Build your own bike

[derrick]

How many people build there own bike, bare frame up and do you enjot the build, am building one up at the moment for the wife, new frame mostly used second hand and new parts, have enjoyed the buiding of it, know i fancy building another one for myself, just put one together on the Ribble site and the saving seems to be pretty good, could be a new year project,
So how many of you have built there own.

 

[screenman]

I have built most of my own for about 40 years, must say now I tend to buy off the shelf as that seems where there is a lot of value.

 

[rsvdaz]

currently building up a bmx for my son...could work out expensive way to do it...but not half the fun

 

[PpPete]

Just built up a road bike for my OH, done several for the kids, but the last bike I bought for myself was bought more or less as standard off-the-shelf, as the dealer gave me a discount that outweighed any savings I could make by building it myself.

I do enjoy the process of planning out which of the components I already have can be re-used, and the build process itself.

 

[akb]

I would love to be able to build my own bike! But time and money doesnt allow

 

[tyred]

Just about all my bikes started out in my ownership as a collection of bits and pieces.

Enjoyable, but it would probably be cheaper to just buy a complete bike.

 

[WychwoodTrev]

I am just in the process of building my first bike new bare frame some parts off my Giant abd some new parts like cabes and seat post

 

[Chrisz]

Did mine - it was actually a "Trigger's Broom" type of thing! Over the years I have replaced all of the components (several times over in some cases) and have moved from various different frames to my current one. If I suddenly get a bunch of cash then I'll get another newer frame and move stuff over - if it's a hughe bunch of cash then I'll probably buy frameset and groupset/wheels but stich them all together myself.

When I did my last (current) one I was actually a little dissapointed at how little time it took - I would have happily spent all day building (took a couple of hours).

 

[VamP]

I have ticked yes, but I haven't actually built a new bike, I have re-built my CX racer from frame back to not far away from it's original spec, mainly to give it a good clean and replace shot BB and unsatisfactory cables. Oh and knackered rear mech. CX is tough on bikes

The only thing that didn't come off was the headset. Good fun, and riding a bike you've built yourself feels very different to a shop assembled beast.

 

[taximan]

When we were kids, that was the only way we could get a bike, we would scavange in the local rubbish dump, peoples back yards or even the beck at the bottom of the street. Most of the bikes we built that way were probably death traps and often mysteriously vanished in the night, (dads were the main suspects) but we had a lot of fun with them.

 

[brokenflipflop]

Just finished my winter bike about 2 weeks ago. To buy it off the shelf I reckon it would have cost me about £650. Building it myself from scratch using a combination of sale prices/ebay/parts I already had, I reckon it's cost me about £850. It does actually ride Ok though.

 

[jonnysnorocket]

Yes and hugely enjoyable it was too ! Used to faff about as kids building bikes, swapping bits ...taking siezed cotter pins out etc.
Up untill a year or two ago it dawned on me that my knowledge of the innards of the technological wonder which is now the mountain bike was limited to say the least, so the best way to gain this knowledge I reasoned was to build a bugger!!
So armed with a P.C., Ebay, an (undisclosed to wife) Paypal account, youtube and finally the lbs, I have a (in my eyes) a nicely kitted out mtb based on a kinesis maxlight frame, which i get loads of pleasure and satisfaction from while pedaling around the peak district.
The only drawback i found was the price of the tools you now need to put one together....I seem to remember putting together a claud butler touring bike with little more than a couple of adjustable spanners, pair of molegrips and a hammer ?

 

[brokenflipflop]

I must admit building a bike was a damn site easier than trying to put a photograph of the bike on this bloody web site. I frickin' hate technology.

 

[derrick]

I must admit building a bike was a damn site easier than trying to put a photograph of the bike on this bloody web site. I frickin' hate technology.

Photobucket, lol

 

[brokenflipflop]

Photo what ?