Originally Posted by GromCake

ehh, there's way worse threads than this started every day don't feel too awful. on my beater/daily ride i tend to go with the cheaper stuff from trusted brands, sugino rd2 cranks are affordable and solid and just go with the matching sugino bb, pretty much always formula hubs if you want good hubs that aren't going to cost you too much, nice affordable izumi or kmc chain, dimension and kalloy are fine brands for nothing special but also not garbage seatposts, bars, and stems, charge makes some of the best saddles for the money, i always allocate a good chunk of the budget for wheels, velomine has a huge selection of really affordable rock solid wheel builds like i don't understand how their wheels are so cheap i've looked into cost of building a wheelset and just got the same build at velomine for cheaper than i could've built it on my own, soma or eai cogs, cheap set of mks pedals, most trusted tire brands have great budget options. but yeah idk hope that helps i guess

Originally Posted by europa

You'll need handle bars - all useful bikes have them. I like road drops and love the larger diameter, compact drops available now, very comfy.

Saddles ease the pain of the seat post and by preference, I use Brooks leather. These work well because they mold to your rear over time and provide the most comfortable seat you'll get. No need for padded panties but if you're into that sort of thing, you can use all the fancy saddles too.

Wheel rims. Recently, the 23mm width rims have become popular because 23mm tyres produce a similar profile to tubular tyres. Although I haven't used them, the H+Son Archetype is getting a very good reputation.

Hubs. No real need to go beyond the Formula/Novatec level, but you can if you want.

My Hillbrick runs a Miche Express wheelset and I love them. Based on that, I'd suggest the Miche Primato hubs with Archetype rims as a very nice wheelset.

My Hillbrick also runs the Miche Primato cranks and brakes and I love them too. Having said that, there are plenty of options.

You won't go too far wrong contacting Scrod at Retrogression and having a chat with him. He'll not only have all the bits he'll be able to guide you to a balanced set up within a decent budget.

Best of luck with your build ... and as always, it doesn't exist without photos.