kaisersling

I disagree, but only mildly. If you are patient and know where to look you can at times do it cheaper. The question is.. who has that kind of time and patience? I did...once, and probably won't go that route again anytime soon. Also, why exactly is it too late for the OP to ask that question?

RJ77

The frame?

aaronmcd

I had this all laying out last night but couldn't do anything.

RaleighSport

Been there before! Drives you nuts don't it?

Fiery

You make it sound like building a bicycle is a boring, tedious process. I find it fun, relaxing, and it's done faster than packing all the parts, driving to the shop, waiting until they build it (or leaving it for a day or three if they are busy), driving back home and only then being able to actually ride the bicycle.

SirHustlerEsq

https://www.flocycling.com/buildabike.php

E-book on the process. Be a man, bolt it together yourself. Remember to leave the housings long enough to make changes after the first couple months.

DinoShepherd

Any hack can put together a pile of brand new, nice bike parts. You can too. No problem. It's basically a bike shaped Lego set.

The mark of a real mechanic, however, is being able to work on junk.

Think on that for a while. It's pretty profound if I do say so myself...

DinoShepherd

That's where I go sideways with this whole thing. You are of course entirely correct in theory, but the bike manufacturers make this difficult in practice.

Sure I can buy an ultegra carbon bike built cheaper than I can piece it together. But then I have to replace the junk bars, stem and seatpost that come on most bikes with nice Ritchey stuff. And, of course, the wheels have to go because that's where OEMs save money. If we are lucky, they didn't cheap out on the crank, but the cassette is surely a 3 lb. tiagra unit that will get tossed.

By that time, it starts to make sense to just piece the thing together. But then I may be a special (head) case.

kaisersling

How did I do that?. It just takes patience to get the stuff your really want at the price you want. Remember, I was talking about building it cheaper than you can buy it. I wasn't talking about actual physical build. Slapping it all together, isn't all that time consuming and is a blast. The actual accumulation of said parts is time consuming. One should not always equate patience with tediousness. It was fun and rewarding, I just won't be doing it in the near future due to lack of free time and other priorities...

highlux

When you build it yourself....it will have extra mojo!!!

KantoBoy

I used this when I did my first build. Very helpful.

In all honesty, the hardest part about bike building is AFTER building it which is tuning - this is assuming you've had your fork/headset and bottom bracket installed already.

At the most you need: cable cutter, set of STURDY allen/hex keys, lube and grease

If you had all the parts and still don't know what to do with them just take it to a shop.

TrojanHorse

Youtube is a fantastic reference too.

If you have a carbon frame you'll probably want a torque wrench too (or if you have parts with titanium bolts). Steel is much more forgiving.

It's also likely that you'll run one or more cables the wrong way your first time, so if you're willing to live through the "and error" part of "trial and error" then definitely do it yourself.

As for parts being cheaper than a whole bike... I tend to swap out parts, so I'm never buying a whole bike at once. matter of fact, the last complete bike I bought was in 1992. Last February it was a new frame, the February before that it was a different new frame, got new wheels in March... at some point I'll probably entertain the idea of upgrading the components but if you have the tools and the know how you can just fix the part that's bugging you rather than buying a whole new bike. it's liberating.

aaronmcd

This is what I was thinking. As a kid I wake up Christmas morning and save the large box shaped like a Lego set for last. Then spend all morning of all day (depending on the size and complexity) putting it together. I still have this one. Still built:
https://www.google.com/search?q=supe...w=1211&bih=619

Ah yes, but you don't so much have to worry about cracking junk with too much torque.

Fox Farm

I agree with most all of the comments here. I would take my frame to a shop and have them install the headset as I did not have the correct press tools and why mess up a new headset but using the wrong tools for the job? And now with bottom brackets that are a bit more complex than the old square taper and shell design, it might be good to have them do that for you too.

aaronmcd

This is definitely the truth. Mainly for frame and wheels.

Btw, any tips on getting the shifter clamps over the bars? I could probably force it really hard if that's what I'm supposed to do...

aaronmcd

This is my case. I don't know if I'm relieved, or if I wish I was forced to do it.

And chain tool and torque wrench?

RollCNY

Unscrew the clamp bolt it until it is only engaged by half the nut (you can look through the inside of the clamp to tell), then slide it up and on. It may feel like a little force as the bottom of the brake lever slides over the bar, and if it feels like more than a little there is a problem.

And if you are stymied this earlier, call your LBS.

aaronmcd

I took the bolt all the way out and removed the clamp and it still won't go on (without a bit more force than I was comfortable with).

Will Goes Boing

This is what I did when I built up a bike from scratch. I went to a LBS that I frequent and had the mechanic install my bottom bracket, crankset, and cassette.... from what I can recall they barely charged me anything. Everything else I was able to easily put on myself.

Except for the last step..... fine tuning the gears.

So I brought the nearly completed bike back to the LBS and simply had them adjust the front and rear derailleurs... didn't charge me a dime. And keep in mind this is for a mountain bike which is a bit more complicated. For a road bike the only thing that's going to be hard for you would be installing the bottom bracket, cassette, and tuning the gears. That's assuming if you already have some basic bike mechanic knowledge and is somewhat mechanically inclined.

If you absolutely have no clue what you're doing and have never worked on the bike before... please do yourself a favor and have the shop do it. I've seen people completely ruin a nice crankset because they didn't know you have to install the left pedal from threading in the opposite direction.

aaronmcd

Well... I am obviously reading how to do things first. All I've ever done on my own before this is: tires/tubes, new derailleur cable, adjust derailleurs, adjust brakes.

RPK79

The cassette is actually extremely easy to install. You just need a lock ring tool and a chain whip. They're fairly inexpensive and I find I use them quite often.

Edit: technically you don't need the chain whip to install the cassette, but if you want to take one off you'll be needing one.

Fiery

Since the thread is about assembling a bunch of bicycle parts one already has into a complete bicycle vs. taking them to a bike shop, I thought you were talking about that, and not about the process of acquiring said parts before the actual build. Sorry, my bad.

dalava

In additon to the frame/fork/headset, you are still missing:
- seatpost
- brake and derailleur cables
- bar tape
- tires
- tubes
- bottom bracket
- chain catcher (optional)

Hiro11

Stuff I take to the shop:
- cutting steerers. I don't do it often enough to need to buy a guide. Without a guide, it can be a bit stressful. It's $15 and ten minutes for a shop to do it. Deal.
- wheel re-dish / retension / wheelbuilding. I don't have a stand, the skills or the patience. Outsource.
- facing BB or headset shells. Increasingly done at the factory, but if you need to do it, you need very expensive special tools to do it right.

I'll do everything else.

merlinextraligh

I just use an old aluminum spacer as a guide, simple, cheap and it works.

With the fork and headset in the frame, measure where you want it cut. Stack spacers to that point, with a spacer you don't care about on top, put hacksaw against spacer, and cut.