I rescued my old juvenile Peugeot ten speed, powdercoated it, new decals, all used components from the bike co-op that were decent (600 tri-color etc) but not high-end (no Campy), built the wheels myself. By the time it was done, I'd spent $1,000 on a kid's bike. I was my childhood bike and is destined for my someday grandchildren, so that was okay with me, but basically the cost was ridiculous.

I have been working for a year on my Vitus 997 project, it will be all Campagnolo Record, some bits given to me, others bought at the co-op or on eBay at the best prices I could find (snipe 15 auctions for 4 months before winning one, that sort of thing). That will be a $1,200 bike all-in.

Starting to collect bits for my Peugeot PY10FC. That looks like it will be a $1,400 or higher bill - vintage Mavic bits just aren't cheap. And yet there is a PY10FC which is full period Mavic in nearly faultless condition, that repeatedly goes unsold on eBay for $1,900. I should just buy that one and sell off my frame and the bits I've bought.

If and when I ever do the Bianchi, that will end up a $1,500-2,000 project, I fear. I'd be struggling to fetch the low end of that cost if I ever sold.

It is just unavoidably expensive to piece together a mid-to-higher-end project by buying individual parts, no matter how carefully you shop for each part.

Figure it this way. A bike has about 25 individual components (just count: FD RD crank cassette Fhub Rhub Frim Rrim spokes Ftire Rtire shifters Fcaliper Rcaliper chain Rlever Llever stem bar post saddle headset BB cableset and I'm sure I've forgotten something). Suppose the average cost per piece is $20, which is too high for some but way too low for others. That is $500. Add frame to get to $700. Cosmetic stuff - decals, powdercoat, pait - is extra. Then if you start specifying very particular bits - get the I-must-have-a-black-Pelissier-Pro-hubset-because-nothing-else-matches-my-artiste-vision syndrome - the cost takes off.

Until you have an "Old Shed" stuffed with free or paid-for take-off parts, or luck across a donor bike equipped exactly as you envision your project bike being, or you do enough profitable flipping to support the few spendy project bikes . . .

I think you have to like working on bikes, polishing and dreaming, and have limited cash flow to make putting together a project bike preferable to simply buying someone else's project bike.

I would love to be wrong about this . . .