OP
OP
Shropshire65LW
Well-Known Member
nice bike
today i learnt a lesson
- Thread starter Shropshire65LW
- Start date
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chriswoody
Legendary Member
- Location
- Northern Germany
I took it to the ultimate extreme and built my own frame as well. It is difficult, but the immense feeling of satisfaction and pride when you ride something you have built yourself is priceless.
cyberknight
As long as I breathe, I attack.
- Location
- Land of confusion
I remember following the thread on that build. Are you still riding it?
chriswoody
Legendary Member
- Location
- Northern Germany
Yep, I still use it fairly regularly. I was out on it last Wednesday, it's not changed since I built it and is a lovely bike to ride.
biggs682
Touch it up and ride it
- Location
- Northamptonshire
Every day is a school day
Juan Kog
permanently grumpy
Like many on this thread I have built up a number of bikes . Usually featuring older frames secondhand or NOS parts . I enjoy the challenge of getting components to work together that the manufacturer never intended to. BUT if I was getting a new bike with such as hydraulic discs , concealed cable , threadless bottom bracket. All features I have little or no experience of. It would be a case of I've spent all this cash why mess it up, get a reliable professional to put together.Then build up my knowledge and experience when servicing and maintaining this wonderful machine.
raleighnut
Legendary Member
- Location
- One of the 'Elite'
I've built most of my bikes and yearly take one apart to fully sevice/rebuild it,
Ming the Merciless
There is no mercy
- Location
- Inside my skull
A frame
headset
front fork
wheels, rim tape, tubes, tyres
gear levers, cables (inner and outer), derailleurs
brake levers, hoses or cables depending on if hydraulic, calipers (and disc rotor if disc brake).
Cassette , bottom bracket, Crankset, pedals, chain
saddle, seat tube
Handlebars, bar tape, stem.
Then optional stuff like mudguards. Gears can of course also be optional.
When I was about 12 years old my dad got me a bike frame and fork from the dump. I cleaned up the frame and fork and then painted them with a tin of humbrol paint. I turned it into a tracker bike with cow horn handlebars and knobbly tyre etc. So quite early on I got used to fitting stuff to build a bike.
In late 2013 I learnt to build wheels. Since then any new bike I’ve got the frame and then build the wheels. A wheel is a hub, spokes, spoke nipples, rim. Plus some grease for spoke threads. That’s it.
My recumbent I had to import as not sold in UK. So I imported the frameset and then built it with components I already had plus built some new wheels for it.
Bikes are mostly about bolting or screwing things in place. Adjusting , such as derailleurs. As long as you show some mechanical sympathy and know when to take a break from a build as you’re tired or making mistakes; it’s a very satisfying thing to do. You’re never under pressure time wise, so if you’ve got the wrong component, you can return it, order the right one, then continue build when it arrives. I learnt to assemble hydraulics from scratch last year. With modern frames you have integrated or semi integrated headsets so no special skills required, they just drop in place. Just make sure headset is right way up.
You end up with a bike having exactly the components you want. You know exactly how it fits together and was built. It gives great confidence on the road should something need repair.
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BBs are a doddle, threaded bar with nuts and washers, works for just about all of them, even the combo threaded shells with press in bearing like Hope or Praxis
Internal routing isnt difficult, just a little a little bit time consuming. Hydraulics again are easy once you do a tiny bit of research.
Ive even routed internal brake hoses whilst still full of fluid, it just takes a little practice and feed hoses upwards
Juan Kog
permanently grumpy
I'm a late adopter of all things including developments in cycling so I've got as far as 9 speed and still on rim brakes and don't even mention tubeless tyres . I spent the first 10 years of my working life as a mechanic repairing construction plant , so if I could sort out the hydraulics on a excavator even after a 40 year gap I would eventually get the better of cycle hydraulics. I think I will stick with threaded bottom brackets, having heard the stories of creaking press fit B/B's . Cheers for the advice and words of encouragement.
Reynard
Guru
- Location
- Cambridgeshire, UK
Mmmmm, well I had fun with my first ever build this year. Only finished it a few weeks ago and am still sorting out the odd niggle, but I now have a lovely bike that's unique to me and my requirements. 
Basically, what it is, is a MTB fitted with a 3x8 speed touring drivetrain, trigger shifters and commuter tyres. It's just the ticket for the fen roads during the winter. It's a bit staid on dry tarmac, but once you get onto loose, slippery or wet surfaces, it rides like a good'un.
Bought the bike for £25 at the local tip (it's a 1998 steel Raleigh Max), stripped it right down to the bare frame, cold set the rear triangle to take the new wheelset* and then re-built it. All that's left of the original bike is frame, forks, stem and brake calipers.
I think the bike owes me about £300 in the end - not cheap, but then I have something that I can't buy off-the-shelf. FYI it's a 15 inch frame on 24 inch wheels.
* Went from a 5 speed freewheel to 8 speed freehub and upgraded from nutted axles to QR skewers.
Basically, what it is, is a MTB fitted with a 3x8 speed touring drivetrain, trigger shifters and commuter tyres. It's just the ticket for the fen roads during the winter. It's a bit staid on dry tarmac, but once you get onto loose, slippery or wet surfaces, it rides like a good'un.
Bought the bike for £25 at the local tip (it's a 1998 steel Raleigh Max), stripped it right down to the bare frame, cold set the rear triangle to take the new wheelset* and then re-built it. All that's left of the original bike is frame, forks, stem and brake calipers.
I think the bike owes me about £300 in the end - not cheap, but then I have something that I can't buy off-the-shelf. FYI it's a 15 inch frame on 24 inch wheels.
* Went from a 5 speed freewheel to 8 speed freehub and upgraded from nutted axles to QR skewers.
RichardB
Slightly retro
- Location
- West Wales
I'm currently building a Williams frame into a general-purpose lightweight road bike. I have maintained, repaired, modified and upgraded many bikes over the years, but never built one from a bare frame. It's been a challenge and I have learned a lot, but it's been huge fun. All I can say is, don't do it to save money. If you want a cheap bike, but a complete bike. I've tried to stick to cheap but functional components throughout, but it is still going to owe me a fair amount. Worth it, though - as someone says above, you'll end up with something that is unique and that you can't buy in any shop.
Thread here: https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/williams-lightweight-project.268007/
Thread here: https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/williams-lightweight-project.268007/
