Build your own Road bike :O

[Sittingduck]

Okay, I know I knooooow... better value buying a bike and all that but nevertheless I have a frame purchased from eBay on it's way to me now so it's too late to try and put me off

So the frame is New and I was intending to use a mix of new and used components. The frame comes with forks and a stem but I may well change the stem for something shorther and flip-flop. Toying with the idea of a new groupset - needs to be a triple I think. Possibly Sora or Xenon!

Anyone have any experience, opinions or tips before I embark upon this voyage of discovery?


Cheers
SD

 

[4F]

Sitting duck, good luck. Sorry I outbid you on the peugeot

 

[Chrisz]

I did exactly that

Bought a frame and built it up myself

Tips? Don't be afraid to mix 'n' match parts to suit your needs.

Make sure you have (or get) plenty of tools (the right ones)

Get friendly with your LBS - tap them up for free advice

Enjoy the experience and be proud of the end results

 

[peanut]

I think the Sora STi are excellent levers. If you are used to the 2x lever setup on 105 and ultegra it will seem a bit odd at first. Just bought some New 9 spd Sora STi for£50

If you spend most of the time on the hoods they are perfect but if you use the drops a lot then you'll find it a curse to have to shift your hands up to the hoods to change gear.

Avoid the Sora chainset because it has poor quality steel chainrings that rust.

Tiagra cassette is fine , about £16 (not sure about Sora)

Enjoy your voyage of discovery. I never tire of building bikes . I probably enjoy it more than riding.

 

[Radius]

Bear in mind that Xenon was discontinued last year so upgrading / resale could be tricky, and it could be tricky to find anyway....we all know about Sora, it's basically the sort of standard get you by kinda groupset, which will probably be fine, but the inline shifty on Tiagra upwards is nice...

 

[gbb]

Most of its surprisingly easy SD

Installing most of the components...easy
Front mech needs to be aligned correctly, maybe a bit fiddly
Rear mech, easy to fit, but be ready to set the limit screws. Bit scary at first, but just follow the instructions for adjustment.
Same when you cable it up, the tension can be a bit of a mare..or easy. Depends on the day when i'm doing it
Careful when you cut the brake cable outers...i made mine a bit short and my steerings a bit 'tight' at the extremes now.
Have you got the forks and headset with the frame...ive done plenty of 1 inch headsets, easy...only played with one Ahead setup.

Half the battle is getting the components at a reasonable price. I did my 531 frame, coupled with bits from ebay, donor and spare bits, a used Sora groupset...(i already had the STIs )...and it still cost me in excess of £200. I was happy to fit lightly used components for the most part, with new R500 wheels, cables, outers, bartape etc etc

£200. More than i anticipated...but ive got a rock solid bike now that'll ast for years...and i learned a ton doing it. Very satisfying.

 

[Sittingduck]

Sitting duck, good luck. Sorry I outbid you on the peugeot

s'ok I never actually placed a bid

Thanks for the tips chaps - I got no beef with Sora style shifters... seem just fine to me. I figured it would be cheaper to get an entire groupset for like 200 quid as opposed to getting the individual parts but m,aybe thats untrue... May get some new shifters, cassette & chain and source chainset, bars seat post and the like from ebay

I like the idea of being able to select exactly what I want, right down to the colour of bar tape and length of the stem. Also being able to pay for the goods in a piecemeal fashion will be good!

 

[Chrisz]

Forgot to mention - if things go all titts-up and you strip threads, break parts or it ends up looking like something from scrapheap challenge (e.g. no-one likes your red frame/wheels/yellow tyre combo) you only have yourself to blame

 

[Sittingduck]

Most of its surprisingly easy SD

Installing most of the components...easy
Front mech needs to be aligned correctly, maybe a bit fiddly
Rear mech, easy to fit, but be ready to set the limit screws. Bit scary at first, but just follow the instructions for adjustment.
Same when you cable it up, the tension can be a bit of a mare..or easy. Depends on the day when i'm doing it
Careful when you cut the brake cable outers...i made mine a bit short and my steerings a bit 'tight' at the extremes now.
Have you got the forks and headset with the frame...ive done plenty of 1 inch headsets, easy...only played with one Ahead setup.

Half the battle is getting the components at a reasonable price. I did my 531 frame, coupled with bits from ebay, donor and spare bits, a used Sora groupset...(i already had the STIs )...and it still cost me in excess of £200. I was happy to fit lightly used components for the most part, with new R500 wheels, cables, outers, bartape etc etc

£200. More than i anticipated...but ive got a rock solid bike now that'll ast for years...and i learned a ton doing it. Very satisfying.

I stripped my old MTB right down and rebuilt it a couple of months ago and invested in some basic tools. Got a basic tool-kit from Edinburgh Cycles and probably have most of the stuff I need. Tempted to get a bike workstand from Decathlon for about 30 quid though.

My budget for the entire build is probably aboiut 400 (maybe a tad more). The frame probably isn't the most prestigious of cats but I liked the look of it and thought the price was reasonable for a new one. Not sure about the different types of headsets and stems and how they intergate but I will just check out on-line tutorials such as biketutor and the Park site along with Sheldon for help when I'm stuck

Really looking forward to doing this now.

Frame is here:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/BANKRUPT-700c...hZ007QQcategoryZ22679QQtcZphotoQQcmdZViewItem

 

[4F]

I picked up some 105 brakes, front mech, rear mech and some down tube shifters off e bay for £ 20 as a set. The 105 STI shifters from memory often go for £ 30 - 40 second hand so it can be done without spending a small fortune.

If I was going for a build I would look for 105 as a minimum or if you want a bit more quality go campagnolo.

 

[4F]

Check this groupset out http://www.shinybikes.com/bikes/campagnolo-ct-xenon-groupset.html

 

[fossyant]

Piece of cake - always built my bikes up, including Frank - just take your time if not sure. At 20 yrs old building up a 'super bike' is a bit scary...... that's when I got Frank !

TBH - if I ever buy a bike - e'g' kids, then I strip certain parts, copper slip or grease them and re-build....think that might happen if I get another bike as well.....

 

[Sittingduck]

Check this groupset out http://www.shinybikes.com/bikes/campagnolo-ct-xenon-groupset.html

Great minds and all that.... I had already singled this one out as a strong contendor Shame it's not a triple mind

 

[fossyant]

That's a bargain !!!!

 

[4F]

That's a bargain !!!!

It certainly is and would be a very nice upgrade for mine however Mrs FFFF would have a fit if I bought anything else this month for the bike. It is only the 10th and I have already parted with £ 120 for so called "essential items"