dsonyay

Is there a place one can order a bike, and then replace or swap out things like seats, wheels, tires, stems? Not having any luck searching the web.

dsonyay

Wanted to add, I did find one, but but it is very high end competition racing geared type stuff.

demoncyclist

Swapping parts on a lower end bike doesn't make economic sense for either buyer or seller. Profit margins and discount pricing are based on production volume.

dsonyay

Makes sense.

obed7

when you look at frames, for the most part it will be high end...usually people buying frames are really into cycling, much more so that your average bike buyer and are looking for that special something...
they buy the frame then the parts that they want...high end bikes are usually cheaper if you just buy the whole thing assembled... you buy frame and parts because you want what you want and not what most folks want...so yes, your choices will mostly be high end products...you can turn a 3400 dollar show room bike into a 5,000 custom build by choosing the wheels you want, the tires you want, the handlebars you want, the stem you want, the crankset you want, the brakes you want....you get the picture...
but then you have the bike YOU want.

Elvo

Custom Bikes - Project One collection - Trek Bicycle

Retro Grouch 

Not to mention the processing of all of the returns and exchanges. I shudder to think about such a business plan.

dsonyay

Yeah, I know what you guys, I would love to build my own bike from the frame, but I'm not a racer. I just love doingstuff like this. I did see some carbon Chinese frames for for under 600 a they get great reviews from people both online and off.

I thought there were some bike sellers that may offer simple swaps like a better seat, or wheels .. Simple swaps, maybe not a build from frame up.

Thanks!

dsonyay

I did see that one this morning. When money is no obstacle

68venable

Pretty cool until my bike costs $14,000 lol. Very cool though.


*Edit - Started over and down to just under $5,000.

Tim_Iowa

There are plenty of custom bike builders out there that allow you to pick and choose the component spec. Example, Rivendell. Trek is offering a similar service at their high end.

But, in those situations, you are generally paying full retail for each bike part, with maybe a slight discount for the bike maker's preferred build kits.

For mass-produced bikes, you pay closer to wholesale for those components because the bike maker orders them by the truckload.

It sounds like you want custom-bike choices at production-bike prices, and that's not going to happen. That's why most manufacturers offer different build kits for each model, so you can retain some selection.

That's why it's popular to buy a production bike, strip it for its component kit, and sell the frame. You get a full build at a cheap price for whatever frame you choose.

martianone

Not sure how much you intend to invest ?
check out the competative cyclist web site, I believe they have some ala carte choices.
also, consider a Gunnar dealer and select the parts you want - Plus you get the advantage of a fitting vs. an on-line vendor ?

rekmeyata

YES, Adrenalin Bikes. I ordered a Lynskey Peloton and had them swap out the 105 rear derailleur to Ultegra, low end FSA headset to Cane Creek 110, standard Shimano cables to Dura Ace 9000, the stock Lynskey CF fork to Enve 2.0, and black 25mm deep Shimano 105 R500 wheels to silver 30mm R500 wheels, all they charged me was the price difference because they could restock and resell all the other stuff. Great people to work with, I dwelt with Matthew and he was very knowledgeable and practical.

Adrenaline Bikes

They also have a vast name brand of frames they can get, just look at the above website, they even have some new old stock stuff, like brand new never been used Vitus 979 in either the vintage aluminum with aluminum lugs or the carbon tubes with aluminum lugs...very cool looking bikes.

dsonyay

marti: My budget is 1500 to 2000 tops. I checked out competitive bikes... Wag outta my league.

Rek: Thanks for link to Adrenaline. Will check it out.

rekmeyata

Adrenaline has some cool looking retro bikes in their warehouse like the Bianchi Vigorelli with Shimano 105 is only $1499, nice steel frame that will last a lifetime with a colored matched carbon fork; I love steel and titanium, anyway just look at the framesets and find something you can afford. Speaking of titanium, you can get a Ultegra equipped TI bike for $1899 but not ala carte, but to get TI with Ultegra transmission is a great deal, see: Save Up To 60% Off Titanium Road Bikes and Bicycles from bikesdirect.com

dsonyay

Good to know. I saw the Ti bikes at BD. Nice looking stuff.

Would love to have my old Panasonic DX3000 back. My first road bike from 1985ish

fietsbob

Koga signature program Koga Signature - Koga Signature... Custom Order Bicycles then they ship to the Koga Dealer to pick it up..

Bike Friday also builds bikes to order , extensive list of options , then shipped to your door .. https://www.bikefriday.com/

Shuffleman

As stated before, it is difficult to build it custom with a budget under $2000. It can be done though with a little patience. The only problem area is the frame. Brand name frames tend to run more.
You can part out everything at Ribble, Merlin or Probike Kit for a great price.
Groupset: $350 for 11 Spd Shimano 105. (Ribble Cycles Groupset Creator
Handlebars: $20 for Deda Standard Bars Deda Piega Handlebars, Handlebars, H/BARS ROAD
Wheels:Shimano R501 Set $80 Buy Road Bike Wheels Online at Ribble Cycles UK
Seat: Prologo Kappa $20 Buy Road Bike Saddles and Seats Online at Ribble Cycles UK
Stem: Deda $20 H/BAR STEMS AHEAD ROAD
Seat Post: Deda $20 Seatpillars, Seat Posts & Pins at Ribble Cycles UK
Tires: Continental Ultras Pair $40 Folding Bike Tyres available at Ribble Cycles UK
Tubes: Pair $10 Take your pick of brand or place to buy them.
Bar Tape: Deda $10 Deda Mistral Handlebar Tape, H/BAR TAPE

I am at $550 or everything but the frame. Clearly, you may want some different things that I choose but these give you a picture. You have almost $1500 left for a frame. You could go with Ultegra or something else for wheels and adjust a little. I purchased my Colnago ClX 3.0 frame from Excel Sports for $1500. You can find a bevy of great frames in the $1000-$1500 range if you have a little patience.
Again, if you spend less on the frame, you can go with more expensive wheels or other parts. I did this quickly and only shopping Ribble so I am sure that there are some other good prices out there. I am also sure that I missed a part or two. Their groupsets are complete which is great because there is no compromise.
Building can be cheaper if you do it properly. If you can't build it yourself, than pay a shop $100 for the actual build out.

Drew Eckhardt 

Excel Sports Boulder builds frames to order, although you'll pay more than if you buy the group from an online UK retailer and assemble yourself. I spent $2200 doing that in 1997 with a Litespeed titanium frame, Look carbon fork, and Campagnolo Chorus/Racing-T/Athena mix. Obviously I got exactly the gearing, wheels, saddle, bar, tires, tape, etc. I wanted. With inflation that sort of thing will run at least $3500 today.

Small builders will also work with you.

rekmeyata

The Bikes Direct TI bikes have gotten really high reviews from magazines, I have a friend who owns one (and another who has a Serrota TI) and have ridden both many times, quite frankly there isn't $4,000 difference in the feel between the two that my friend paid for his Serotta! Maybe the Serrota feels $500 better...maybe. I ended up getting a Lynskey instead, this had nothing to do with I felt the Motobecane TI was crappy because it wasn't, just so happened when I went to order one they were out of stock and remained out of stock for over a year and half, I actually thought they weren't going to sell them anymore so Lynskey had a sale and I bought the lowest costing one they sold.

Having both friends and myself riding each others bikes we did decide that the Lynskey felt more aggressive and more responsive than either, the Serotta felt more comfortable, and the Motobecane was sort of in the middle. The Motobecane IS NOT a bike built for racing, it tends to flex a tiny bit more in the BB area than the Serotta or the Lynskey, but there was someone on this forum that did buy a Motobecane TI bike and was racing it, so it's non issue, and to the non racer it's really a non issue. The welds on the Motobecane looked just as good as the welds on the Serotta or the Lynskey, so don't expect chunky welding done by a grade school kid. My Lynskey has reinforcement rings on the top and bottom of the head tube that neither the Serotta or Moto has, not sure what that does for the bike. The Motobecane also uses a brushed finished which means if you get a scratch you can take the soft side of a Velcro strip and polish it out in the direction of the grain of the metal, if that fails you can use a ScotchBrite pad, and when your done it doesn't look like you tried to take a scratch out. But TI is tough, I have yet to scratch mine after 3 seasons, unlike painted bikes, you take a painted bike out on a ride and after about a month you have tiny scratches and wonder how they got there. TI won't corrode, rust, chainsuck damage is forgotten about, won't fail suddenly, nor smell bad in warm weather, and it's the most comfortable riding material currently available in bike materials.