Originally Posted by
b-ride
Decide what's more important, I guess. Riding a bike now(ish)? Then get one of the readily available pre-builts. The Maze looks perfectly serviceable.
If you don't mind waiting til October, then wait for the bike you want more - the Fuji- or buy the best frame you can afford (whether or not its a Leader- dont know much about them, but I think i remeber their earlier rep to be a cheaper option. If they changed or improved, I'm sure others know better)and still be able to kit it out with cheap parts. They will all wear at different rates, so you can just upgrade as needed what's worn out and replace what you like as you can. A cheap stem or headset will last far longer than cheap cranks or pedals, but sometimes you just gotta switch that stem out.
Hope that helps.
Thanks, it does help
I think building from scratch will end up being expensive (especially if I'd also want to shop to put it together I guess).
Between the 3 pre-built options, the Fuji has both the looks and the specs I'm looking for, the Maze has the specs (afaict) but the look is slightly off for me and the Creme has the looks but the frame being mostly hi-ten is a concern. So yes, I need to decide what is most important I guess
if the Creme is on-par with the Fuji quality-wise I'd be happy to go with that. Otherwise I need to decide whether I can live with the look of the Maze (with some customisation possibly). Main issue being the chrome fork...
Ah, choices, choices