maintained.

I suspect though that this is probably not a major concern for the OP!

Which this year looks like being about a fortnight...

Scott Addict 20. Very impressed with it, weighs just over 8kg in a size XS for me. Comes kitted out with full 105 di2 for about £2800 at full retail. You can fit mudguards too.