I just did my first near-complete overhaul of my road bike, going from zero bike knowledge, to replacing almost everything - handlebar, stem, seat, seatpost, chain, derailleurs, shifters, even rear wheel hub. The only thing I didn't do because it required special tools was reinstall the headset (i changed the headset bearing though) beacuse the star-fangled nut and crown race require special tools to install.

I learned a ton in the process - and bought over $200 in tools in the process, so don't forget to factor those in! Youtube was my friend, and these forums are always great for noob questions. I will second that I didn't save any money on the build, probably spent a bit more in fact, but for sure in the long run, it's a win, as when you know how to break down your bike to overhaul it before things get fused, broken, etc, you def will save money in the long run, esp cause the tools are a 1x expenditure.


The idea above of buying a prebuilt bike and then disassembling it is actually a pretty decent one - you can waste a fair amount of money with incompatible parts despite good research about what should work and what doesn't, and being stuck for a week at a time waiting for the next part to arrive is really annoying, and you'll learn just as much and faster buying breaking down the bike and rebuilding it without the hassle of ordering parts.