Originally Posted by
Cyclesafe
Silly? A different point of view, assuredly. But not silly.
Don't put words in my mouth. I didn't say it was silly to build your own to get the parts you want. I also didn't say it was silly to do it for the pleasure of doing it.
I only said it was silly to do it just to learn maintenance and repair. As I said, it is my opinion that it is a poor way to do that anyway. Why? Because many times the challenge of repairs is getting stubborn parts off or dealing with worn or broken things and assembling new parts doesn't do all that much to prepare you for that in my opinion.
Given that the OP said they don't "know exactly how to go about picking out components" and also that they "have to keep in mind the cost of having my LBS build up the frame" it seems like for the OP a complete would be a much better choice.