Building your own custom bike.

tripper167

Hi,

I've been interested in building my own bike for some time now. Specifically I want to build a racer for myself. At the moment I'm a bit ignorant of the mechanics of bikes but I'm hoping with a bit of research I'll be able to make a go of it.

I want to have a look and understand what is involved with such a build before I start choosing components. So I have a few quick questions I was hoping you could answer:



Is this a common thing (people building their own bikes)? I'd like to hear from anyone who has done this, how difficult was it? Would you recommend doing it?

Are there any resources that you'd recommend? (Websites and especially books that would help me with the various tasks involved)



I know this might take some time, but I'm in no hurry and want to learn how.

Thanks for all replies!

abcdggs

Are you talking about building it up from tubes? or buy a built frame and then attach the parts to that, these are two very different tasks...

tripper167

abcdggs wrote: »

Are you talking about building it up from tubes? or buy a built frame and then attach the parts to that, these are two very different tasks...

oh no I just want to buy a frameset and start adding components to it.

abcdggs

I did this over last summer, coming from a pretty un-knowledgeable perspective. If you have the patience to look for useful resources and not rush into assembly it's definitely a good idea as you get an excellent feeling for what's going on with your bike and will give you the confidence to attempt repairs and such later on.

The very first thing you need to do is figure out your budget, bearing in mind that you may need to buy tools. Also, building a bike yourself can be more expensive than buying it already built, i would certainly be very surprised if you saved any money by going this way with it.

Any more questions feel free to ask, I'll certainly try to be as helpful as possible and i know many here are an awful lot more knowledgeable with the technical aspect than i am.


best of luck

Golfanatic

ive done this twice (thinking up my third) but id reccmend becoming good friends with a lbs first.
any questions sure we can all help

robd

I rebuilt the bike I had as a kid from the frame up recently. It's not the difficult if you understand bikes. There are some specific jobs you won't be able to do due to requirements for specialist tools. Main one that springs to mind is putting the headset (the bearings that hold front wheel fork and handle bars) in. Had to get that done in halfords as didn't have the required headset clamp tool.

Buy yourself a copy of Haynes bike book, which is what I used.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bike-Book-Fred-Milson/dp/1844254216/

Having said that I had a fare knowledge of what I was doing from years of tinkering around as a kid.

Typically you buy what's known as a groupset. This consists of all the parts for bike brakes, gears, cogs, bottom bracket, crank etc.
See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groupset
Example of a mid-range groupset for a road bike here
http://www.cyclesuperstore.ie/shop/pc/viewPrd.asp?idcategory=0&idproduct=10750

Anyway start by buying the book cause that's a relatively cheap mistake. Use you local bike shop for anything that gets too difficult.

Golfanatic

buy a bike stand i bought an x tools wall mounted one 50 euro best purchase ever

tart

Frame stand is a good purchase + The right tools for the right job, when buying your frame unless it`s integrated get shop to fit the headset.

Get some Copper grease or antisieze for the Bottom bracket.

When i build a bike i start by frame in stand, fitted seatpost, bar+stem.
1. fit the b/b
2.Chainset
3.front mech
4.rear mech
5.brake cailpers
6.Sti shifters or (mtb brake + gear shifters)
7.cassette
8.wheels
9.chain
thats the easy part done then just cabling cutting right lenghts of cable.

Always Rember to set your limit stops on the Mechs.

Then tape her up..

Park tools do a Very good Bike book...it`s difficult to get your hands on but very good.