Who's built their own bike?
Discussion
Literally just got my first mountain bike, and realised that I should never have spent so little on a bike, there's so many problems with it.
So looking at other bikes I thought why not build my own with the components I want. I know it'll be time consuming and probably cost more but it'd be good experience and nice to have something no one else does. I think id probably build a hard tail.
For someone that knows barely anything now how hard would it be? Is there enough info online to be able to do this? Thanks everyone
So looking at other bikes I thought why not build my own with the components I want. I know it'll be time consuming and probably cost more but it'd be good experience and nice to have something no one else does. I think id probably build a hard tail.
For someone that knows barely anything now how hard would it be? Is there enough info online to be able to do this? Thanks everyone
I've built three from the frame up. it's really very simple, just take your time, find online guides, the park tool website is brilliant and shimano have a load of tech data on their website. Fundamentally there is only one way most parts can fit so it's just a case of getting everything the right Nm. You may need a ship to fit the bottom bracket and/or headset race but that's it.
It really depends your budget but if you are spending £1500+, I'd say you stand a strong chance of getting a better bike for your money compared to off the peg bikes. Buy components online (German websites like bike-discount.de) are very good) as you can take advantage of sales etc but you also choose where to spend the money throughout the bike, namely on the parts that will offer greatest benefit. OTP bikes will always fit low end forks to meet a budget for example. You can spec better forks but take the hit elsewhere, as an example Ritchey Comp or Easton EA30/50 finishing kit isn't the best but it's really cheap!
Finally don't worry about warranties or shops not touching home built bikes, they will happily take your money and fix anything that may fail!
It really depends your budget but if you are spending £1500+, I'd say you stand a strong chance of getting a better bike for your money compared to off the peg bikes. Buy components online (German websites like bike-discount.de) are very good) as you can take advantage of sales etc but you also choose where to spend the money throughout the bike, namely on the parts that will offer greatest benefit. OTP bikes will always fit low end forks to meet a budget for example. You can spec better forks but take the hit elsewhere, as an example Ritchey Comp or Easton EA30/50 finishing kit isn't the best but it's really cheap!
Finally don't worry about warranties or shops not touching home built bikes, they will happily take your money and fix anything that may fail!
Edited by anonymous-user on Sunday 27th April 09:57
I build my own bikes, it is the most rewarding but expensive way of doing it. However, I get what I want and enjoy the experience. I find it easy but it is compared to my day job. 
There are lots on books out there and instructional videos, so if you are careful and spend the time to learn how to do it correctly and safely, you will enjoy putting you bike together. You will need to budget for decent tools. You could pay a LBS to assemble the tricky bits and watch to learn. This is likely to be expensive and most do not like customer intervention as it is a hassle in their eyes.
In Brooklyn NY there is a shop 718cyclery that you can buy the bits and they will teach you how to put it together in their workshop, great shop model however would not work here in the UK so well.
http://www.718c.com/
There are lots on books out there and instructional videos, so if you are careful and spend the time to learn how to do it correctly and safely, you will enjoy putting you bike together. You will need to budget for decent tools. You could pay a LBS to assemble the tricky bits and watch to learn. This is likely to be expensive and most do not like customer intervention as it is a hassle in their eyes.
In Brooklyn NY there is a shop 718cyclery that you can buy the bits and they will teach you how to put it together in their workshop, great shop model however would not work here in the UK so well.
http://www.718c.com/
Edited by pastrana72 on Sunday 27th April 09:59
YouTube is your friend. Everything you will want to know will be there. It really is the best form of instruction manual.
Invest in the right tools. There are a lot of bike specific tools that really make life easy. You do not need to spend a fortune either. I bought a basic-ish tool box from halfords for about £30 that manages 95% of all jobs I need and the quality is more than adequate.
Get a decent bike stand.
Learn the difference between clockwise and anticlockwise.
Leave wheel building to someone else.
Invest in the right tools. There are a lot of bike specific tools that really make life easy. You do not need to spend a fortune either. I bought a basic-ish tool box from halfords for about £30 that manages 95% of all jobs I need and the quality is more than adequate.
Get a decent bike stand.
Learn the difference between clockwise and anticlockwise.
Leave wheel building to someone else.
I built myself a Ragley Blue Pig a couple of years ago, took my time in sourcing the parts I wanted but it was worth it. Only thing I could not do was put the headset in as I didn't have a headset press - lbs did it for £5 for me.
I managed to buy quite a lot of my parts from smaller shops with internet outlets significantly cheaper than the bigger internet retailers, plus a few second hand bits from people I knew and trusted. It takes a lot of time to find the smaller shops but it is well worth it, also keep your eye on the bike forums as people are always selling off parts cheap.
I managed to buy quite a lot of my parts from smaller shops with internet outlets significantly cheaper than the bigger internet retailers, plus a few second hand bits from people I knew and trusted. It takes a lot of time to find the smaller shops but it is well worth it, also keep your eye on the bike forums as people are always selling off parts cheap.
I'd take the frame to an LBS and get the headtube and bottom bracket faced, and the threads chased through.
If it's a brand new frame I'd get the seat tube reamed to size (and depth) also.
Things like getting the crown race set properly are generally easier to get the shop to do also- it's one of those "if you have the tool it takes 2 seconds" jobs.
So, chase/face/ream done, and crown race installed- you are now good to go with inexpensive hand-tools, the Park Tools website, and YouTube.
Oh- and get a decent bike stand, it's the single best thing you'll ever buy in terms of working on bikes.
If it's a brand new frame I'd get the seat tube reamed to size (and depth) also.
Things like getting the crown race set properly are generally easier to get the shop to do also- it's one of those "if you have the tool it takes 2 seconds" jobs.
So, chase/face/ream done, and crown race installed- you are now good to go with inexpensive hand-tools, the Park Tools website, and YouTube.
Oh- and get a decent bike stand, it's the single best thing you'll ever buy in terms of working on bikes.
I had the same feeling a little while ago, it's addictive! Told myself I'd do it slowly but I got carried away and now all I need is the wheels 😉 (and Merlin have some good deals on them at the moment)
Like everyone has said a couple of things are best left to the lbs and I might end up popping mine in for a final check over with the local man in his shed that will probably cost me £10 for a bit of peace of mind.
I've found that you can get some good bargains shopping around and I'm really enjoying playing with each part that turns up and working out what it does.
Give it a go, at least you won't have to work out bar tape!!
Like everyone has said a couple of things are best left to the lbs and I might end up popping mine in for a final check over with the local man in his shed that will probably cost me £10 for a bit of peace of mind.
I've found that you can get some good bargains shopping around and I'm really enjoying playing with each part that turns up and working out what it does.
Give it a go, at least you won't have to work out bar tape!!
Yep,
i build all my own bikes.. never bought an off-the-peg bike as they never seem to be good value.
by buying a mix of bits from the local bike store, Ebay and 2nd hand parts, I have been able to build way cooler bikes with the bits the I want.. not what some purchasing manager wants me to get.
just get the right tools and its easy..I never buildt many wheels, but thats nor an issue these days with factory wheelsets being king.
i build all my own bikes.. never bought an off-the-peg bike as they never seem to be good value.
by buying a mix of bits from the local bike store, Ebay and 2nd hand parts, I have been able to build way cooler bikes with the bits the I want.. not what some purchasing manager wants me to get.
just get the right tools and its easy..I never buildt many wheels, but thats nor an issue these days with factory wheelsets being king.
Building bikes is really easy. To the point that I can't believe anyone would actually take a bike to a shop to pay someone else to work on it. Loads of great videos on youtube etc. as well the sites mentioned above.
Gears can be fiddly to set up properly, but once you work out what all the screws do it's just a case of working through stage by stage. Set the limit stops, then cable tension (making sure the adjuster is half out) then fine tune while riding.
The tricky bit can be working out what parts will work properly together and with your frame, although things like bottom brackets have got much simpler- it's now very much "one size fits all" and you just add in spacers to adjust the fit. I'd stick to one groupset as then then there will be no issues with cable pull ratios etc.
You can get headsets in without a press but you have to be careful. I've done it but I wouldn't recommend it if you've not done it before!
I built a couple of bikes a few years ago and it worked out cheaper, but when I bought my full suspension MTB in 2012 I found that things like suspension forks ate up so much of the budget it was hard to meet the spec of an OE bike by building one myself, especially with a bit of discount on.
You will need some specific tools though such as: bottom bracket tool, cassette lockring tool, cable cutters, decent allen keys or ideally a 1/4" socket set with hex sockets. A "third hand" tool is useful for tensioning gear cables but you can get by with small mole grips or pliers. They will last for ever though!
Gears can be fiddly to set up properly, but once you work out what all the screws do it's just a case of working through stage by stage. Set the limit stops, then cable tension (making sure the adjuster is half out) then fine tune while riding.
The tricky bit can be working out what parts will work properly together and with your frame, although things like bottom brackets have got much simpler- it's now very much "one size fits all" and you just add in spacers to adjust the fit. I'd stick to one groupset as then then there will be no issues with cable pull ratios etc.
You can get headsets in without a press but you have to be careful. I've done it but I wouldn't recommend it if you've not done it before!
I built a couple of bikes a few years ago and it worked out cheaper, but when I bought my full suspension MTB in 2012 I found that things like suspension forks ate up so much of the budget it was hard to meet the spec of an OE bike by building one myself, especially with a bit of discount on.
You will need some specific tools though such as: bottom bracket tool, cassette lockring tool, cable cutters, decent allen keys or ideally a 1/4" socket set with hex sockets. A "third hand" tool is useful for tensioning gear cables but you can get by with small mole grips or pliers. They will last for ever though!
Edited by lufbramatt on Monday 28th April 09:16
TheCarFather said:
Thanks for all the tips everyone. Will checkout the websites mentioned and already looked at YouTube and there is some great stuff on there. I think it'll be an ongoing thing which will eventually come to around £800 .
If your budget is £800, I'd go for an off the peg bike rather than a custom build, bikes like this are very good value for money.http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/vitus-bikes-zir...
For £800 as custom spec you'd be looking at new deore groupset (250), new mavic crossone wheels (150), secondhand frame and forks and standard spec finishing kit like Easton EA30/50.
Custom spec makes sense when you are prepared to down spec finishing kit and groupset to get higher performance frame and forks which manufacturers don't do, they typically don't upgrade big ticket items until higher up in the model range.
Most people for example would take a lower spec groupset to get good air sprung forks rather than a better groupset and coil spring forks but brands still sell bikes the other way round.
I've built a few, always ended up with a final amount which towered over the original budget like it was going to make bread from it's bones. It's amazing how much the 'little things' you hardly ever think about like grips, cables, chains, bars etc cost.
Practically it's relatively easy, even for a office monkey like me, the effort goes into the planning, making sure you get all the right standards/sizes which gets more complex the higher end you go - so 3 widths of rear hub, 2 widths of BB/crank, 3 headtube / steerer tube standards, two bars thicknesses etc and that's just the mainstream stuff.
So... IMHO it won't save you any money, it will take a lot longer than just buying an off the peg bike, but it's very rewarding and gives you an intimate knowledge of your bike which will help down the road when it needs maintenance.
Practically it's relatively easy, even for a office monkey like me, the effort goes into the planning, making sure you get all the right standards/sizes which gets more complex the higher end you go - so 3 widths of rear hub, 2 widths of BB/crank, 3 headtube / steerer tube standards, two bars thicknesses etc and that's just the mainstream stuff.
So... IMHO it won't save you any money, it will take a lot longer than just buying an off the peg bike, but it's very rewarding and gives you an intimate knowledge of your bike which will help down the road when it needs maintenance.
If I were you, I'd make a list before you start.
As mentioned above, if you don't budget for all the cables, brake blocks etc upfront, your budget could run away with you.
Make a list of your ideal spec and price it up. Then see where you'd be prepared to compromise, or see where you'd take a discounted bargain if one comes up during the build.
I can do most things mechanic-wise, with the exception of bottom brackets, headsets and wheels. But that 's due to lack of tools rather than willingness.
As mentioned above, if you don't budget for all the cables, brake blocks etc upfront, your budget could run away with you.
Make a list of your ideal spec and price it up. Then see where you'd be prepared to compromise, or see where you'd take a discounted bargain if one comes up during the build.
I can do most things mechanic-wise, with the exception of bottom brackets, headsets and wheels. But that 's due to lack of tools rather than willingness.
lufbramatt said:
The tricky bit can be working out what parts will work properly together and with your frame, although things like bottom brackets have got much simpler- it's now very much "one size fits all"
Erm.. I'd have said the complete opposite RE BBs - esp on road bikes...Edited by lufbramatt on Monday 28th April 09:16
BB30 /pf30 /english /italian /bb86..
I'm currently in the process of building up my new road bike... - got almost all of the bits now - just need pedals, and a set of black outer brake cables!
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