Building Your Own Road Bike

Zillah

I have a hybrid that I quite like but I find myself feeling quite jealous of the lighter carbon frames. I don't, however, like the price point. I also can't stand using drop bars and like a more upright position so I'd be making modifications to any bike that I got anyway. So I was thinking it might be worth my time assembling my own.

I'm generally quite DIY, I can fix punctures, replace wheels, adjust brakes etc, so I'm not entirely a novice, but I've also got no experience actually building a bike myself.

Would something like the classes at Rothar be a good idea?
http://www.rothar.ie/bike-maintenance-classes.html

Also, does anyone have any experience with Chinese carbon frames? Obviously Chinese mass-manufacture sets off warning bells, but then again I'm convinced carbon frames are priced a hell of a lot higher than they need to be. About time someone disrupted the market.

Thanks!

HMathlete

Building a bike is easy with a little practice and if you're handy at DIY you will not have a problem (Youtube is a massive help)

Assuming you want an entry level carbon frame with entry level components; in my experience it is not cost effective to build a bike from parts. I think you would get an entry level hybrid carbon bike for €600-800.

The difficulty with building a bike from scratch is you will run into minor issues with parts compatibility or missing small items to finish an assembly. These bits and pieces add up and generally make building more expensive than buying.

I have friends who bought the chinese frames from eBay and actually prefer them to their name brand bike. They generally have no issues with them.

Best of luck with it!

OldBean

Unless you're VERY good at budgeting, waiting for sales and not wanting better/additional parts, it's rare that building your own is going to be cheaper than an off the shelf bike.

The actual building, the only parts that you may need a hand are the headset, cutting the steerer, installing the bottom bracket, and arguably indexing the gears. Everything else is like Mechano for more money.

Zillah

Thanks fellas! If the price difference is that close, and considering that I could do bike-to-work on an off the shelf model, I suppose I'll just get one of those and change the handlebars myself. Maybe in a few years if I want to assemble my own fancier bike I'll look into it again.

manwithaplan

Why don't you just buy a good flat bar bike? Why would you buy a road bike and change the bars? A fair bit of the value is in the bars and integrated shifters. You would be just chucking them and replacing with flat bars and going through the hassle of getting compatible shifters. Doesn't sound like a great plan. Most of the reason road bikes are faster is because of the more aero position so don't expect miracles!

Brian?

Zillah wrote: »

Thanks fellas! If the price difference is that close, and considering that I could do bike-to-work on an off the shelf model, I suppose I'll just get one of those and change the handlebars myself. Maybe in a few years if I want to assemble my own fancier bike I'll look into it again.

What have you got against road bars? I know you said you don't like them, but why?

endacl

Brian? wrote: »

What have you got against road bars? I know you said you don't like them, but why?

Agreed. Road bars are just flat bars with extra curly bits on the end, surely?

Ninap

Flat bars are considerably wider. You have a more upright riding position, which is more comfortable (for shorter journeys anyway). And you have less weight over the front wheel, which tends to be more comfortable over bad surfaces.

magicbastarder

big question too is what sort of distances are intended.

smacl

endacl wrote: »

Agreed. Road bars are just flat bars with extra curly bits on the end, surely?

Though if you're not going to use the curly bits, flat bars give you easier access to controls. I'm much happier with drop bars than flats, and think they repay the effort in getting used to them, but hated them starting out.

In terms of flat bar carbon frame bikes, I think there are significantly fewer options than drop bars and hence not quite so many bargains.
Planet-X could be worth a look.

omri

You can always buy a second hand bike or some new basic model with the frame you want and replace the parts over the time. It all depends on your budget.

Zillah

manwithaplan wrote: »

Why don't you just buy a good flat bar bike? Why would you buy a road bike and change the bars? A fair bit of the value is in the bars and integrated shifters. You would be just chucking them and replacing with flat bars and going through the hassle of getting compatible shifters. Doesn't sound like a great plan. Most of the reason road bikes are faster is because of the more aero position so don't expect miracles!

I'm mostly just in it for the lighter frame, I did say that in the original post. I wasn't aware flat bar/carbon frame was an option really. I'll look into Planet X linked below.

Brian? wrote: »

What have you got against road bars? I know you said you don't like them, but why?

I find them very uncomfortable and unpleasant to use, and if you don't use them then the controls are virtually impossible to reach.

magicbastarder wrote: »

big question too is what sort of distances are intended.

Just around the city, maybe the occasional longer haul.

omri wrote: »

You can always buy a second hand bike or some new basic model with the frame you want and replace the parts over the time. It all depends on your budget.

Yes I considered this, but Done Deal and Adverts didn't seem to have many good candidates. I'm 6'5" which complicates things.

lennymc

op - the difference between a super lightweight frame and a heavy steel frame is only going to be about 700 grams. You could keep your existing bike and upgrade the parts on that for lighter parts. I would start with the wheels and tyres. You could knock 1 - 1.5 kgs off straight away with that. If your hybrid has suspension fork, get rid of that. You will save another kg or so, which should make a difference.

Zillah

lennymc wrote: »

op - the difference between a super lightweight frame and a heavy steel frame is only going to be about 700 grams. You could keep your existing bike and upgrade the parts on that for lighter parts. I would start with the wheels and tyres. You could knock 1 - 1.5 kgs off straight away with that. If your hybrid has suspension fork, get rid of that. You will save another kg or so, which should make a difference.

Oh dear. The plot thickens. Apparently my Giant Escape 2 weights 12.3kg, and the above-linked Planet X is 8.4kg. Are you telling me that all but 700g of that difference is components rather than frame?

(I'd never have suspension on a city bike, one of my housemates did and I could not convince him how unnecessary it was, and how much weight and inefficiency it added)

lennymc

yes.

nak

Zillah wrote: »

Oh dear. The plot thickens. Apparently my Giant Escape 2 weights 12.3kg, and the above-linked Planet X is 8.4kg. Are you telling me that all but 700g of that difference is components rather than frame?

Depends on the frame, but I was able to drop a kilo off my mountain bike by changing wheels and tyres.

lennymc

Is this what you currently have?

Straight away you could save 2 or even 3 kg by changing the wheels, tyres and tubes. 32 mm tyres can weigh about a kilo each. 700c folding road tyres weigh about 250 grams each.

The frame is only a small part of the overall weight.

planet x are currently doing a frame for £39.99 that weighs about 1500g. The pro carbon frame, that weighs about 1100g is £400.

Dades

Interestingly, I have the Fuji equivalent of that Giant hybrid, and have been wondering how much a lighter set of 28mm wheels/tyres would cost to fit.

I'm also conscious that losing a couple of pounds is a lot cheaper than replacing bike parts. :P

Brian?

lennymc wrote: »

Is this what you currently have?

Straight away you could save 2 or even 3 kg by changing the wheels, tyres and tubes. 32 mm tyres can weigh about a kilo each. 700c folding road tyres weigh about 250 grams each.

The frame is only a small part of the overall weight.

planet x are currently doing a frame for £39.99 that weighs about 1500g. The pro carbon frame, that weighs about 1100g is £400.

£39.99 for a frame? Is that a typo?

lennymc

http://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/FRSABALCORSA/sab-mod-alucorsa-7000-series-oria-aluminium-classic-style-road-frameset

planetx, only 1 in stock.

Zillah

Unfortunately too small for me, but otherwise, holy God. Is there a catch?

Zillah

So I've been looking into upgrading the current frame with better wheels and maybe a new brake set (loving the reviews of disc brakes that I've seen).

Would a wheel pair like this be a good idea?
http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/reviews/wheels/fulcrum-racing-5

I don't know how to even check if they're compatible with the Giant Hybrid - are forks and wheel mounts universal? Are there compatibility checks I need to do with these wheels and my current gear set?

This is honestly more complicated than building my own computer.

(Edit: obviously wheel/disc brake compatibility is another issue altogether)
(More Edits: Those wheels take 9/10/11 sprocket cassettes, so I might need a spacer? Might just find 8-sprocket wheels)