just keep riding
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Milledgeville, Georgia
Posts: 13,560
Bikes: 2018 Black Mountain Cycles MCD,2017 Advocate Cycles Seldom Seen Drop Bar, 2017 Niner Jet 9 Alloy, 2015 Zukas custom road, 2003 KHS Milano Tandem, 1986 Nishiki Cadence rigid MTB, 1980ish Fuji S-12S
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It is always good to have a backup bike. It is a healthy progression of the sport to want to try building up a bike. I always try to make sure there is something significantly different about any bike I add to the stable. It could be a totally different type of bike or it could be a more subtle variation on a theme. I like to have enough overlap between my bikes' purposes so that they can serve as good backups when another is temporarily out of service.
I wouldn't want one bike to be merely a lesser version of another bike. It could be geared differently or have different carrying capability. It would need something to make it the first choice for some type of riding.
A big benefit of building up your own bikes is that you would need to aquire enough knowledge and tools that you would no longer be faced with as many situations where your bike is acting up and you don't know why. Instead of dropping your bike off at the shop for vaguely defined "service", you would have the bike up on your repair stand as you examined why your chain was jumping in certain gear combinations. The answer might give you an opportunity to upgrade some of your bike's parts.