rjones28 

Fuji SL 1.5 is under 15 pounds (14.5 w/o pedals) with the stock aluminum wheelset and under $5k. Should leave enough budget to upgrade the wheels, if you wish. The stock Oval Concepts wheels weigh about 1450g - not boat anchors.

Fuji Bikes | ROAD | COMPETITON SERIES | SL 1.5

Looigi

Bmc slr01.

kbarch

Very encouraging. I stand corrected (sorta).
Ditto, but I've been finding that grams saved/dollar isn't always so great. Maybe I'm not starting cheap and heavy enough.
Great minds think alike.

stevelewis

Thanks everyone for your insight and expertise!

if I go for a used frame set what should I look for? And where? Craigslist/eBay?

im not a mechanic so I guess I buy all components at my bikes shop and have them install?

what about a new frame set and then I get red 22 / wheels and he rest? This way would I have a warranty?

I'm looking for the lightest tubeless compatible wheels. I think the shimano c24 comes tubeless compatible?

What about electronic group sets?

Resale value is important. Would a bike built piece by piece like this sell as well a complete bike from a major brand?

Hows the resale value for Fuji? I don't see them around. I'm sure they are nice but selling used might not fetch the price of a brand like trek or cervelo?

I'll have more questions later... Thanks again!

BTW here is my ride from today: (plenty of climbing!)

rpenmanparker 

Ebay for frames, not CL IMO. Buy nothing at your LBS. They will still install it all for you for about $100. That is a big savings conpared to their parts markup. Buy parts from the UK if not on ebay or Amazon. The savings of used frames make the warranty unnecessary. A good bike is a good bike. It doesn't have to be a big brand stock model. Fuji is a semi-bargain brand these days sold at Performance.

StanSeven

There's been lots of discussions here on building up a bike versus buying new. Despite a few exceptions, buying a complete bike is much cheaper. That's because bike companies buy group sets in such huge quantities, an individual can't match the price.

On top of that you will pay a store to build everything up.

While individual parts come with warranties, you get peace of mind having a local store take care of it all.

Fuji's don't have great resale value. I've had two. One problem is the bike brnd isn't in demand. Another is places like Performance has overstock or year end sales with huge discounts so you are competitions with brand new bikes at haof of list price.

Electronic groups are expensive but nice, especially climbing. I've shifted chain rings standing under full power struggle very load cadence. Shifts are perfect.

bikebreak

10k...up Gibraltar Rd twice? or OSM and painted cave?

rms13

Might as well wait doe etap

stevelewis

Up osmpc, across ridge, down Gibralter to 192, up Coyote to mountain drive then back up Gibralter and then half of west Camino Cielo then down 154. I'm all tuckered out now! Are you a Santa Barbara local?

timmbo

Why don't you look for a previous year close out on a new Trek Madone 6 or 7 series? Or possibly a clearance Emonda? Do shops by you have any models left from 2014 or 2015?

gsa103

Your goals are somewhat contradictory. Buying a fully built bike is almost always the best bang for the buck, but its difficult to find complete bikes with SRAM Red which is by far the lightest groupset. A complete bike will likely have better resale than a built bike, simply because buyers can better gauge the initial price. On a lightweight build, you'll likely use higher grade components but a prospective buyer will assume generic stuff. Going into this, you should be aware that high-end bikes don't hold value particularly well. Components trickle down, frames improve, etc. A few years ago, <1,000g was a top-tier carbon frame, now many entry level carbon frames are 1.2kg.

Electronic groupsets are expensive and slightly heavier than their mechanical equivalent, so its a double hit to your goal of light and not expensive.

kbarch

Why tubeless compatible?

The key to resale value is ease of recognition. If it's really important, you'll want to be sure that what you spend your $$ on is something future buyers will see immediately or be looking for to begin with. So maybe the frameset is more important in that respect than it would be otherwise. If you advertise a bike with an SL frame, you can be pretty sure that interested future buyers will be looking for the same things you are now. Light weight and value (the fact that they're buying used). No reason you can't get your SL frame on eBay.

And when it comes to future resale value, saving a few grams on seatpost, stem, and bling are the last things you'll want to be spending your money on; very few will notice or care - you'd be lucky to recover a single dollar, and you wouldn't recover a penny of the premium you'd pay for something like CX Ray spokes. Nobody searches eBay for bikes on the basis of what saddle it has, either.

In this category, buyers of used bikes shouldn't expect anything cherry. There may be some expectation of conformity (especially that nothing will be heavier or cheaper than stock/standard) but unless they're looking for a bargain on a new bike, I doubt that whether the bike is built up rather than stock/ready-made even crosses anyone's mind.

rpenmanparker 

Re: kbarch's comment about the CX-Ray spokes, the round Lasers are the same weight and similar durability for 1/2 to 1/3 the price.

exmechanic89

I agree, if I were spending that kind of bread I'd definitely build it myself all the way. If you wanna go super light, it's the only to go, imo.

StanSeven

Except the OP said he's not a mechanic and needs a shop to build the bike. That makes me think he's not knowledgable enough to pick all the pieces. There are so many things to make bad decisions on unless someone has a lot of experience.

exmechanic89

I guess I should've said if I didnt personally know what to buy I would research it, then have a shop put it all together if I was unable to do it myself. Either way I'd put something together custom rather than buying a complete bike.

stevelewis

Thanks again for your input.
Going with a custom build sounds exciting and I think that's what I want to do. But you are right that I don't know what to pick!! I guess just find a light frame that appeals to me, red22, dura ace c24 tubeless (because I love tubeless even though it comes with a weight penalty!) And then what's left? Just Handlebars, stem, saddle, tires and pedals?

I have a great relationship with the bike shop I go to. They know me very well... Do you think local shops build up lots of bikes like this where the customer picks everything themselves? Alao, going this route do you think I could get everything done (including labor) for $5000? (Maybe with a used frame set?)

kbarch

... and seat post and bar tape... and bottle cages.... and computer and bell and frame pump and saddle bag and fenders and mirrors...

Well, in the winter, building bikes keeps them from getting bored, but spring is around the corner, so you'd better hurry.

It may be do-able if you get a good enough deal on your frame set, and if you tell the shop that your budget is $4000.

rpenmanparker 

Most good shops will build you the bike you spec out even if you bring in everything for them to put together. You just have to be assertive about your right to do this. Cost of assembly should be less than $200. Your budget is realistic, even on the high side.

Maelochs

This being the case, I'd decide what I planned to spend, then approach them and make them an offer, or at least have a hard number in mind. Considering how easy it is for an experienced mechanic to assemble a bike, I think they'd welcome the business, particularly since you are a regular. A couple hundred bucks would be my max build cost offer ... after all, it isn't going to take a mechanic all day, and I am pretty sure they don't pay their mechanics $200 per day. Ask them what they'd charge, and if they quote a higher price, bargain with them. They want you as a customer, and as long as they are making a fair profit on what wouldn't be (for them) a difficult job, they would probably go for it, I'd think.

rpenmanparker 

While I agree with your price, your logic doesn't support it. You aren't allowing for shop overhead and profit on the mechanical work. So to be able to profitably charge $200 for a specific task, they would have to pay the mechanic a lot less than $100 to do it.

rpenmanparker 

OP, if you bring all the stuff into the shop for assembly, even if you were experienced, I would tell you to be prepared for some "contingencies". You will likely forget something, buy the wrong size of something, etc. that will have to be remedied...at a cost. Allow perhaps as much as $200 contingency and you should be okay. If nothing extra has to be paid for, all the better. Successful projects always allow for a contingency overrun.

RollCNY

I am pretty sure that you don't have a right to do this, and if anything, the bike shop has the right to accept or refuse any work that it wants, provided it is not using a discriminatory basis for doing so.

OP, if you have a good relationship with your shop, why not talk to them up front about what your plan and goals are? On my first build, I talked to the shop up front about what I was getting on line, what I wanted to get from them, and what the associated costs would be. I did not walk in and tell them what I was willing to pay them, or start out asserting my "right" to do this. If you read this forum, it seems many recommend a seemingly combative relationship with your LBS, which I have never found productive.

rpenmanparker 

The right that I'm talking about is the right to ask for the service. By assertive I absolutely don't mean aggressive. Too different things entirely. I don't mean you go in and demand the service as a right. Perhaps I could have said it better. What I mean is you don't go into the shop with your tail between your legs, embarrassed about not buying the parts for the build from them. We see that attitude expressed here all the time. They can accept or decline the business, sure, but it is not because the customer has done something wrong in asking.

Maelochs

(emphasis added.)

In fact, some LBS folks have said that the shops don't get much benefit out of selling parts---just because of the issues with stocking the right stuff/sizes, and the nightmare of trying to get returns/warranty service from their suppliers, and the small margins even with big apparent mark-ups ... and have expressed a preference top make their money via service.

In some ways you'd be doing the shop a favor to offerr them low-overhead income wihich ties up no cash in inventory and involves no warranty liability.

A lot of people here do seem to feel that buying online insults the shops, but as mr. penmanparker suggests, realizing that you are offering them a Chance to Make Easy Money is probably a better approach than feeling like you arer offering them a consolation prize after betraying them.

If I ever do a build with a press-fit BB, I might well choose to go to the LBS instead of buying a press ... and frankly that is the only way they would ever make a penny off of me, so they really ought to jump at the chance.