Bikes: off the peg of self build?

[ichabod crane]

You may not get it right first time off but that is the learning process, most of the stuff on a custom build is really quite straight forward and with youtube now it is even easier to get tutorials on every part of building a bike.

 

["andy"]

Let's be fair, it is way more complicated than building a PC

it really really isnt , infact neither are much more complicated than building a 12+ lego set , anyone can do them with a little bit of research and research is easy to do with so many online resources

you speak as though building a pc is easy. well only if you know how! a bikes the same

obviously you need 'some' mechanical competency but you do if your building a pc or lego or meccanno and it all can be learnt on the web

 

[Supercow]

well only if you know how

So is open heart surgery if you are a trained heart surgeonmebop.
Irrelevant point - the point is that building a bike is a steeper learning curve as it has more components and compatibility issues.

like what ?

Headset length, headset diameter, headset shape (tapered or not) fork steerer length, fork steerer diameter, seat tube diameter, stem diameter, Handlebar diameter, bottom bracket size, rear hub size (135/150 etc), headset size, Brakes IS or Post mount?, What size rotors?, what size mounting hardware do you nee for the brakes? (example: my frame has a "build in rear mount so it can already fit 160 with no mount)
are you running a chaindevice - if so ICG old or 05?, do you like the feel of a X.9 shifter... well then you can't use a Shimano mech and vice versa, bought an i-beam seatpost because it's the lightest... ah well remember to buy a ibeam seat.


That was a braindump of the things that immediately sprung to mind as "stuff that won't work if you buy the wrong sh!t"

Stuff that comes to mind wrt personal preference (not taking into consideration type of riding you will do or brand preference):

Headset - do you want it flush or stacked, how long do you want your stem, how much of a rise do you like your handlebars, how long do you like your cranks... do you know how hugh your bottom bracket is so that you wont bash your pedals on the rocks, how wide do you want your bars, do you want a long cage mech or med/short, are the brake cables long enough,

 

[VaderDSL]

it really really isnt , infact neither are much more complicated than building a 12+ lego set , anyone can do them with a little bit of research and research is easy to do with so many online resources

you speak as though building a pc is easy. well only if you know how! a bikes the same

obviously you need 'some' mechanical competency but you do if your building a pc or lego or meccanno and it all can be learnt on the web

Basically everything Supercow said, building a PC is much easier you only have to match :

Socket type
Ram type

Bingo you're there. You need 1 screwdriver and you're away.

 

[VaderDSL]

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

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

I really admire this and if I had the time I would love to do it too. But if I'm OK to take yourself as an example in response to the debate with Andy. How long will you be building it? I don't know the exact details but doing it this way, which is probably similar to the direction the OP would probably take, you'll be missing out on loads of riding time?

Granted the argument can be you're learning how to maintain your bike, personally buy off the shelf first time, learn the basics of bike maintenance as you go, best of both worlds you get to ride the bike and fiddle at the same time

And yes at the tools, without the correct tools you will most likely damage something or end up so frustrated you'll just hate the build This is all from my experience.

 

["andy"]

So is open heart surgery if you are a trained heart surgeonmebop.
Irrelevant point - the point is that building a bike is a steeper learning curve as it has more components and compatibility issues.



Headset length, headset diameter, headset shape (tapered or not) fork steerer length, fork steerer diameter, seat tube diameter, stem diameter, Handlebar diameter, bottom bracket size, rear hub size (135/150 etc), headset size, Brakes IS or Post mount?, What size rotors?, what size mounting hardware do you nee for the brakes? (example: my frame has a "build in rear mount so it can already fit 160 with no mount)
are you running a chaindevice - if so ICG old or 05?, do you like the feel of a X.9 shifter... well then you can't use a Shimano mech and vice versa, bought an i-beam seatpost because it's the lightest... ah well remember to buy a ibeam seat.


That was a braindump of the things that immediately sprung to mind as "stuff that won't work if you buy the wrong sh!t"

Stuff that comes to mind wrt personal preference (not taking into consideration type of riding you will do or brand preference):

Headset - do you want it flush or stacked, how long do you want your stem, how much of a rise do you like your handlebars, how long do you like your cranks... do you know how hugh your bottom bracket is so that you wont bash your pedals on the rocks, how wide do you want your bars, do you want a long cage mech or med/short, are the brake cables long enough,

overcomplicating things

way i look at it is...

buy a frame

buy forks and stem to match your head tube

by headset a the same type as your head tube

seat post and clamp to fit your seat tube

wheels to fit you dropouts

buy gear parts from the same manufacturers or even just buy a full groupset

none of that is difficult information to find , at the worst you need a ruler

bolt it together

your last paragraph is full of personal requirements which are the whole reason you would self build anyway , and you can apply the same to a pc because people prefer certain parts , amd or intel , coreduo or i5/i7 , x3 or x6 , ddr2 or ddr3 , atx or sff , ati or nvidia, ssd or hdd , blu ray or dvd , modular psu or not , cooling type etc etc

anyway seems its pointless arguing but ive always found building bikes as easy as spec ing and building pc's , im sure if i had never been on the CRC site before and had never been on the ocuk site before it would take about the same time to find a load of parts that work with each other