Building your own bike

[benb]

I saw these Ti frames at Planet X. I quite like the idea of a titanium road bike, and was vaguely toying with the idea of building it myself.

Good idea, or get the LBS to do it?

If I do it myself, what are the pitfalls?

 

[black'n'yellow]

The pitfalls will be anything between 'lots' and 'none' - depending on your abilities and tools available.

 

[ianrauk]

Sittingduck built his own bike a few years back and documented it HERE.

 

[black'n'yellow]

Sittingduck built his own bike a few years back and documented it HERE.

a three year-old thread with out-of-date pricing and no mechanical information.

 

[jim55]

id say no pitfalls if ur in any way competent though ,you will need a few tools though , the only jobs i can think of that need a specialist (or bodged )tool are for pressing headset cups in(u can use a bit of threaded rod and a couple of big washers) and doing up the bb (u can buy a spanner /socket thing for this as well),all the rest is pretty standard tools (with maybe a good quality cable cutter)and straightforward stuff,ul save a right few quid on labour but depending on how "tooled up"you are you will b spending money anyway

 

[PpPete]

I built up my dearly beloved's current audax bike on a Ti frame.
No difficulties, but it did have headset already fitted.

 

[benb]

I built up my dearly beloved's current audax bike on a Ti frame.
No difficulties, but it did have headset already fitted.

The Planet X one does say the headset is integrated. The only tool I don't have is a BB tool.

Tempted, but also worried I'll cock it up and end up with an expensive pile of scrap.

 

[black'n'yellow]

The Planet X one does say the headset is integrated. The only tool I don't have is a BB tool.

Tempted, but also worried I'll cock it up and end up with an expensive pile of scrap.

BB tools are a few quid from halfords, worth buying some proper cable cutters too. Integrated headset just drops in, so no tools needed. The only thing you might (or might not) have trouble with is cutting the steerer, but a bike shop will do that for you if needs be - but only let them do it if they have the proper guide tool. Assuming you are reasonably handy with a set of spanners, the rest is very very straightforward. When you've done it once, you will wonder how the bike shops have got away with it for so long...

 

[benb]

BB tools are a few quid from halfords, worth buying some proper cable cutters too. Integrated headset just drops in, so no tools needed. The only thing you might (or might not) have trouble with is cutting the steerer, but a bike shop will do that for you if needs be - but only let them do it if they have the proper guide tool. Assuming you are reasonably handy with a set of spanners, the rest is very very straightforward. When you've done it once, you will wonder how the bike shops have got away with it for so long...

I've already got a decent pair of cutters. I'll have a think about it, and see what the total cost is likely to be.

 

[black'n'yellow]

I've already got a decent pair of cutters. I'll have a think about it, and see what the total cost is likely to be.

I can answer that for you. The cost of you building it will be less than the cost of a shop building it.

 

[Hacienda71]

Get the lbs to put the crown race on the forks for you. You will find that it will probably cost as much as buying a complete bike, but you get the satifaction that you have done it yourself.

 

[Crackle]

Apart from buying the right bits, internet research, the two potentially difficult bits are Headset and BB. Headsets vary a lot and without looking, it might be simple or you might need a press. Driving in the star nut requires a bit of confidence or you can buy the tool for it, likewise drifting the crown race on. There are plenty of tutorials on youtube about that, worth looking at to see if it's in your skill range. Apart from that, there's not much to it, often it takes longer deciding what bits to buy than it does to build it. In fact, that's the fun.

 

[jim55]

crown race is easy get it warm in a cup of boiling water and put an adjustable spanner on the tube (set so that it can slide up and down the tube)and when the crown race is dropped on ,put the spanner on quickly and give it a chap with a hammer (you will need to b quick with this as the crown race cools (and therefore contracts )really quickly

 

[TheDoctor]

A BB tool isn't all that pricy.
I've built up all my bikes (except the Brommie) and it's not too tricky.
Just don't start a build after a few glasses of wine.
Trust me, that's a very bad idea...
*hangs head in shame*

 

[lulubel]

I've done it. My advice would be, make sure you have the correct tools - and good quality tools - get a good book (like Lennard Zinn's) and follow the instructions in it carefully for each job. As long as you do that, it will be pretty straightforward, and nothing should go disastrously wrong.

I did everything, by the way, including fitting the headset and bb and cutting down the steerer tube. None of those jobs are difficult, but cutting down the steerer was a bit time consuming because mine is made of hefty steel.

The biggest advantage of building your own bike is that no maintenance job on it is ever stressful because you know exactly how it all works and fits together.