Originally Posted by
MikeinFL
Brand means little to me too. For me it's about form, function and some style.
Is it possible to build a bike from scratch, buy all the parts you want? I'm sure it would be more expensive, but you could build your dream bike
Of course. I bought a Marin Pine Mountain steel MTB frame for really cheap, and transferred parts over from another bike, plus added a few new ones. Than I built my old MTB back up again with mostly spare parts I had laying around. In the end I took one bike, plus about $300, and made it into 2 bikes - one upright riding utility bike with disc brakes, and one rigid MTB that sees more "gravel grinder" type of riding.