Building a bike.
 

Hello my name is chris im from the clydes forum.

Im going to be building my first bike ever and I would love some tips,wisdom, and ideas. :thumb:

Its going to be a 58cm road bike frame. My main question is should I buy my drivetrain in a complete package or piece by piece? Im wondering if there is a place that sells complete packaged deals? Im leaning towards sora or tiagra for budget reasons. Any thoughts or experience with those 2 species of drivetrains would be helpful? I searched and have been reading articles about working on bikes so hopefully I wont be too lost.:D

The problem with building up a new bike from scratch is that you'll spend way more than if you bought a complete bike with comparable components. Especially if you go piece by piece. The only real advantage of a custom build is the ability to get exactly what you want. If you don't know exactly what you want, it might not be worthwhile.

Better, in my humble opinion, to buy a used bike that needs elbow grease and give it a complete rebuild. You'll still get all the satisfaction of working on the bike, the learning, without spending as much. Honestly, if you want a nice new bike you're much better off financially getting a complete one.

If you are building a bike, you should have a very good reason. Even if you pay wholesale for every last piece of the bike, it's cheaper to buy a complete bike. Especially if you're looking at sora/tiagra, it probably isn't worth your money.

The other option and the cheapest way to build if you want a specific frame is to buy a donor bike on craigslist. Strip the parts to go on your frame and then sell the stripped frame.

In the last year I have built, tore down and rebuilt a new bike as well as done some work on older bikes for friends and family. Everyone is right about the cheap route of buying a complete new bike but if you are looking to do some wrenching to get to know how things work there is no better way than building from scratch, with some help and guidance from your LBS and the fine and informative folks here. it does cost more but the experience is priceless. In my search for a complete group set I eventually ordered from Ribble. I got a 9 speed Tiagra group for a little less than $400. If you have any local shops that specialize in used and vintage bikes they also may have a group that has some miles on it but it may be a better group for about the same price. Have fun and enjoy the process of building and getting to know the guys at the bike shop, they are truly some of the nicest people you will ever get to know.

yeah my thought exactly. Its always more expensive building from scratch, but the learning is priceless.

Chris, First, I agree that it's not exactly inexpensive to build up a bike, but the knowledge gained is worth the price.

Both groups you mention are fine with a reliable reputation. Tiagra is arguably more popular simply because it doesn't use a Campy style button for upshifting, a personal preference item. You can also mix the groups, some Tiagra, some Sora or anything else Shimano road that's available...check here for compatibility issues.

Brad

Why do you want to build your own bike?

1. Trek, Specialized etal can all buy components more cheaply than you can. The downside is they tend to spec. cheaper components for the bottom bracket and headset and house branded parts for stem, handlebar etc. It also means that you are paying somebody else to have the fun of assembling your bike.

2. Security Bicycle, among others, market "bike kits". This is one box that contains everything, except the frame and fork, that you need to build a bike. You generally have some latitude for substituting alternate components and you greatly reduce your chances of ordering components that won't talk to each other. Cost will probably be a little higher than buying a complete bike, but cheaper than buying all new components individually. Another good thing is you have the assurance of knowing you have everything that you need to assemble the bike. My son built a new Felt bike last night - all except for a 10-speed Shimano chain pin. PITA.

3. Some of us have a stock of lightly, or not so lightly, used parts that we have accumulated over the years. That can greatly cut down on what you have to buy but there's always a reason why they're in the parts box and not on the front line. It also limits your choices for parts that will work with them. Putting together a special use bike for minimal or no cost, however, can be a pleasure in itself.

If you are on a limited budget, building from scratch and particularly sourcing the parts individually is by far the most expensive way possible to obtain a bike.

As several posters have noted above the least expensive method is to either buy a new or used complete bike that meets your needs or buy a used donor bike for your components if you can get the frame and fork at reasonable cost.

The next more expensive method is to buy a complete "build kit" from QBP, or others (Security Bicycle is new to me but RG knows what he is talking about). If you have the frame and fork and want all-new components, this is the way to do it.

As to groups, I think Tiagra is worth the cost difference between it and Sora. The Sora shifter thumb button are a bit like the Campy Ergo buttons but are poorly placed. The Campy buttons are easy to reach from the tops or drops of the handlebars but the Sora buttons are nearly inaccessable from the drops. Go with Tiagra.

Finally, leave some room in your budget for decent tools.

If you just need a decent bike to ride, buying it pre-built is the way to go, but many people simply enjoy the process of building bikes and consider the cost worth it. It can be a hobby in itself and if you ride it when you're done, even better. I like following the adventures of the guys in the forum below who buy bargain priced carbon frames directly from Asia and build them up. Looks like they're having tons of fun.

http://forums.roadbikereview.com/sho...d.php?t=241785

To build or not to build...
 

Everyone here has brought up great points. The fact that you indicate you are on a budget, to me, is the main thing. If you are on a budget, you probably should look for a nice, lightly used bike and tear it apart and rebuild it. You will still be getting the experience and a lot of satisfaction in doing so.

It was mentioned above that you could buy a "donor bike". This is a great idea. In fact, right now I'm looking for a particular group and am just waiting until one comes up on CL. I'm hoping that a "tough to sell" size frame with a nice group comes up and I'll be able to get the components that I need more cheaply that way. Lots of the CL bikes were purchased with good intentions of riding to get in shape, etc. and they just sit in someones garage or basement. Five years hence, they need the room or they are tired of looking at a bike sitting still that should be moving and they dump it on CL.

If you have the time to invest, that's one way to go.

I recently completed a build of a track bike from scratch. I picked all new components, but bought them from probably 10 different dealers, including a road trip to a shop 2 hours away because they had a sweet deal. I love the bike to death because it was spec'd by me. It looks the way I wanted it. I still have lots of room to upgrade over time, but for now, it's perfect.

So I can understand why you want to engage in this effort. Just don't spend more than you have to in doing so.

Good luck!

Haha forgot to mention I injured my elbow only recently and Im loving cycling but currently I cant ride. Im doing this because heck I love tinkering and I believe understanding how my bike works will make me a better rider. The ability to build something and use it everyday would be a sense of pride for me and it will help me keep in the cycling community since I cant currently ride. Im getting a 58cm road frame from a fellow board user. I have my own wheelset already. Im not sure if I want to turn this bike into a fixed gear / single gear / or multi gear bike yet. Its a project bike that hopefully I can get some use out of. I thank everyone for the input. After looking around I came to the same conclusion as most of you. Unless im buying high end groupsets its better to buy a prebuilt bike but hey that will take the fun out of building one :p

P.S. Currently I ride a hybrid bike but I find that not having drops is weird for me. I like the idea of being able to drop down and push it rather then sitting upright at all times. I came to the conclusion that a road bike frame would be more suited to me. I figure the hybrid would be nice for 5-10 miles rides and my road bike could be used for my actual training/charity events/centuries.

P.S.S What kind of tools should I invest in that are must haves for tinkering with bikes. I have a standard toolbox atm some wrenches/pliers/screwdrivers/ the general stuff as well as a bike multi tool.

1. How did you injure your elbow? A year and a half ago I broke the heads off of both radius bones in a bike crash. It's an experience I wouldn't like to repeat.

2. What do the rear dropouts of your frame look like? Almost all modern frames have vertical dropouts. That complicates building a single speed and makes building a fixed gear a near impossibility.

An uncle of mine had fallen off the roof and I managed to grab his arm to catch him and brace my body in the process I managed to pull my elbow out of the socket and it caused the nerves around the joint to subflax. Ever since then I have had a case of cubital tunnel syndrome. I let it go by without getting it checked on and apparently my nerves have suffered damage causing issues with my arm and how it functions. Long story short my arm from the shoulder down has suffered muscle atrophy from my nerve being compressed in my elbow.:crash::crash::crash: