Shropshire65LW
Well-Known Member
building a bike is a lot different to repairing one ..
And how did that bike go? How does it compare with your other bikes? How did you go about assembling it? I'm guessing it's not by following a video tutorialYou spend months agonising about what frame to buy, what size, colour etc. then what components and wheels etc. then more time looking for the best deal.
The only time I ever built a bike myself was my Global titanium hardtail, hence my forum name.
What other bikes have you built?@oreo_muncher - I learn by doing. Bikes are quite simple; frame/forks, groupset - which can be sourced in components and don't have to match exactly, bottom bracket, headset, seatpost, stem, bars, wheels/tyres/tubes, saddle , chain and cables.
My first was this Raleigh SP250 - I crracked the head-tube installing the headset but didn't realise until after it was finished. Rode about 3 miles and it went off to be re-framed:
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Lesson learnt I then tried a road bike, re-building an old Ammaco including a basic re-paint with different decals. Rode OK but not perfect and sold on:
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Bike no. 3 was my son's Giant TCR, built from a frameset with sourced parts. Tiny little road bike and he'd grown out of it here, but his race bike was out of action. No 'bike only' photo as word got out we were selling and the buyer just went "I'll have it, how much" so I suggested a nominal figure as my son had used it for over 6000 miles. Weight-wise it was 6.7kg:
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Like @Milkfloat has put; the assembly is easy, or rather easy-ish. Collecting parts is both fun and frustrating. My latest was this back in August:
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What other bikes have you built?
BITD and before aluminium and carbon were discovered, you rarely bought a complete bike. It was the norm to buy a new frame one year, then maybe a new pair of wheels the next and all components were transferred onto the new frame.How do you even go about building a bike? How many parts do you need to buy? How long does it take? How do people plan it? And what are those bikes built in a shed like compared to the stuff you buy from the shop in terms of performance and how smooth it rides?