biffstephens

I am thinking about cutting the umbilical cord I have with my LBS. After the last few year of asking questions and getting feedback from them I think I am ready to leave the nest...

I have one bike and my girlfriend has two so I will be doing maintance and upgrades on these....We use Campy stuff but I am toying with the idea of trying out the new SRAM stuff...is putting a new bike together something to not mess with?

Any thoughts on doing this? Do many of you work on your own stuff or am I acting like a 10 year old running away from home?



Thanks for your input!!

Rabid Koala

If you have any mechanical ability at all, YOU CAN DO IT!

Prepare yourself to make mistakes. It's just a part of learning. You won't be able to do everything, but think of all the money you will save by not paying all that labor.

Practice on some junk bikes if you need to. Buy tools as you need them-they are a great investment if you get good quality.

Good luck and have fun!

Old Dirt Hill

Go for it. You can always go back to the LBS when/if things get harry.

Hammertoe

Make a go of it, I just jumped in with no formal training...

I am by no means a 'wrench' but have put together bikes (I have not built a wheelset or pressed a headset)...

Get a book or two, Sheldonbrown.com and with BikeForums you have all the help you need...

Maybe take apart one of your girlfriends bikes and put back together to get started...

And if you have a good relationship with your LBS you can always go in and pimp some info if needed...

Proximo

It's not rocket science. A new frame may need the head tube and bottom bracket faced which is best left to someone, like your LBS, who has the proper, very expensive, tools and experience to do the job. Other than that, the only "difficult" thing when assembling a bike is adjusting the derailleurs and even that isn't hard.

There are excellent how-to articles at parktool.com. A good book is Zinn and the Art of Road/Mountain Bike Maintenance. For tools you can pick up a decent starter kit at Performance to which you'll need to add a few specialized tools (bottom bracket, cassette lock ring, headset press, etc) depending on which groupset you choose. Some tools, like a headset press, can be improvised. Use the search function or google.

biffstephens

All right I'm in!!!

I have been looking at tools sets on the net.... Park Tools, Pedro's and some off brands....what do you guys use...I would not like to drop a mint BUT 150 bucks towards the case still saves me money when looking at getting 2 bikes put together...we are still a few weeks away from getting the bikes.....

Any recomendations of kits to start out with?

Proximo

This kit is on sale and is decent to start with:

https://www.performancebike.com/shop/...tegory_ID=4218

If you can swing a bit more money, this one's on sale too and adds cable cutters, Shimano compatible bottom bracket tool and lock ring tool, among others:

https://www.performancebike.com/shop/...tegory_ID=4218

If you think you'll be buying a number of bike parts over the next year, get a Team Performance card for $20 and you'll get another 10% off either of the above kits.

amp

I'm sort of in the same boat. I have decided to buy my first road bike and am trying to decide whether to buy it at my LBS or order it online instead. I'd save a few hundred dollars ordering it online, but it would have to be assembled. Do you experienced members think I can manage to assemble it myself (maybe with a little help) or should I take it to a shop to have it done? I worry that paying a shop to assemble it would cancel out my savings from ordering online. I'm trying to save as I'm already over my budget with the bike that I have chosen.

seriouslysilly

with the chance of having to pay the LBS to put it together, it might be better to get it at the LBS. plus they may have to offer in which the first year of maintenance is free.

fiver

Buy tools you need from your local bike shop. Prices may be a touch higher, but they will appreciate the business and be more willing to offer advice and even give a few lessons as you go along. I have a few customers that are in the same boat as you and I offer discounts on tools and supplies as well as tips and advice. Investing in the relationship with your LBS is just as important as investing in quality tools. Also, is there a Community bike shop in your area? They would also offer advice and let you use a headset press, and other expensive tools when you need them. Most even offer mechanics classes. Also investing in a copy of Barnetts Manual would be good if you can think methodically and want to learn how to do things right.

Proximo

I assembled a Motobecane from bikesdirect.com for a friend. The bike is mostly assembled when you get it. What remains is to mount the handlebar to the stem, put the front brake caliper/cable on and mount the wheel. The brakes and derailleurs then have to be adjusted which is the only part a complete newbie might want a bike shop to do (although the Zinn book or parktool.com articles will step you through the process if you do it yourself). If you took it to a shop, I imagine that wouldn't cost you more than an hour of labor.

gruppo

This is like having a wood burning fireplace - buying a cord of wood versus cutting your own. Have the bike assembled at your lbs and then have them advise you on basic on-going maintenance/service requirements (Get Park's Big Blue Book) and sell you the tools specific to your bike(s). Learn the basics and then graduate to more sophisticated tasks and the required special tools as needed.

One word of caution - Don't pay much attention to most of the advice that appears in Bike Forums.

TBART

I say, go for it too!