Originally Posted by
tarwheel
It's not an apples-to-apples comparison, but valid nonetheless. Many cyclists stockpile old parts or have another bike they can swap parts from. It is also easy to buy parts on sale or used parts on-line.
Regarding my Bob Jackson, I did not need a new wheel set when I had it built, so I just transferred wheels from the "donor bike." I later bought a new wheel set because I wanted the option to do some loaded touring someday, but the Open Pros that I was using were perfectly adequate for commuting.
When you buy a new, pre-built Long Haul Truck, Salsa Casseroll or other bike, you are basically "stuck" with the components they put on in it. In some cases, the components are good quality or perfectly adequate. In other cases, they are lower quality and/or relatively heavy. By building up a bike from scratch, you can make it with higher quality and lower weight components for a price that is very comparable and maybe less than a pre-built bike.
Even if you don't have a "donor" bike, you can end up building a bike with much better components for about the same amount of money that you would have spent on the stock bike. This assumes that you shop around for components, buy used parts, and have a mechanic that charges reasonable rates (or do the work yourself).
Sorry but I've got seven bikes at home that say otherwise. And I've been buying bikes for way too long to agree with you. Let's look, for example, at my commuter bike. It's a Salsa Las Cruces. The frame is on a par with the Trek X0-1. I built it with some parts from my touring bike, some new parts and some parts I had laying around. (In the interest of honesty, the bike isn't anything like it was when I built it as I've added all kinds of upgrades.) Here's what it looked like in 2006
Shifters: Tiagra STI
Crank: Shimano 105
Pedals: Shimano M520
Wheels: Salsa Delgado rims, Campy Record hub ($5 swap meet
), XT rear hub, DT spokes
Rear derailer: XT
Front derailer: Shimano Ultegra
Saddle: Brooks
Seatpost: Easton
Stem: Race Face ($5 Performance bargain)
Brake: Crappy Avid Shorty 4
Handlebars: Ritchey
Headset: King
Nothing really spectacular but serviceable. Total price: The north side of $2000. That includes estimates of the price of used parts as well as the cheap parts I used on the bike.
The
Trek XO-1 is listed in BikePedia so I won't list it's parts. It's part spec is as good or even slightly better than mine. It's price: $1320.
I have a Specialized Stumpjumper Pro (1998-2003) hardtail mountain bike. I could buy a comparable new one today for $400 less, if I paid full retail for the new one. I probably wouldn't
And I save a lot of money on my builds because
I do the build. I couldn't imagine what the cost would be if I had someone else do the labor. That even defeats the purpose of building your own bike