Carbon frame Scott - Easy build?

austinbyrne21

Hi,

I've got the chance to take a Scott carbon frame off the hands of a friend of my brother. It's a couple of years old, has only been used once (for a test run).

Is it handy to just send this into a LBS (thinking Humphries Cycles) and pick wheels, components etc? I'm looking to do all this work through the cycle2work scheme so would the LBS generally be alright with "fudging" the invoice to make it look like I bought a 'whole' bike off them?

Also, I only wanna spend about €700-€800 on everything I need to get the bike on the road. Is this enough? I know it's not going to get me the best Zipps and Dura-Ace but will it get me to around Tiagra level?

Anyone do anything like this before or can anyone recommend or advise?

peterako

Start looking at eBay, Chain Reaction Cycles, Cycle Superore etc. on-line to get an idea of what you can get for teh budget.

It's hard to guess at the cost of actually building teh bike.

I have most tools to do it (built up over the years), but you probably don't.

The only specialist tools I can thing of at the moment that you will need are:

• Something to put the crown race on the fork
• Some sort of bottom bracket tool (?)

Beyond that maybe a good, low reading, torque wrench and just a regular tool box...with a 15mm spanner (for the pedals)

I'm guessing the frame uses an integrated headset. Not sure what's entailed with these but I don't thing you need any special tools to get the headset into the frame (?)

I'm a sort of 'do it yourself' person so love building things. This may not suit you.

For peace of mind you may want to try the LBS.

Maybe you could source all teh gear and they charge you to put it together??

Best of luck with the project!

Peter

bbosco

austinbyrne21 wrote: »

Hi,

I've got the chance to take a Scott carbon frame off the hands of a friend of my brother. It's a couple of years old, has only been used once (for a test run).

Is it handy to just send this into a LBS (thinking Humphries Cycles) and pick wheels, components etc? I'm looking to do all this work through the cycle2work scheme so would the LBS generally be alright with "fudging" the invoice to make it look like I bought a 'whole' bike off them?

Also, I only wanna spend about €700-€800 on everything I need to get the bike on the road. Is this enough? I know it's not going to get me the best Zipps and Dura-Ace but will it get me to around Tiagra level?

Anyone do anything like this before or can anyone recommend or advise?

I've built up bikes that way a couple of times before. What I found is you'll get the best value if you're patient. Monitor your LBS's, online stores and ebay for bargains and pick up bits and pieces gradually. You might get lucky and find an entire groupset going cheap but that way you might end up having to compromise (getting a less than ideal cassette, a triple chainset when you wanted a double etc.) I've ended up with a drivetrain made up of Record, Chorus and Centaur parts (although Veloce shifters - very hard to get bargain shifters I found) picked up bit by bit, on the cheap, but I have exactly the spec I wanted in terms of gear ratios.
Prioritise the parts so you don't end up blowing a load of your budget on a carbon seatpost or stem when a perfectly functional and much cheaper alternative would have done you at least for the time being. I used some cheap BBB finishing kit parts initially to get the bike up and running and gradually replaced them later on.
Wheels will be a problem for your budget, but again just shop around for bargains.

As regards the mechanics of it, you'll find you can do most things quite easily with help from sites like parktools.com or one of Leonard Zinn's books. I got the LBS to fit the headset and forks and cut the steer tube because I didn't want to risk screwing that up. Getting the LBS to fit the bottom bracket might be cheaper than buying the particular tool you'd need, but again, it's not that difficult.

Lumen

Assuming the frame comes with cut steerer and headset and BB pre-installed, it's a pretty simple process to build up.

Veloce Groupset €400
Aksiums €166
Continental Race 28 tubes €11
Gatorskins €50
FSA Road Bars €20
Truvativ XR Stem €12
Bar tape €7
Toupe saddle €77
FSA SL-280 Seatpost €15
Rim tape €4
----
€763

Prices from CRC and Slane. No effort choosing components, and no shopping around. But something similar would make for a nice sub-€800 build.

If you're considering BTW scheme I'd ask a shop for a full quote, but I'd still consider DIY as an alternative.

austinbyrne21

Cheers for that lads, picking up a good bit of information there but just to clarify...

I'll be bringing the frame into a LBS and from whatever stock they have I'll be getting them to build and fit the bike. I'll have to do it this way to get an invoice off them for the cycle2work scheme. I'd only be too fond of a claw hammer for 'gentle persuasion' and a hack-saw for the bits 'that are too long' if I was to try a DIY job.

Any ideas on which bike shops tend to have the best workshop and/or components in stock? Around the Drogheda area, although willing to travel to Dublin.

Thanks again lads.


Edited...
Nice one Lumen. The bloke I'm actually getting the frame off has a contact in Slane Cycles so it might be just handier to head up there with it. The break-up of prices is only excellent to give me an idea, thanks. Just in relation to Campag instead of Shimano - is that just a personal preference or is it the only thing that suits my budget? I've no problem going with Campag but I'm finding it impossible to compare it to either Shimano or Sram on any websites. In your opinion, where does the Veloce compare in the Shimano line? Sora? Higher?

bbosco

austinbyrne21 wrote: »

Cheers for that lads, picking up a good bit of information there but just to clarify...

I'll be bringing the frame into a LBS and from whatever stock they have I'll be getting them to build and fit the bike. I'll have to do it this way to get an invoice off them for the cycle2work scheme. I'd only be too fond of a claw hammer for 'gentle persuasion' and a hack-saw for the bits 'that are too long' if I was to try a DIY job.

Any ideas on which bike shops tend to have the best workshop and/or components in stock? Around the Drogheda area, although willing to travel to Dublin.

Thanks again lads.

Ah, I think I misunderstood, so my advice about buying the parts piecemeal is pretty much useless
I can highly recommend Quay Cycles in Drogheda. Fantastic service and don't be put off by the size of the shop, they seem to have a huge selection of stock hidden away.

Lumen

austinbyrne21 wrote: »

Just in relation to Campag instead of Shimano - is that just a personal preference or is it the only thing that suits my budget? I've no problem going with Campag but I'm finding it impossible to compare it to either Shimano or Sram on any websites. In your opinion, where does the Veloce compare in the Shimano line? Sora? Higher?

Veloce is a good-looking, light groupset, and appears to be available significantly cheaper than Tiagra.

It's difficult to make direct comparisons, but I'd consider Veloce to be around 105-level.

austinbyrne21

@bbosco - Yea, I actually know the owner of Quay Cycles (he used to live in the same housing estate as me) but I always found them more expensive than a lot of other places. But I'll call down to them anyway and see what they reckon, and beat my way into the shop. It wouldn't do if I was claustrophobic in that place. But thanks anyway.

@lumen - Cheers for that. As I said I've no problem going with the Veloce, just wasn't sure how it rated. That's after putting my mind at ease though. I'm gonna email Slane Cycles and see what they have in stock and if they'd be interested in putting it together.

heffsarmy

Buy the lidl bike and take the parts of it...then sell frame on ebay!

Quigs Snr

If you are going to fudge it on the bike scheme and you are on the higher rate of tax then assuming your budget was 800, its really about 1275 (the shop should do this for you no probs..)

So...

Sram Rival (or Ultegra SL, take your pick). About 580
Shimano RS80 wheels about 450.
Then get yourself some of Lumens parts et Viola ! A bike you could do the tour de france on.

austinbyrne21

No, no higher tax bracket here unfortunately so looks like it's gonna be Lidl's finest for me then. And seeing how all the users on here are loved-up with it, it seems like the only thing that makes sense. Ha ha. So I might have to give next year's TdF a miss, but maybe the year after. Afterall, how hard could it be...

austinbyrne21

Here's a photo of the frame. From looking at different websites I've kind of narrowed down what I think my ideal frame should be to between 52cm and 56cm, I'm 5'7". What should I measure on this frame to see if it might fit me? I know the top bar should be in and around the same dimension as the bottom bracket to seat lug. But do I measure c/c or end to end?

ROK ON

austinbyrne21 wrote: »

Here's a photo of the frame. From looking at different websites I've kind of narrowed down what I think my ideal frame should be to between 52cm and 56cm, I'm 5'7". What should I measure on this frame to see if it might fit me? I know the top bar should be in and around the same dimension as the bottom bracket to seat lug. But do I measure c/c or end to end?

I am 5'8" and I cycle on 53.5cm frames measured horizontally from seatpost to headset. To be honest, I would prefer maybe 1 cm smaller if I could get it, so I make do with 100mm stems.

Not sure what other folks think, but I would rather cycle a frame that was slightly small rather than slightly big. For your size, a 56cm frame could be very uncomfortable, particularly on the lower back.

Quigs Snr

I am the same height as you OP. I would go small. 52 should be fine. 56 no, just no.

austinbyrne21

I'm after been talking to Acoustic who confirmed the frame size/height thing. So, after picking all your brains it looks like its a no go with the Scott (as nice as the frame is). The cost of leg-lengthening surgery is just too damn expensive... Back to looking at bikes from the 'short-arse' shelf for me. No offence to anyone my height.

Ps., thanks to all who advised

Diarmuid

austinbyrne21 wrote: »

Here's a photo of the frame. From looking at different websites I've kind of narrowed down what I think my ideal frame should be to between 52cm and 56cm, I'm 5'7". What should I measure on this frame to see if it might fit me? I know the top bar should be in and around the same dimension as the bottom bracket to seat lug. But do I measure c/c or end to end?

HUGE difference between 52 and 56. I'm same height (170cm) and ride a 52