aikigreg

And I get it at a discount. Now I've got to buy all the components. Barring the saddle, what would it cost to buy all the components to put together a decent setup, say...ultegra/tiagra mix or all ultegra. I would consider this option if it didn't cost too much to get all the components from Nashbar/performance (since they have nice coupons) and assembly cost from my LBS.

Looking for rough estimates here - just exploring an option before I test ride/buy this weekend.

ewitz

Why would you mix Ultegra with Tiagra?

55/Rad

Go to sites like excelsports.com or coloradocyclist.com. Do a search for build kits for road bikes. This will give you an idea of some of the many, many options.

55/Rad

Thylacine

If you bought a super nice bike from a super nice framebuilder he would sell you a super nice complete bike for a super, super nice price.

Or something similar.

Hey, it's 1am, that's as close to humourous as I get at this hour.

neil0502

Good calls.

Another one that lets you "build" and price via their website is WRENCH SCIENCE

blandin

I've built up two bikes this way: one with a complete build kit from Colorado Cyclist that included the wheels and another where I bought just the Ultegra group from Excel Sports, so I agree with Rad/55 that these are good sources. The full Ultegra build kit with Ritchey WCS stem, bars and seat post from Colorado Cyclist was $1100. The Ultegra Group from Excel minus hubs was $550. I got a set of custom wheels from Mike Garcia (1477 grams minus skewers) for $299 including freight and added a stem and bar combo from SuperGo and a Thomson seat post and a Fizik Arione saddle. All in all, the price either way was about the same, around $1100. The mechanic I go to appreciates my business and built both bikes for a flat rate of $50 each, and that was a bargain.

H23

Here's a good reference...

https://sheldonbrown.com/harris/kits.html

Basically, everything except the frame. It sort of gives a rough idea what it costs to build up something with pretty good stuff. I have used that table before to help me make my list of parts.

I like to mix together shimano and campy-- campy's brifters are far superior, but their cranks, chainrings, and wheels are too pricey, so its better to use shimano for those items. I also use a special adaptor to translate the shifter cable travel so that I can use a campy derailleur w/ a shimano cassette.

Serpico

competitivecyclist.com has a gruppo calculator that will give you an idea

samp02

The heck with details/research. Buy a full record kit. Build the bike with style.

aikigreg

thanks, y'all. My point with the thread was I have a line on an extremely high priced frame for a steal. Otherwise I'd never even consider buying an incomplete bike. It wouldn't be worth the effort.

Thanks for the tips. Off to read a crapload of websites!

scottyd

Just a warning about Wrench Science.

Use their site but don’t buy from them. I have received terrible service from this company. I ordered 2 bikes from them a few months ago and both arrived with damage on them.

The service was terrible and the salesman would not respond to questions for days after I made the purchase.

Links to pics:
https://scottyd.net/OtherImages/001.jpg
https://scottyd.net/OtherImages/002.jpg
https://scottyd.net/OtherImages/003.jpg
https://scottyd.net/OtherImages/004.jpg
https://scottyd.net/OtherImages/005.jpg

I ordered a CIOCC and a Colnago CT2

Notice the scratch and chip on the top tube of the CT2
Split rear derailer housing
Bad chip on the carbon of the seat stay on the CIOCC
And best of all someone HAND PAINTED a P on the top tube of the CIOCC to say PRYDE Carbon.

Needless to say they blame the shipper and the manufacturer, everyone but themselves.

I recommend avoiding this company at all cost.

scottyd

simplyred

Ouch...Scotty...
Dude those pics...
You should ask for compensation for damages.. the product was not sold as new...
Could that damage have come from shipping? or just poor handling?

CycleFreakLS

CC and Excel have good prices that you should aim at. I've done the Tour de Cure (American Diabetes) fundraiser ride the past few years. They've been giving out a Performnace 20% coupon. Those of us horde these things so we'll make (e.g.) 3 collective purchases annually. One guy bought an Ultegra "build" piecemeal. He hunted down the lowest prices (printed them out). Performance price-matched them and then took 20% off the total bill. The cost was lower than CC or Excel, but it is a lot of work. Good luck.

Applehead57

I've just finished building my bike.
I purchased a new Gunnar frame and then added components off my Fuji.
I have a mixture of Tiagra & Untegra components.
When you take parts of another bike, the cost comes WAY down.
I did have to order a new FD and long reach brakes. Everything else ported over perfectly. The parts that I didn't have to buy: RD, seat post, handlebars, cables, crank, cassette, chain, wheels/tires & pedals.

Serpico

wow, thanks for the tip scotty

I was seriously considering a purchase from wrenchscience, not anymore...

say it ain't so freddy!

kaisersling

I did a similiar build.

I shopped around carefully, waited for sales, and got a couple things on ebay(such as my frame)
I built the entire thing for a about $800-900. I am not looking at my reciepts so these a guesstimates.

Mercian Frame $120
Full ultegra drivetrain
Velocity Aerohead wheelset 300
Cranks and bracket $100
Post $19
Brakes $30
full ultegra integrated shifters $189
Zepp XL handlebars $12 (ebay purchase)
Dura Ace Headset $40

Just take you time. If I bought this bike complete it would probably be pushing $1700 or more. so its worth it if you dont need the bike immediately

kaisersling

Oh...if you are going to have a LBS do the build its going to cost you and you might be better off buying a complete bike. I did the build myself.

gcasillo

I scored a '03 Look KG486 from ExcelSports last September/October for $1988. Very happy, but get this...

The HSC4 fork that came with the frame had to be RMA'd, because the base of the steerer tube was too thick to get a crown race over. Two weeks later, at no cost to me, a new generation HSC4 SL ('04 model fork) arrived and was installed. I essentially got a $3200 '04 frame for $1988.

allgoo19

Great advice. It's priceless.

Let's assume the scratches happened during the shipping ----> Considering that many scratches, it's caused by the bad packing.
There is an evidence to at least one cosmetic damage they were aware of, hand painted "P". They didn't tell you about it, indtead, they tried to hide it and thought could get away from it. Did they think you were dumb enough to be fooled by it? I would be mad, like you, if this happened to me.
Chances are, they were already aware of all the scratches when they shipped it.

Tim Medina

I am one of the Principle owners of Wrench Science and I would like to respond to the comment above by Scottyd. Let me start by saying the management and employees of Wrench Science have worked long and hard to earn our industry leading top tier reputation as providing world class custom built bikes to the highest industry standards.

In this isolated case all industry standard procedures were followed with our manufacturers backing. To fix the paint chip and compensate the customer an industry standard cash offering was made. Also, the damaged parts, due to shipping, were replaced at no charge. We also sent additional product to the customer just in case the problem ever happened again. Of course Scottyd neglected to mention this.

Scottyd did accept the replacement products that were sent to him but was not happy with our cash offer and made an unreasonable cash settlement request back. In and effort to make our customer happy our distributor doubled his offering and so did WS. Needless to say the customer still was not happy with the offer and would not budge on a request of over $550. The problem is that the Colnago frame could easily be fixed for under $100 and we had more than doubled that amount in our offer. We also offered to have the frame touched up for him if he would like to send it back to us but Scottyd refused to accept anything less than the $550 amount. Both our distributor and WS believed the customer to be unreasonable and here is where we stand.

There is a reason why you never read negative comments about Wrench Science and that is because we are 100% committed to giving our customers exactly what they order, built better then they thought was possible. We have hundreds of testimonials to this point. When there is a problem, which does happen from time to time, we always solve the problem, except in this case. Take Scotts comments for what their worth. Also take both our response and the thousands of customer’s positive comments for what they are worth. Thank you.

Best regards,
Tim Medina
CEO
Wrench Science Inc.

climbo

nice to hear both sides !! Isolated incidents should not make someone not shop there, if that was the case, nobody would ever be in business.

Chef23

Greg,

Didn't you just buy a new Pilot?

Check out www.gvhbikes.com. They have build kits there that look to be a decent value also.

giantcfr1

I would have been annoyed also to say the least.
Was a full refund offered? If so why didn't you take that option?
Steve.

Hanzo

You could always buy one of those Motebecanes they are always selling, strip it for parts, and ebay the extra frame. I don't know if that would be the most cost effective though. I'll leave it to someone else to do the math.

MQracing

Hi Tim:

On this fella's Colnago frame... was he offered a new replacement frame to try to make him happy\satisfied. If I bought a new Colnago I know that I would want it to be perfect as well.

Even if it is an isolated "paint chip"... swapping frames with the customer and then rehabbing\refurbing the returned frame would have (i'm guessing) made this guy happy.

It's a tolerance level I suppose. Myself... I think (but I'm not sure) that just getting the paint chip fixed would have made me happy. But I don't see why you guys (and\or colnago) didn't go the extra distance and just swap out the frames.

msl