Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 23,645
Likes: 1,109
From: Mans of NC & SW UT Desert
Bikes: 86 Katakura Silk, 87 Prologue X2, 88 Cimarron LE, 1975 Sekai 4000 Professional, 73 Paramount, plus more
Unfortunately, unless you are very resourceful on acquiring parts cheap, and have the time/tools/aptitude to do all the work, this will not be a cheap project. Better off finding a complete bike.
Acquiring parts cheap is not buying parts used on ebay, +1 its finding a suitable donor bike. I just finished building up a Fuji Robaix with a Schwinn Passage donor bike I picked up this weekend. What made the Passage a good donor? Decent components, complete, but heavily damaged frame (so the price was low).
It is VERY easy to get upside down on a frame build, where you could have bought a complete bike for A LOT less. And it really only kind of makes sense if you can do all the work yourself.
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Please don't confuse ebay "asking" prices with "selling" prices. Many sellers never get their ask price. some are far from it. Value is determined once an item actually SELLS. Its easy enough to check SOLD prices.