Bicycle Mechanics - How much was your frame buildup?

Of course, of course, it totally depends, but I'm staring at my disassembled Bridgestone frame wondering how much it is going to cost me after I get the frame in shape ($#&!!% frozen bottom bracket cups). I could use the experience of those of you who've built up your own bikes.

I'm thinking in terms of mid-range shimano components, though I am still undecided whether to put flats or drops on the thing. Let's assume I'm going to need everything outside of the frame.

So, how much would you guess you spent/spend building up your frame(s)?

New or used parts?

Either. Again, I'm sure the range here will be huge, from bargain basement dumpster divers to those who got full dura-ace from their LBS. I'm probably going to be getting mostly new over the internet.

I'll clarify. How would you characterize your build and what did you spend? Thanks.

Ok, here goes. On my Surly LHT build--not including the frame cost--I spent about $1000. Thats all new components (LX/XT/Sugino) and my building the wheels. I'm sure I could have saved a few hundred by more carefull shopping, but I supported (and still do) a local shop and just got everything from them in 1 shot. (I didnt want to wait!)
I have a friend that got ALL his parts wholesale and only spent $1200 with the frame. Quality level will drive the cost up or down a good bit. Carefull shopping can save alot!

Starting with a bare frame for $990, using a mixture of new and old parts, and being honest about the cost of the old parts, I spent $2427 of which, including the frame, I paid for $1877 directly within a couple of months of buying the frame. I will probably swap even some of those parts in the next year for higher end stuff. But then, if you aren't making out a check to either a big oil company or a big car company every month, week, day :eek: :eek:, you can do stupid stuff like this;)..

Edit: Below is the result, although some stuff has changed since this picture was taken (in August:eek: )

Lessee... my touring bike

$100 for a *NICE* NOS 80s touring frameset and seatpost + $20 shipping
$15 for cranks+BB from the Pay It Forward thread
$10 for suntour barcons
$100 for 105/Mavic wheelset
$10 for LX canti brakes
$10 for cassette
$20 for pedals
$10 for tires
$10 for handlebar, stem, brake levers, and bottle cages (and I got a frame and shifters with that too... which I then sold for $90)
$6 for tubes
$8 for 8-speed chain
$5 for bar tape
$18 for Blackburn Expedition knockoff rack (I forget what brand mine is)
random cables I had lying around
my favorite saddle transplanted

I'm probably forgetting a minor item or two... but all in all I got my touring bike built for about $330-350. And if I count the $75 I made back selling the frame that I bought for parts... :)

Everything on it was lightly used, except the NOS frame, chain, bar tape, rack, and tubes. I trolled craigslist intermittenly and visited a couple swap meets to get the parts to build this up.

Bike builds can be wild!
The race bike i build has cost....
Centaur group 280ukp
Athena/Chrina Wheelset (2nd hand) 50ukp
Graham Weigh 853 frame 100ukp
Look Carbon fork 100ukp -25 fro selling the one that came with the frame = 75ukp
Tyres 30ukp
Other bits and bobs 50ukp
Total: Between 550 and 600. For reference, a Specialized Allez or Trek 1000 would cost 550.

so far!

I can tell you, I have ordered everything for my mid end road bike. I already had pedals and a seat.
Total comes to 842 dollars.
I have Veloce shifters and derailleur, a Reynolds Ouzo full carbon fork, Xero XR1 wheels, Rouleur GXP cranks, Expected weight to be between 17 and 18 pounds. All parts were new, almost entirely from ebay.
I purchased the itres, tubes, handlebar tape, and BB, outside of ebay.

...So, how much would you guess you spent/spend building up your frame(s)?

Approximately 2X the cost of the frame itself. I use a mix of new and used parts.

On my Caldaro:

$223 for the frame on eBay
$750 for the Campy mixed gruppo (Chorus levers, Record crankset, Centaur everything else) from Pro Bike Kit
$500 for wheels, tires, bar tape, seatpost from several LBS's
$150 for the stem and handlebars from Nashbar
$50 for the saddle from eBay

Grand total $1673.

Hmm let's see -obviously much depends on what you have already..... For my touring bike buildup (all costs include shipping are are estimated on the higher side):

wheels:
originally bought a pair of 32h Sun CR18 rims for $99, ended up using one rim and relacing to a WTB front disc hub cheap off ebay and buying new spokes, so let's call it: $80
bought a rear CR18 36h rim, rear Deore disc hub and spokes: $85
inner tubes and Specialized Fatboy tyres: $45
rim strips: $10
2 Avid Road disc brakes off Ebay: $135
brake and derailleur cables: $25
Front headset bearing (Cane Creek S2): $30
stem and handlebars with tape : $50
Shimano Tiagra shifters (off ebay): $85
Seatpost (cheaper Easton one): $30
Brooks narrow B-17: $95
Shimano 105 crank (got given them by a friend, but let's call it a $70 cost): $70
Shimano BB: $30
Shimano Deore rear derailleur: $25
Shimano 105 front derailleur: $25
chain and cassette (SRAM PC99 and Shimano XT cassette): $60
Fenders: $20

Total: around $900 (all labour and wheelbuilding done myself). Admittedly, some of these parts I got gifted (crank) and or were pull offs existing bikes I had (front rim, rear cassette and chain, rear der, bb, handlebars) so it never felt like it was *that* expensive.

What I find is that it's too easy to forget about things like rim strips, bar tape, cables and housing -and those niggling little extra rather suprizingly add up. Whenever and whereever possible, I always tried to get the components at the cheapest price, making copious use of coupons. And of course, if you haven't got the tools you need (another investment there) you have to usually pay someone with those tools to do the build. Building up your own bike usually isn't very cost effective in comparison to a bought bike -though I do have the immense pleasure of riding a bike I know I built on wheels I hand built as well.

I should add I'd bought a frame off ebay -a Dawes Sardar for about $210 including shipping. I figure I've ended up with a really really nice touring bike with disc brakes and STI shifting for around $1100, which I'm happy with.

What I find is that it's too easy to forget about things like rim strips, bar tape, cables and housing -and those niggling little extra rather suprizingly add up. Whenever and whereever possible, I always tried to get the components at the cheapest price, making copious use of coupons. And of course, if you haven't got the tools you need (another investment there) you have to usually pay someone with those tools to do the build. Building up your own bike usually isn't very cost effective in comparison to a bought bike -though I do have the immense pleasure of riding a bike I know I built on wheels I hand built as well.


Definitely. In the end, I was surprised how much I spent, especially since the frame was such a steal. But as you say, it is an immense pleasure to ride I bike you've put together yourself.

(The next step in my development as a bike wrench will be to build my own wheels. And I understand that it's not necessarily cheaper either, but then it's not really about saving a few bucks, is it?_

(The next step in my development as a bike wrench will be to build my own wheels. And I understand that it's not necessarily cheaper either, but then it's not really about saving a few bucks, is it?_
I'd say building wheels yourself will be cheaper, at least if what you want are good wheels rather than mediocre wheels!

If you buy pre-built wheels, you get mediocre machine-built stuff mostly. If you have your LBS do it, you have to pay retail on the hubs and rims, plus labor. If you do it yourself, you can get hubs and rims online for cheap, and then save on the labor costs.

Plus, when you build your own wheels, you KNOW that their quality depends only on your own competence... not on someone else being in a hurry. That may or may not be a comforting thought :p

I'd say building wheels yourself will be cheaper, at least if what you want are good wheels rather than mediocre wheels!

If you buy pre-built wheels, you get mediocre machine-built stuff mostly. If you have your LBS do it, you have to pay retail on the hubs and rims, plus labor. If you do it yourself, you can get hubs and rims online for cheap, and then save on the labor costs.

Plus, when you build your own wheels, you KNOW that their quality depends only on your own competence... not on someone else being in a hurry. That may or may not be a comforting thought :p

Sounds right. I've done both of those things on my last two sets of wheels. One was a good set (Mavic OP/Ultegra) crappily built. That was a $199 Nashbar special but they were so out of tension that I had to take them to the LBS to be trued and retensioned. Pennywise but pound foolish.

The next set was Open Pros on Centaur hubs that I had that same LBS build. Got a very reliable wheelset but wow did I pay!

Hmm let's see -obviously much depends on what you have already..... For my touring bike buildup (all costs include shipping are are estimated on the higher side):

wheels:
originally bought a pair of 32h Sun CR18 rims for $99, ended up using one rim and relacing to a WTB front disc hub cheap off ebay and buying new spokes, so let's call it: $80
bought a rear CR18 36h rim, rear Deore disc hub and spokes: $85
inner tubes and Specialized Fatboy tyres: $45
rim strips: $10
2 Avid Road disc brakes off Ebay: $135
brake and derailleur cables: $25
Front headset bearing (Cane Creek S2): $30
stem and handlebars with tape : $50
Shimano Tiagra shifters (off ebay): $85
Seatpost (cheaper Easton one): $30
Brooks narrow B-17: $95
Shimano 105 crank (got given them by a friend, but let's call it a $70 cost): $70
Shimano BB: $30
Shimano Deore rear derailleur: $25
Shimano 105 front derailleur: $25
chain and cassette (SRAM PC99 and Shimano XT cassette): $60
Fenders: $20

Total: around $900 (all labour and wheelbuilding done myself). Admittedly, some of these parts I got gifted (crank) and or were pull offs existing bikes I had (front rim, rear cassette and chain, rear der, bb, handlebars) so it never felt like it was *that* expensive.

What I find is that it's too easy to forget about things like rim strips, bar tape, cables and housing -and those niggling little extra rather suprizingly add up. Whenever and whereever possible, I always tried to get the components at the cheapest price, making copious use of coupons. And of course, if you haven't got the tools you need (another investment there) you have to usually pay someone with those tools to do the build. Building up your own bike usually isn't very cost effective in comparison to a bought bike -though I do have the immense pleasure of riding a bike I know I built on wheels I hand built as well.

I should add I'd bought a frame off ebay -a Dawes Sardar for about $210 including shipping. I figure I've ended up with a really really nice touring bike with disc brakes and STI shifting for around $1100, which I'm happy with.

Okay, if we're going to talk touring bike, here's mine. But I did it the hard way, I started with a complete bike and changed out all the stuff on it. Not an economical way to go but it makes for a great bike;) (All numbers are in US$
Frame, Complete bike: 900
Headset, Red Chris King: 120
Front Derailer, Stock: 0
Rear Derailer, Stock: 0
Front wheel, Phil Wood/Mavic: 185
Rear wheel, Phil Wood/Mavic: 379
Handle bar, Ritchey: 35
Seatpost, Race Face: 35
Saddle, Brooks B17N: 100
Crank, Race Face Turbine: 230
Bottom Bracket, Race Face: 0
Pedals, Shimano 520: 50
Cassette, Sram: 60
Brakes, Avid shorty 4" 80
Stem, Race Face: 15
Levers/shifter, Shimano 105: 100
Rack, rear, Tubus Cargo: 100
Rack, front, Tubus Tara: 88
Tape, Aztec: 20
red bits, Purely Custom: 55
Pump, Topeak: 30
Computer mount, Cateye: 20
Bottle cages, Zefal: 30
Cable/housing: 40
Total: 2,672.00

Extras for touring
Bags, front, Ortlieb: 100
Bags, rear, Ortlieb: 130
Handlebar bag, Ortlieb: 80

Total stupidity: 2,982.00

And the final result is below

Oh man, you went for the nice stuff! (Chris King headset, Race Face crank and Phil Wood hubs no less!). Sounds like you have an excellent bike build. And I'm very partial to Cannondales ;^)

I forgot to include the cost of bottle cages in my build costs, plus the costs of racks, but I figure you could count those -and fenders I suppose -as extras. Also I have Shimano (cheaper entry level ones) clipless pedals, but I already had those and got them with a bike, so I didn't figure those in either.....

Thanks to all so far. Cycco, those are beautiful bikes.

I definitely don't see this as a cost-effective maneuver, especially time-wise, as I'm learning to do all this work for myself. I view this as a hobby and have enjoyed being able to keep my bikes running myself (mostly). This will by my first attempt at building up a bike for myself.

So, how much would you guess you spent/spend building up your frame(s)?

Everybody has different objectives and differing resources so their results aren't transferable to somebody else. Cyccommute gave you the high end, here's the low side.

When I built myself a fixed gear this summer my only cash outlay was for painting materials. Most of the components came from my junk collection and I traded some wrenching at my local bike shop for a set of Surley hubs, a seatpost and handlebar tape. I think that my largest single cash outlay was $17.00 or $18.00 for some vinyl "retro grouch" stickers for the downtube. My total cash outlay was maybe $50.00 or $60.00 tops.

Your mileage will definitely vary.

When I built myself a fixed gear this summer my only cash outlay was for painting materials. Most of the components came from my junk collection and I traded some wrenching at my local bike shop for a set of Surley hubs, a seatpost and handlebar tape. I think that my largest single cash outlay was $17.00 or $18.00 for some vinyl "retro grouch" stickers for the downtube. My total cash outlay was maybe $50.00 or $60.00 tops.
I built my recent fixie for $160 minus selling the old wheels for $45 and derailers for $15. Dang it, ya still beat me at the "resourceful scrounger" game. Teach me, O Retro Grouch.

I built my recent fixie for $160 minus selling the old wheels for $45 and derailers for $15. Dang it, ya still beat me at the "resourceful scrounger" game. Teach me, O Retro Grouch.

Well, I kind of cheated. I traded work for parts at my LBS.

Frame: 2006 Macneil Heaton 2. $349.99.
Fork: Sunday! Night. $149.99.
Headset: Kink. $49.99.
Stem: Fit series 2. $99.99.
Bars: Wethepeople Le-Tigre. $69.99.
Grips: Primo. $14.99.
Barends: Primo.
Brake Lever: Monolever. $39.99.
Brake cable: Oddy Linear Slic. $14.99.
Brakes: Evolvers. $69.99.
Pedals: Sealed mag JC's. $109.99.
Crank: Old ass Profiles. $140.00.
Bottom Bracket: Macneil. $49.99.
Sprocket: S&M Guard 33tooth. Or Tree 28tooth. S&M and Tree both $100.00
Chain: Shadow interlock 2. $54.99.
Seat: Oddy MX. $39.99.
Seatpost: 1664. $49.99.
Seatpost Clamp: Redline. $5.00.
Front Tire: K-Rad. $15.99.
Front Rim: ZX22 on Macho hub $99.00.
Front Hub: DK Macho.
Front Spokes: black?
Rear Tire: Animal GLH. $39.99.
Rear Rim: Demolition. $99.99.
Rear Hub: Hazzard. $179.99
Rear Spokes: DT Ti. $45.00.
Freewheel/Cog: 12tooth
Pegs: Macneil. $39.99

This is all for the bike in my sig, and I payed 14.5% tax on all of that.

I recently built this bike for about $680. It was built mostly from used and NOS parts. A few parts I bought new, and a few I had in my parts bin.

Frame- Colnago Master Competition
Hubs- NOS Campy Record Pista 28H
Rims- NOS Mavic CXP 30
Spokes- Sapim
Tires- Conti Grand Prix
Bars- Cinelli Tempo
Front Brake and lever- Campy Chorus
Headset- Unknown Campy
Crank- Sugino RD
BB- FSA
Seatpost- Campy Record
Saddle- Brooks B-17



http://img108.imageshack.us/img108/8198/colnago1ug2.jpg

Klein Quantum Pro Frame (included fork, seatpost, stem, bars, and pressed in bottom bracket) - $400
Labor to get the bottom bracket overhauled - $50
Stronglight Impact Compact Crankset (actually a rebadged Sugino XD with Stronglight chainrings, but it was the only thing that fit on my darn bottom bracket)- $122
Mavic Ksyrium Elite Wheels with Pro2 Race Tires - $400
Ultegra Build Kit (minus cranks) - $450
I had a Dura Ace RD and an Ultegra Rear Brake lying around, so lets subtract $75 for what I can get on eBay for the new parts
Bar Tape - $15
Brake Cables + Brake/Shifter Housing - $30
Saddle and Pedals - Cannibalized off my old bike (would have added about $125 if I replaced them)

$1392 total out of pocket, including tax and shipping.

Then unless you have the tools already, you could be looking at an extra couple of hundred dollars for the tools you need. Here are some thoughts:

cable cutters
cassette remover
crank arm remover
bb remover
headset press (to be honest, I made my own out of a big nut and bolt with washers and have had 100% success with it)
headset remover (again, made my own out of a pvc pipe -perfect!)
allen keys
adjustable wrench
hammer
piece of wood
screw drivers
truing stand (I like mine, it was $34 Minoura special from Nashbar on sale, but many people say you don't need one, merely it just makes it more convenient)
spoke wrenches (proper ones!)
spoke tensiometer (again you don't need one, but I find mine -a Park one -to be great at "seeing" relative tensions of spokes -and I like seeing things rather than going by the "feel" of them)
workstand (again, not a must have, but having one makes life a lot easier, trust me)
pedal wrench

I'm sure there are more tools, but you get the picture -you need to set aside at least a couple of hundred dollars if you haven't got any tools. You may need to add that on to the cost of your build. But.... as I posted earlier, the satisfaction of riding a bike you've built up on wheels you've built is priceless, very satisfying.

Oh man, you went for the nice stuff! (Chris King headset, Race Face crank and Phil Wood hubs no less!). Sounds like you have an excellent bike build. And I'm very partial to Cannondales ;^)

I forgot to include the cost of bottle cages in my build costs, plus the costs of racks, but I figure you could count those -and fenders I suppose -as extras. Also I have Shimano (cheaper entry level ones) clipless pedals, but I already had those and got them with a bike, so I didn't figure those in either.....

Since I ride my bike to work most days, my wife doesn't mind my spending money on bikes too much since it's either that or $60 to $80 per week for gas :D I went for the top end stuff on this bike because I've had cheap bikes in the past and I wanted a really nice one now. The Phil's were just over the top but they are sooooooooo pretty.

Thanks to all so far. Cycco, those are beautiful bikes.

I definitely don't see this as a cost-effective maneuver, especially time-wise, as I'm learning to do all this work for myself. I view this as a hobby and have enjoyed being able to keep my bikes running myself (mostly). This will by my first attempt at building up a bike for myself.

It's never cost effective to build your own but it's a lot of fun.

Though I have to say I've found some big advantages:

i. when you see that really bargain component, you can buy it with no guilt associated with installation costs -and sooner or later even with a fully bought built up bike, you'll need to replace some components.
ii. you never have to wait for an LBS to do some work
iii. you are confident of the type of work you've done -something that is questionable with some LBSs (apologies, certainly don't mean to be negative to LBSs, but this is just a fact as far as I'm concerned)
iv. as previously mentioned, if you build your own wheels, you do save on costs of getting them trued (or in my case I find I can reuse hubs very easily saving money).
v. as previously mentioned, it's just plain fun.....

Something I don't think that's been mentioned and a bit implied is that you must be mechanically competent and confident (e.g. fitting bbs or headsets) or else the possibility of ruining a good frame is right there. If in doubt, do take it to your LBS.

Good point on finding that bargain component, and putting it in the parts bin for later. I got a great deal on an Ultegra RD and oh, about a year and a half later, I installed it on my tri bike. It felt like it was free!

I'm not the most mechanically inclined person in the world, but I'm also not a total basket case. I agree that a major reason for doing work yourself is so as not to wait for the LBS. I already have a basic tool set and stand. Though I could use cable equipment and don't see myself getting immediately to wheel-building and headsets.

Having said that, here is the bike/frame in question. I disassembled the whole thing this weekend, but couldn't get the BB bracket to budge. I'm pretty sure it is the original 1993 stock BB. My BB tool is pretty weak, though. I took it to my LBS where they tried an air hammer (no movement) and are going to try heating/torching the BB shell.

Having said that, here is the bike/frame in question. I disassembled the whole thing this weekend, but couldn't get the BB bracket to budge. I'm pretty sure it is the original 1993 stock BB. My BB tool is pretty weak, though. I took it to my LBS where they tried an air hammer (no movement) and are going to try heating/torching the BB shell.
Have you tried Sheldon Brown's ingenious method for removing BB cups? http://www.sheldonbrown.com/tooltips/bbcups.html

$330 Surly Cross-check frame/fork
$210 Vecchio's-built rear wheel, 105 hub/Mavic CXP33
$60 Ritchey Scuzzy Logic Aheadset
$35 Phil Wood retainer rings
$20 Phil Wood bottom bracket
$70 Sugino RD3000 triple crankset
$5 KMC 7-speed chain
$15 Shimano 7-speed bar-end shifters
$20 Modolo 44cm handlebars
$10 Aeon stem
$20 Shimano 105 brake levers
$10 Avid Speed Dial front Vbrake
$10 Suntour XC-Pro rear canti brake
$60 Phil Wood hub/Mavic front wheel (1/2 of a set I got for $120 - the rear was stolen)
$10 Shimano 7speed XT cassette
$50 Brooks B-17
$10 Specialized seatpost
$18 Travel Agent Vbrake adapter
$40 Nokon brake cable/housing
$24 Shimano SPD 545 pedals
$12 pair of Ciussi bottle cages
$20 Shimano downtube shifter adapters
$5 Suntour XC-Pro rear derailer
$10 Shimano RX100 triple front derailer
$80 Vittoria Open CX tires

Grand total: $1,154

I built it up myself except for the headset installation and of course the wheels. The bike shop did that and also refaced the bottom bracket. The Vecchio's guys pretty much threw in labor for free as they cut the fork and installed the headset for $10.00 (the bb reface they did on the fly - no cost). Some parts came from bikes that I had sold or parts that I had hoarded from local swaps - especially Veloswap.

Have you tried Sheldon Brown's ingenious method for removing BB cups? http://www.sheldonbrown.com/tooltips/bbcups.html

I don't think I can do it with the tool I have (my "weak tool"). I have the LIFU 11B1 (http://www.allproducts.com/manufacture6/lifu/11-0903.html) into which another peice inserts and you put a big hex wrench into that. There is no way I can see to bolt the tool to the spindle or to get a wrench on the tool like you can with the comparable Park tool (or maybe with the LIFU 11B3). After reading about BB removal, the only way I see to get enough torque on the BB cup is to fix the tool to the cup.

Before I spend $10-$20 for the park BB tool I may never need again, I figured I'd let my LBS have at it with their stuff. The air hammer try was "free." They've quoted me $20 for a try with the torch, which seems fair.

Pegoretti Marcelo $2000
w/ Uzo Pro Fork
Record Headset 80
Chorus CT Crank 300
Chorus CT Frt Der 69
Chorus Mid Rr Der 170
Chorus Cassette 120
Chorus Brifters 239
Chorus Brakes 159
Chorus Hubs 160
Chorus Bot. Cages(x2) 94
Phil Wood BB 180
WR Seat post 150
Selle It. FLite 100
Look Keo Carbon Pedals 108
Mavic Reflex rims 140
Nokon Cables 120
Deda Newton Stem 89
Deda Newton Bars 79
Deda Bar Tape 15
Conti Sprinters (x2) 80

Grand Total $4452

Pics are over here:
http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=228737

Crickey! Though you never did give a "how's-she-ride-report."

Crickey! Though you never did give a "how's-she-ride-report."

If that one scares you, you won't want to see her older sister... I need to put some more miles in before I can do a decent report... Soon though...