I volunteer as a mechanic at a local bike Co-op. Over the winter, I helped a customer build up a bike from scratch from our collection of mostly vintage road parts.

At any one time, we have several dozen 'donor' bikes, and hundreds of pounds of loose shifters, bottom brackets, crankset, etc. to draw upon.

So to reiterate, the exercise was to take a decent vintage road frame, and build up a complete multi-gear bike from scratch.

It took 3 separate sessions of 3 hours each over 3 weeks, during which I had to access all of my skills. In addition to the shop parts inventory, I also had to tap into my (extensive) personal stash in order to produce a safe and cost-effective product.

During the sessions, we dodged several bullets in terms of compatibility between parts, and subtle but serious flaws in some of the used components.

The far easier and faster approach would have been to order a complete modern-day gruppo - but that would have tripled the final price.

Attempting what we did remotely, such as over the 'Web'? Nope..

BTW: our shop has every tool one could ever need.