Build your own Road bike :O
- Thread starter Sittingduck
- Start date
Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.
OP
OP
Sittingduck
Legendary Member
- Location
- Somewhere flat
I wear lycra under my baggies Bonj - I ain't exactly er... inconspicuous looking in lycra! 
OP
OP
Sittingduck
Legendary Member
- Location
- Somewhere flat
I Lol'd. Folks would surely have to be staring pretty hard to see the hidden lycra. At the kind of speeds I move at Bonj... it is nothing more than a blur to most onlookers 
OP
OP
Sittingduck
Legendary Member
- Location
- Somewhere flat
Hehehe - I found buying new components quite fun by shopping around and trying to get the exact things I wanted but at the same time grabbing the best bargains! Trouble is; there are always little things to be sourced that you don't even think of. Also, this approach can be frustratingly slow (if all you want to do is ride it now!).
Even so - I wouldn't hesitate from option 1 if I did the same again
Even so - I wouldn't hesitate from option 1 if I did the same again
I bought an Aluminium GT Edge frame on ebay and built it up from scratch. Components are a mixture of whatever I had lying around / could afford (not a lot) but it was the best experience and I now have a totally unique bike which rides like a million dollars and cost in total about £400. If you consider what you can buy off the shelf for that amount of money it makes total sense to self-build if you've got the time, patience and a reasonable aptitude with a spanner!
The other big advantage of doing it this way is that if you start with a reasonable frame, you can hang cheaper secondhand components off it and it will still ride well until you can afford to slowly upgrade all the bits over time. Eventually you'll end up with the bike of your dreams and in the mean time still have plenty of fun with the frankenstein bike you have during the transitional period. My GT Edge came with a full Dura Ace spec in 1994 when it cost around $3000. I hope one day to be able to treat it to some new top end bits but in the mean time it still rides and looks fantastic.
The other big advantage of doing it this way is that if you start with a reasonable frame, you can hang cheaper secondhand components off it and it will still ride well until you can afford to slowly upgrade all the bits over time. Eventually you'll end up with the bike of your dreams and in the mean time still have plenty of fun with the frankenstein bike you have during the transitional period. My GT Edge came with a full Dura Ace spec in 1994 when it cost around $3000. I hope one day to be able to treat it to some new top end bits but in the mean time it still rides and looks fantastic.
