Question to you folks: buy or buy!?
 

Its been almost 6 months since i last posted or visted bikeforums.net. my life has been going up and down during that time (college graduation, job hunting...job hunting....job hunting). But i am glad to say that i finally have a job that i love..and it pays pretty good. So now im back in the urban jungle called NYC. Last time i checked, there are no dirt trails or stunts for me to play on. So now im considering a change. My Kona Dawg has served me wheel. I might sell it, or salvage it for parts, not sure as of yet. But im am in the market now for a urban assualt bike. I am looking at bikes such as the P3 and or Flow, something along those lines that will enjoy the most of this concrete playground. So my question to you, should i buy a complete bike OR buy a frame and build from the ground up. On one hand, i could buy the complete bike...done deal....OR buy the frame and slowly shop for parts and buy my own tools to put it together. I would guess there would be a learning curve but what i would learn would be invaulable in the future. Any thoughts or tips anyone could offer me?

It sounds funny, but you really dont need that many tools to put a bike together....buy a set of pre-built wheels though. For a street HT, definetly build it yourself. Most of the stuff is simple...mech or v's, plus it's cheaper.

I'm not sure what I'm going to do when I get my next bike, but I'm leaning towards building from the frame up. (I'd like to build the frame, but I don't know that I'd have the patience for that.) That way, you'll know how to un/install every part. It'll be fun and frustrating all at once, prolly, but the experience will be worth it, IMO. I used to strip everything off my frame once every week or two except for the fork and BB when I raced to clean and inspect it. It was very calming for me.

build, i built my bike from the spoke up. I learned more than i ever would reading any archives. I used this forum's archives as a reference incase i got stuck, but i think much of the process involved is very logical. Also one thing that i like is that nobody else has the same bike as I, its good to be unique :). When you buy a bike already assembled and whatnot you will likely end up replacing something soon becuase some part of it will not be to your likings but if you custom you can get all you want right to your likings. Becuase im on a highschool budjet the process took a while, im still not entirely done with mine.

Getting your wheels built by a good builder really makes all the difference......

How much would the tools cost? I'm debating that myself, but I'm leaning towards having the bike shop build it for me.. I think if the price is reasonable, it's worth not having something fail because I didn't put it on properly, or lubricate it enough, etc.

ive seen complete kits in the nashbar catalog go for about $200US.

http://www.nashbar.com/profile.cfm?c...eid=&pagename=

In your situation, buy the frame and build the bike. You hae the parts and the tools aren't bad.

Well cog removal tool is cheap, 5 or 6 bucks. If your frame isnt faced and whatnot dont pay the 200 to buy the tool. A pedal wrench is nice to have, though you can find a monkey wrench thats thin enough and 15mm (please dont shoot me anybody for saying that). Well headcup's need to pressed but you dont *need* to have the shop do it, dont use a hammer to jam it into place http://www.mindspring.com/~d.g1/headset.html
Your going to need a chain breaking tool to size your chain becuase most likely out of the box its too long. a 10 dollar sacrifice. Allen keys obviously but those are really cheap, dont bother getting the park ones they are overpriced, i can get one for 50 cents @ my hardware store, get many 5mm ones. Its nice to have a pair of needle nose pliers to keep the cable taut as you install your brakes etc. okay im sure im missing something but this post has gotten long enough

http://wheelworld.com/site/itemdetai...t=Price%20desc

or you could get something like this with the frame instead of building up piece by piece.