I bought a frame and a fork.... Now what do I do?
 

what have I done! I am new to biking... but just purchased a road bike frame and a fork. I don't even know what other parts I need. What am I to do?

Hello to all of you!

I am 5"7, 150 lbs. I just bought a 54cm frame and fork.

- what speed should I make this bike? (I will be a weekend rider)
- what size wheels do I need
- what type of brakes do I need?

As I stated, I will be a weekend rider (10 mile rides). I am on a strict budget. I bought used frame and fork for 200 dollars (Orbea Starship aluminum frame with Reynolds Ouzo pro carbon forks. If I am in a wrong forum, please direct me to the right place. I would really appreciate any help you can give.

You will probably need size 700c wheels. Since you are on a tight budget, and only 10 miles a weekend, Sora would probably be more than enough.Here's a good list of other things you'll need. The groupset is dirt cheap new, so you could get some good used deals.

handlebars
stem
wheels/tires
seatpost/saddle
pedals

Sell it on ebay and use the money to buy a complete bike on craigslist.

Seriously.

+1

dearaileur front and rear
cables and housing
crank
cassette
shifters
brakes

for the groupset I would go with tiagra or better and the current trend is 10spd

54cm frame for a 5'7 rider?
that might be one or two sizes too big for you, but it should be possible to fit you on it by using a short, 60~70mm stem, assuming your seatpost doesn't bottom out in the frame with the proper leg extension.

Thanks for the wheel size info!

I will check on groupsets and shorter stem. Thanks!

OP may be built like me, long legs & arms- well, long for someone who only stands 5' 7".... I rode a 52cm for a few years and always felt cramped regardless of stem, saddle fore/aft, etc. My last 2 road bikes have been 54cm and I've never been more comfortable. Stem isn't super short (90mm) and I feel like I've got plenty of seat post showing (~15 cm). On the occasions that the LBS guys have seen me riding, they've asked if I'm on a 52, so I guess I look proportionally correct. YMMV.

Tools, don't forget tools.

yeah. I'm 5'7" too and I like a 51cm frame. There is a pretty good chance that the frame you bought is too big, that is unless you have really short legs and a very long torso. Or maybe monkey long arms.

yeah, depends on how the body and frame is built.
I use a 90mm stem on my 52cm and 100mm stem on my 50cm bikes, but the seatposts have 32mm of setback and the saddles are all the way back on the rails. 50cm and 52cm frames of 700c wheel size will be cramped due to compromised geometry.

+1 .... seriously


If your post had started out along the lines of:

"I really like bikes, playing around with them, and have always wanted to do a complete build so I can spec out all the parts ...."

Then I would say "go for it" ........... but in this case I suspect you will spend twice as much as you think, and spend months working on it. (not that there's anything wrong with that ....)

If you decide to build it up, practice taking close-up pictures because you'll be asking questions everyday and no one will have the patience to try to understand your questions without good pictures.

+1 on selling frame. I would then get a good fit from a shop, and do some research if you really want a decent bike you'll enjoy.

ebay 105, you should be able to get a fairly complete group for about $500

I see good used sets for 105 on ebay (Thanks). Also, If 52cm is the PERFECT size for me (5' 7")... Then, shouldn't I be able to make 54cm work for me?

The definite answer is maybe. Probably not what you want to hear, but that's the truth. See my post above- my 54cm Tarmac fits me very, very well. I do admit, however, that a 53cm (if Specialized made one) Tarmac would probably be perfect. Look up the geometry of the frameset that you've got now. Then do some research on other bikes with similar specs. Test ride those bikes locally and decide for yourself if it's too big.

There are ways to get a bike which is too large to fit better: Shorter stem, short reach bars, (sometimes) zero-setback seatpost. This approach may or may not be optimal though. If the bike is too far out of your natural "size range", you'll find that no amount of component & parts finagling will get it to fit. Run through the online fit calculator at http://www.competitivecyclist.com/za...LCULATOR_INTRO then compare the recommended measurements to the bikes that you've researched. HTH.

The calculator feels that I am 52cm seat tube range c-c. So, I guess 52cm would be optimal for me. Thanks for all your help.

+1 sell it, get properly fitted and buy a complete bike.

You'll spend prolly twice as much building one from parts.

+a billion

Curious as to why you bought a frame and fork and not knowing anything about bikes?
Why didn't you just buy a complete bike?