Build a bike?

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by dabiker
I'm new to this forum and I'm hoping for some help with a decision I am considering regarding building a bike. I have been looking at upgrading my ride to a carbon bike. I've been looking at several bikes in the $2K + range, and began to wonder about the possibility of buying a frame and building the bike myself. I've never built a bike but have a good set of tools, and have spent plenty of time working on old cars & trucks, re-building engines, and such. I would think that if I could find some good references or manuals that it might be realistic to build one on my own, but on the other hand, if the savings would be minimal, or if it does really require special skills, it could end up costing more, or worse, ending up with a piece of junk.
Any advice?
Thanks,
dabiker

You may not save money depending on what and how you buy,but you get exactly want you want.No speczial skills needed, and common sense and basic mechinal know how will get you by. New parts from shimano and campy come wih good instructions,and everything else you need to know is at www.parktool.com or in a good maintenance book like the one by Zinn

I built my new bike up from a pedal force ZX2 carbon frame and I saved a hell of a lot of dough for what I have. More importantly, I have a bike that I feel a lot of personal pride in and which I know every nut and bolt. Savings aside, you will learn a LOT about bikes, componant selection and bike set up in the process. It's very worthwhile to do.

Boudreaux is right, its not that hard to build a bike, and the best part is you can hand pick each component. If you go with an off brand like an EPX you can pick up a full carbon frame for around 650 on E-Bay new and save a lot. If you are going to do it you should invest in a couple of torque wrenches. The 2 from park tools are excellent for bike work. If you get stuck you can always take it to the LBS for some help along the way.

When you build the bike from the frame up you then understand everything there is to do to repair and maintain the bike as well. No need to take it back to the LBS, just do all the repairs and preventive maintenance yourself. You get it done right and save money also. I just took apart my headset and cleaned, inspected and regreased the whole thing the other night. Did it in my kitchen while watching TV. Not sure what that would have cost at the LBS, but I inspected the bearings and cups and know exactly what condition they are in and that it has all been done correctly. Not to give the LBS a knock, but some are good and some are just plain lousy.

Good luck,
David

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by boudreaux
You may not save money depending on what and how you buy,but you get exactly want you want.No speczial skills needed, and common sense and basic mechinal know how will get you by. New parts from shimano and campy come wih good instructions,and everything else you need to know is at www.parktool.com or in a good maintenance book like the one by Zinn

Chris King's website says that a vital step in building up a bike from scratch is to face the bottom bracket shell and head tube and ream the head tube, because apparently most frames don't come with perfectly square head tubes/bottom bracket shells and the surfaces of the head tube that the cups sit in aren't always aligned properly. Is there any truth in this? I suspect they've massively exaggerated how important it is, but then I've never built a bike from scratch (not a fancy one, at least).

i recently finished building a LOOK 361 frame. i didnt know a lot about building a bike so i got a build kit to make sure i dont spend 20 years getting all the parts i needed.... turned out pretty easy and looking back.. there were probably one or two parts that i would rather had not be in the kit... but i think its a good start...

id imagine facing the bottom bracket would be pretty important considering how much stress the bottom bracket would take so it would be advantageous to spread the stress evenly over a flat face...

i had my lbs(all they sell is trek) cut my fork and face my bb for about 15 dollars total... they even gave me free cable stops...

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by mjw_byrne
Chris King's website says that a vital step in building up a bike from scratch is to face the bottom bracket shell and head tube and ream the head tube, because apparently most frames don't come with perfectly square head tubes/bottom bracket shells and the surfaces of the head tube that the cups sit in aren't always aligned properly. Is there any truth in this? I suspect they've massively exaggerated how important it is, but then I've never built a bike from scratch (not a fancy one, at least).

Highly exaggerated, but the ARs will insist it has to be done. Quality frames are usually already done. It seems to make little or no difference on the majority of factory built stuff where it is not done.In the old days of cup and cone BB it was a bit more critical,but less so with Cartridge BB. Never done it myself and no issues.

i have found that it's an important step because sometimes, they are not flush (head tubes more so than BB)...and you can end up damaging things if you ride on it a long time...

QUOTE]Originally posted by mjw_byrne
Chris King's website says that a vital step in building up a bike from scratch is to face the bottom bracket shell and head tube and ream the head tube, because apparently most frames don't come with perfectly square head tubes/bottom bracket shells and the surfaces of the head tube that the cups sit in aren't always aligned properly. Is there any truth in this? I suspect they've massively exaggerated how important it is, but then I've never built a bike from scratch (not a fancy one, at least). [/QUOTE]

Building is fun (and there is value in that). So is tearing down completely to clean... Will you save money? Maybe, but will it cost more time? Maybe. Your call and analysis.

Will the shop build it better? Possibly. Sometimes it is a great builder and it is perfect, sometimes it is a kid who screws it up (kids can be great builders). I take mine in about every 2 years, and find something that isn't quite perfect. My point is that I will always be more anal about my own stuff, particularly when I work on it.

One thing that is worth getting done for you (the tools are super pricey) is the headset. I made my own tool out of a long threaded rod, but I've done a bunch before and it was aluminum. While not steel, I could have wrecked carbon easier. With some luck, you won't even need this step.

Don't bother building wheels. You can buy great ones these days that need little maintenance. I fyou try to build your own, and it isn't that hard, you will tweak yourself out if you strip something on the expensive spokes/rims. Dishing is no fun (IMO).

Use good grease everywhere that you thread things, and have fun!

2 tools that are good to have (outsied the obvious), are a stand and a third-hand cable tool.

From my experience it's always more expensive to build-up a frame than it would be to buy a complete bike. You can't get anywhere near the prices on componenets that a manufacturer can. I've even thought that it might be cheaper to buy a complete bike (a slightly used one or an off brand like a Leader) and strip the components off for your frame then sell the take-off frame on eBay. What you do get if you build-up your own bike, is the ability to selsect every component. And, as others have said, the satisfaction of having built your bike yourself.

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by meehs
From my experience it's always more expensive to build-up a frame than it would be to buy a complete bike. You can't get anywhere near the prices on componenets that a manufacturer can. I've even thought that it might be cheaper to buy a complete bike (a slightly used one or an off brand like a Leader) and strip the components off for your frame then sell the take-off frame on eBay. What you do get if you build-up your own bike, is the ability to selsect every component. And, as others have said, the satisfaction of having built your bike yourself.

If you shop around enough, I reckon building from scratch can (sometimes) be done a lot more cheaply than buying an equivalent spec. This wouldn't apply to the budget end of the scale, where you can get a (admittedly basic) road bike for, say, GBP350, but at the higher end, I think self-builds can be excellent value. I was considering building a bike around a Giant TCR Composite frame recently; I would have been able to get the frame/fork, full Ultegra group, decent finishing kit and I think Campy Protons for about GBP1800 - the same bike (more or less) was 2500 off the shelf.