bryceepoo

Hey everyone! I've been lurking in your forums for months now, but finally became a member and decided to put up my first post!

My wife and I just recently moved to the Seattle area and want to get into the cycling scene here. We're both past Mtn. riders and just starting seriously into the road scene. This weekend we picked up a new bike for my wife. She picked the Bianchi Eros Donna... and she's in love. I get no attention anymore!

So my question; As I'm a student here and on a somewhat limited income... should I just save up to buy for the next month or so? Or would I get more for my money if I start buying parts and building as I can afford it? I plan on alloting about $1500 in either case to a nice, possible race worthy, bike.

It might just kill me to have a 1/2 built bike laying around is the other problem!

Stock pics of the machine that may ruin my marriage for views!

badkarma

It's *usually* more cost effective to buy a whole bike unless you're great at finding screaming deals for parts on ebay. Plus with all the deals shops are running this time of you, you should be able to find a great bike for $1500.

VanceMac

In that price range, you are better off buying one of the off-the-rack bargains (Bianchi, Trek, Specialized, etc). Although if it were me, I would probably go over to www.gvhbikes.com and have him build up something comparable.

capwater

There are basically three reasons to build:

1. You want to learn about bikes
2. You have a fair amount of parts laying around
3. You want some real weird-azz configuration that nobody sells stock

Note: Cost saving is NOT one of the valuid reasons. There are far too many stock setups that are awesome. The bike manufacturer's can get component groups so cheap from Shimano you couldn't touch their prices.

Also, now would be a good time to pick up a 2006 model since many shops are trying to move them, great deals to be had and the $1500 pricepoint offers many possibilities.

Grasschopper

What you get when you buy the pre built bike:
The frame you want, the drivetrain you can afford
The stem, seat post, saddle, bars, wheels and tires they cheaped out on to hit the price point you are buying at.

What you get when you build:
The frame, stem, bars, wheels, drivetrain, saddle, and seatpost you want
Less money in your pocket.

It will cost a few more dollars to pc it together but you will learn about the bike and you will get exactly what you want and not what the mfg skimped on when they put the bike together to hit a price point.

Road Rash

Buy your first bike
1) you don't know what you really want until you have ridden for a while
2) you want to get on the road, not have a half built bike in the garage
3) there are more deals at the local bike shops on complete bikes than on components

Build your second bike
1) you know what you want
2) you can buy components opportunistically and hold on to them
3) you can upgrade your existing bike and use components off it to build a second bike
4) you are under no time pressure as you have a bike to ride

superdex

I built a roadie from scratch last year, and I'm in the middle of building another right now (which should be ridable in the next couple weeks). What capwater says is right -- you don't build to save money (unless you're okay with used and new-old-stock). Also keep in mind you'll be paying for shipping (because the best prices you'll find will be online) and then there is the cost of tools that you don't have. Add to that a fair amount of education and research to get the best bang per buck, and you realize that you build a bike because, well, you just like building bikes up.

--and $1500 will get you a TON of bike.

I say buy one off the floor now, and get the upgrade bug first. If you still have the curiousity to build one up, then hey, you've got some stock to work with, ebay the frame and wheels, and go nuts building something

urbanknight

+1 saving money isn't a reason. It usually costs more to build a bike than buy one, unless you hunt through bike swapmeets and stuff, which you don't know how to find yet.

$1500 can get you a lot of bike. Entry level race worthy bike (with Shimano 105 or Campagnolo Veloce), or you could buy a good used bike with slightly better components for less. Do yourself a favor and save a few hundred dollars out of your budget for fitting the bike. You might need a new saddle, seatpost, stem, etc.

bryceepoo

Thanks so far guys for your input. I see your point and I suspected that's what I'd hear. The only bike that I have any time on at all is a Raleigh Prestige and the brother-in-law had built up so I thought it might be a fun project to get something a little exotic. I know there are some great deals around right now though.

kenny!

Not sure if anyone mentioned this as I skimmed over the posts, but if you buy a complete bike from a lbs you can always take it back if it has problems. If you built it yourself, you're on your own.

The 2007 bikes are coming out now so you should be able to get some killer deals. Check with your Cannondale dealer on the 06 CAAD8 bikes, the CAAD9 frame just came out for 07 so the prices should on the older framed bikes should be super low.

S_DOG34

Quite frankly, those who say that you won't save money buy building one yourself are only partly correct. You take risks by using ebay, but you can sometimes get frames for far less than you could retail. I got my frame brand new for significantly less than retail...you just have to be patient and careful. If that is the case though, a build can take months as you wait for the right price on all the parts, so that should be a consideration as well.

I do agree with them that for your price range it makes more sense to buy one off the rack. If you're looking to drop $3k and up on a bike, you can often build it up cheaper than you can buy it.

Check your LBS this time of year for nice deals on bikes. Mine has a 55cm Bianch 928 Carbon/Ultegra for $1799.

Hambone

The other side of this is you have to know exactly what you need without a test ride. I bought what I thought was the ideal frame for me. A super stiff aluminum frame in the size I heeded. Had I ridden the bike once I would have known it was way more bike than I needed.

Now my "boys" are paying for my hubris.

I'll learn.

SaddleBags

I agree with the post where you should buy the 1st one and build your 2nd one. You'll get a better feel of what you want in your next bike after riding your 1st bike. Atleast that worked for me. Hang on to that 1st bike since you're living on the Wetside of WA, you'll need a rain bike.
For the OP, have you considered used bikes?

S_DOG34

Agree 100%. That is part of the risk of building your own and buying online.

Retro Grouch 

It's only fair to pay less for a complete bike. That's because somebody else had the fun of specing it out and putting it all together.

urbanknight

S Dog34 is right, if you looked around you could save quite a bit building it yourself. I used to do that as a racer, but I frequented bike swapmeets, traded with fellow racers, etc. I am recommending against this based on the assumption that the OP isn't savy to which parts are compatible with what and how to install them. With the special tools you will need, the first build will cost you a lot in tools, then it gets cheaper and easier from there.

The OP mentioned that it might be a fun project. That's good enough reason to me to try it, but you have to be patient and understand it might take you a while and that you might be buying some wrong parts/sizes and have to return/resell them and get the correct ones.

I had an eye opener when I decided to swap the components from my broken cross country frame to my old downhill bike. I had been off the bike for 5 years and they had switched to a spline drive type bottom bracket. Unable to find a suitable square drive crank, I ended up having to buy a bottom bracket as well, along with a few other parts I didn't realize they stopped making. Spent about $400 just to get the thing put back together, and all I had needed originally was cranks and cables!

marqueemoon

Know your size and keep watching Seattle craigslist. I've seen some pretty incredible bikes pop up there. That's the nice thing about living in a bike-friendly town where people make too much money. You can snap up their leftovers.

godspiral

One reason to build your own is if you want a specific frame material, or wheelset type/weight range, but that is not normally available in the price range you want (or paired with the component group you want)

Headset and BB are the only tricky things to install yourself, IMO, and I've been able to price out components from retailers (on sale) for less than new bikes.

superdex

and even today's integrated headsets aren't pressed in, so yeah, even that is not a big deal. But yeah, building your own ride does require patience and knowledge; you have to know a) what you want, b) what you're willing to pay and c) that you've found it. For example, my current build is an Al with carbon seat stays frame, and I'm hanging a mix of new (like the Neuvation wheels, cranks, chain, cassette, saddle) and used (2003 Campy Record brifters, derailleurs, brakes, seatpost). I'm going to come in under $1400. But you can certainly spend some serious $$$$ using those online kit builders. Take a spin through Excel Sports' builder, see how expensive you can get: https://www.excelsports.com/bikekit.asp

S_DOG34

I don't know about Campy, but for the Ultegra/Dura-Ace BB all you need is a properly faced frame and a $12 tool. Unless you're buying a sketchy frame, it should be a simple matter of screwing in the hollowtech BB and tightening with the tool. Heck, I think the Dura-Ace even comes with its own tool!

dsb137

I'd build it, but then the last 'off the rack' bike I've gotten was for Christmas when I was 12... and even that one I had to assemble...

I_bRAD

Buying a bike is always cheaper than building your own... BUT if you want the building experience you can always buy the bike at the LBS and tell them you'll put it together yourself! That's what I did for my road bike and I got a couple of upgrades over stock because they didn't have to spend their time assembling it.

Best of both worlds- you get the bike for cheaper, and you learn a lot about how it all goes together. You will need tools too, of course... but tools are good forever and you'll definitely get use out of them

blandin

I agree that a rider's first bike should be purchased for all the reasons given above, but I can tell you from personal experience that you can save money by building if you find the right bargain(s). For example, my Ellsworth Flight is built around a $1,000 frame that I got from Tony Ellsworth himself for $126, that frame coupled with components purchased here and there, wheels found at the right price, etc. resulted in a finished product at a real savings. Is it always going to be the way, certainly not, but the fun is in finding the bargains and building it up to my specs - see signature for more details.

bryceepoo

Thanks so much guys!!! I'm kinda where I started though. I do have the tools already to do everything... and the know-how... the problem is that I THINK I know what I want, but like you've all mentioned I realize I really probably do have the saddle time to realistically know that right now.

That being said... if I could come out at about the same price is might be cool. You know, it's either wait a month or 2 to have enough money to buy out right, or build as I go and have money for each part. Plus I think I'd appreciate it more. I'm not wanting anything too fancy, but I am a sucker for exclusivity!!!

capwater

Eggsellent point. Two teammates of mine just got 06 CAAD8s with full Ultegra 10 speed for $1200 USD. That is a schmokin deal on a bike that retails close to 2k. I personally just built (ok, had a bunch of parts laying around....) a CAAD8 and can attest to it's awesome ride and raceability.