Bikes: off the peg of self build?

clv101

clv101

clv101

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So, we're all very familiar with the pros and cons of building a PC oneself against buying a Dell or similar. I'm wondering how many (if any) of those arguments translate over to the bike world? Who's spec'ed and built their bikes from scratch? Why did you do it?

I guess one of the key differences is that to build a bike you need ~£100 of specialist tools at least, more if you want to build the wheels and fancy working on a stand. That's one major barrier. Secondly, it is actually technically a lot harder to build a bike that build a PC, more knowledge is required.

Edit... if a mod could fix the thread title for me? :)
 
ive built loads over the years - its no harder than building a pc

its fun to choose every part, a lot of complete bikes give you crappy finishing parts like stems and seatposts, or bad rims and tyres, I also dont like how a bike company will give you like an XT rear mech but then cheap out on everything else

its definately more expensive, most aftermarket frames and forks are way overpriced, a good spec complete will be better value by miles generally

you dont need £100 worth of tools
allen keys £5
pedal spanner (my pedals dont even need this) £5
chain tool (most chains wont need this) £5
dont need a work stand - can bodge an inner tube sling thing that works ok
only specialist tool I need to take my bike apart / put it together is a shimano bottom bracket tool which is only £15 ish
pump and tyre levers ?
good cable cutters dont cost much either

thats about it really


wheels are easy if you have the right length spokes! dont need a truing stand either just use the bike for this
most people dont bother building wheels themselves though - much easier to pay £10 and get it done for you but personally I find lacing wheels therapeutic !

setting up gears is very easy with new parts and when you read the setup leaflets you get, everything else is just doing up allen key bolts

bleeding disc brakes is about as hard as it gets really when building a new bike, and some brakes are good enough that you dont even need to do this
with screw in bottom brackets and integrated headsets you could put a bike together within an hour easily!
 
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I've built my own bike to spec many times.
My current bike has cost me about £1200 and has a mix of some new and some second hand parts. The main benefit of building is that you can buy second hand parts.
If you're not willing to buy a second hand frame/forks you'd be best off getting an off-the-peg bike as frames tend to cost a small fortune on their own.
 
clv101 said:
I guess one of the key differences is that to build a bike you need ~£100 of specialist tools at least, more if you want to build the wheels and fancy working on a stand.
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hammer + pliers + multi tool that came free with MBUK circa 2003. edit - forgot about chaintool actually - £6

pretty much what i just built my bike with... if you want to do things more 'proper' then you can press headsets with a threaded bar and nuts etc. hell ive built perfect wheels with old forks and a whiteboard pen taped to the leg
 
Only thing I ever use a hammer for on a bike is headset removal.
DIY headset press: threaded rod, 2 drilled plates and 2 nuts. Works a treat.
 
If you build yourself it is generally more expensive but you get exactly what you want. Putting the bike together is pretty easy to, have the headset fitted in factory or where you get the frame from, the rest can be done at home with even the worse equipped of tool kits.
 
ichabod crane said:
If you build yourself it is generally more expensive but you get exactly what you want. Putting the bike together is pretty easy to, have the headset fitted in factory or where you get the frame from, the rest can be done at home with even the worse equipped of tool kits.
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You'll also need a bottom bracket tool, cassette tool, chain tool and maybe a chain whip (if you ever want to remove your cassette). All handy tools to have for maintenance anyway really.
 
It wont generally be more expensive - it will ALWAYS be more expensive if you are buying new. Id suggest buy an off-the peg bike and sell bits you don't like or want to change. You are also a beginner - so it's doubtful you know what you like/need.

You will also find when you start building your bike, there's always somethign you don't think of getting, or a bit doesn't fit because you didn't realise that you have bought a different standard etc.

Save yourself hassle and money for now and get off the peg.
 
Supercow said:
It wont generally be more expensive - it will ALWAYS be more expensive if you are buying new. Id suggest buy an off-the peg bike and sell bits you don't like or want to change.

You will also find when you start building your bike, there's always somethign you don't think of getting, or a bit doesn't fit because you didn't realise that you have bought a different standard etc.

Save yourself hassle and money for now and get off the peg.
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Definitely this :) Building a bike in my opinion is a lot harder for the reasons Supercow has stated. It requires experience, decent tools etc. decent tools as in the right tools which I always invariably missing :D
 
ichabod crane said:
Got to start somewhere and in the deep end is always best :D
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This was my opinion ... unti I tried to build my own bike for the first time and got so furious after the umpteenth thing I had to either send back or change and then ended up taking it to a bike shop anyway.

IMO, there are a heck of a lot of more compatibility issues with bike bits than PC bits.
 
Supercow said:
IMO, there are a heck of a lot of more compatibility issues with bike bits than PC bits.
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like what ?

you just buy a frame then measure the bits and buy the correct other bits , infact you dont even need to measure because you can just type ''what size headset for ******* frame , what size BB for ******** frame'' etc into google

its exactly the same as buying a mobo then picking bits to match the correct sized socket/slots/ports
 
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"andy" said:
like what ?

you just buy a frame then measure the bits and buy the correct other bits , infact you dont even need to measure because you can just type ''what size headset for ******* frame , what size BB for ******** frame'' etc into google

its exactly the same as buying a mobo then picking bits to match the correct sized socket/slots/ports
Click to expand...

Let's be fair, it is way more complicated than building a PC :) I'm sure we all started somewhere, and usually stuff like this starts off with you buying off the shelf and experimenting and gaining experience.

In my opinion it's relatively rare someone can jump into something and get it right the first time off. I bet all of us on here have had either a pre-built computer and developed from there or bought a pre-built bike and started from there also.

If we're being sensible about it, buying a bike with a good frame off the peg is a much more sensible decision.
If you get a good frame, you can at a later date upgrade. It's what I and many others do :) I just wish I had the skills to be able to jump feet first into something like a self build and come out the other end with something that resembles a bike.
 
im building up my giant reign frame at the mo which i sourced on ebay and have slowly added the parts i want (most of which are brand new).
I originally thought about buying a trance x3 but couldn't afford the initial outlay so went down the self build route.
I set myself a budget of £1k but have added some fancier parts so the cost has risen slightly, originally planned on spending £100 a month but that slowly crept upto £200.
Learning as i go along, if you have a mechanical background its fairly straight forward with a bit of research and asking ?s on forums such as this :D

One thing i've found tho is that you need a tool for almost everything on the darn thing LOL :p
 
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