Building my own road bike. Advice?

[Stokemon]

I have decided it would be quite a fun and a nice idea to build my own road bike. However being a final year student budget is limited, though I intend on buying the parts and building the bike over quite a long period of time, hoping I have a job to pay for it next year. The intention is to keep the entire build within £1000, I can assemble the whole thing myself so it is only parts which are going to cost.

Does anyone have any particular recommendations or advice when it comes to building a road bike?

[Disco You]

It's basically lego.

For your budget, you will most probably get a better bike buy buying pre-built.

If you're still interested, take a look at chinese carbon frames on ebay.

[ewenm]

Get the best frame you can afford. Everything else is easily upgradable when funds permit, so initially don't have to be the best.

I'd expect you to struggle to beat some of the deals available from off-the-peg online sources as you won't have the benefit of buying components in bulk.

[shouldbworking]

This and save yourself the effort
http://www.planet-x-bikes.co.uk/i/q/CBPXSLPULT2/pl...

Presently building my first mountain bike up from scratch, been a doddle except for the headset + crown race, didn't have the tools for them. Stuff I did require (already had) was chain whip, cassette lockring tool, bottom bracket tool, grease, usual array of allen keys, cable cutters, spanners, cup and cone spaners.

[Eddh]

If you are a medium buy this:

http://www.westbrookcycles.co.uk/frames-c6/road-fr...

[anonymous-user]

You may get better vfm buying a complete bike, that Planet X is particularly hard to beat and especially as we enter sales season, but if you are prepared to spend a little time on it you could probably get a good alu Ridley frame from CRC (if they have any left), mostly 105 10 speed components, Shimano RS30 wheels and Deda finishing kit from the usual suspects for well under £1000. Ribble, Wiggle, Chain Reaction, job done....

Ebay carbon frame is very good advice now there is loads of feedback on bikeradar forum of many happy customers detailing who to use.

Scott is stunning but finishing the build with just £500 will be, um, hard...

Edited by anonymous-user on Friday 9th August 11:30

[BGarside]

I've done it myself a few times. Generally costs quite a bit more to buy the frame and bits than to buy an off-the-shelf bike of similar spec.

My approach these days is to buy something similar to what I want and then modify/change the relevant parts, whicb is slightly more cost-effective. I always have to do this anyway to get the riding position and gearing I want...

Also expect to encounter problems with incompatible parts, especially when you are trying to get the gear shift working properly, unless you buy a complete transmission set of the same components / groupset.

On the upside, it's nice to have something custom-built that (theoretically, at least) meets your needs. Having said that, it's easy to get it wrong and I've had not less then 3 custom-built steel-framed bikes which have been unsuitable for one or more reasons and which I've had to move on at a great loss...

[yellowjack]

Eddh said:

If you are a medium buy this:

http://www.westbrookcycles.co.uk/frames-c6/road-fr...

I have no psychic powers whatsoever. Will it be OK for me?

[Eddh]

yellowjack said:

I have no psychic powers whatsoever. Will it be OK for me?

How tall are you?

[Rocksteadyeddie]

The only way you are going to get a better bike for under £1000 is copious use of Ebay and used bits. Absolutely nothing wrong with that as a alot of the stuff for sale has done little more than go round the block a couple of times.

[yellowjack]

yellowjack said:

Eddh said:

If you are a medium buy this:

http://www.westbrookcycles.co.uk/frames-c6/road-fr...

I have no psychic powers whatsoever. Will it be OK for me?

Eddh said:

How tall are you?

Er? I'm not a medium.

[SkinnyBoy]

I build all my bikes and it gets expensive very quickly with man maths logic and detail creep. I look at it from the view of the bike will be exactly how I want it from the get go so no real need to upgrade for a long time. The tools needed to assemble a bike from scratch can be expensive too but if you are into building them like me ithe cost pans out over a few builds.

My current road bike build is pushing into the reals of a few grand but factor in that it's exactly how I want it it would work out cheaper in the long run than if I bought a new complete bike and then upgraded to the spec I wanted.

[anonymous-user]

Sometimes you have to buy the components separate to get the bike that you want, as an example, should you want a certain frame like an Cinelli and a particular groupset/wheelset like Sram Rival, you will need to buy it all individually because if you do find one off the peg, it will most likely be fitted with campagnolo, but thats not to say you wont get a better bike compared to an off the peg bike, its just that you need to spend about £2k before it becomes effective because spending £2k means you can spec a £1k frame, quality groupset and wheels and then lower spec contact points but fundamentally, you get a better bike than a £2k OTP bike because a) you know the true value of the frame and b) you make savings where you want them, not where the manufacturers finance dept want them a £2k OTP bike will almost certainly not have a frame that would retail for £1k.... however if you are spending £1k, you either get the bike you want and accept that buying it all individually may not be as good value for money or you exploit the likes of Planet X and their cut-out-the-middleman philosophy.

To be honest, this Kenesis is great value for money for £800 and really well spec'd. Take off the guards and its a nice lively sportive bike, keep them on and its a perfect all year ride/commuter and still leaves £200 for some nice kit....

[80sMatchbox]

yellowjack said:

Er? I'm not a medium.

Thanks to you I look like that werdo on the train laughing to himself.

[Stokemon]

I just can not decide what to do... That Scott frameset is stunning for the money, and yes it is the right size . I know what I would do regarding the group set for the frameset, just clueless when it comes to wheels now, any more advice in that area?

Then again that planet x bike for £1000, is amazing value already, but I half would wait and see if they will reduce the price any more then that would be an outstandting winner. Decisions decisions...

[Rouleur]

As mentioned before you'd do well to keep an eye out on Bikeradar and ebay for something like Ksyrium/Ultegra/Fulcram 5 wheelsets as you'll get something worth keeping for a good price, maybe £200.

If you buy cheap ones you'll get the upgrade itch in no time.

[Stokemon]

The Scott Frameset,
Shimano Sora 3500 9spd (I dont see the point in 10spd, esp. with the price difference)
Fulcrum Racing 5 2014 Wheelset
Carbon Seatpost
and a finishing kit off Planet X

All adds up to £992, I haven't checked compatibility of parts yet but seems a steal to me! Feel free to point out any dire errors which I have been known for making.

[Disco You]

Don't get the Sora 9 speed on that frame... At least spend the ~£50 more for Tiagra...

[anonymous-user]

Stokemon said:

The Scott Frameset,
Shimano Sora 3500 9spd (I dont see the point in 10spd, esp. with the price difference)
Fulcrum Racing 5 2014 Wheelset
Carbon Seatpost
and a finishing kit off Planet X

All adds up to £992, I haven't checked compatibility of parts yet but seems a steal to me! Feel free to point out any dire errors which I have been known for making.

Fitting Sora makes no long term financial sense because 9 speed road groupsets are quickly dying out so to upgrade any of the Sora components in the future will mean buying a whole new groupset.

You really would be better spec'ing lower quality parts elsewhere or adding a bit to the budget and upgrading to Tiagra.

[scjgreen]

http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/sed/road-track-bike/...