My plan definitely involves a lot of work... Sorry for not understanding, what do you mean buy your way a job?

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Insta: Trihennessy - Out Rival Racing Elite Team
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What's to keep a person who asks you for a bike from changing their mind? Are you going to get their money upfront?

I could see a person asking you "about a bike". You think of it as an "order" and build the bike. Then they change their mind, or their situation changes, or they keep shopping and find something they like better.

Your competition is the internet and not a LBS. Some of us do what you're offering as a way to upgrade/change out our own bikes. You would be competing with people who are willing to sell for very little (and are not doing it for a living) in order to get it out of their way.

Start listing what parts/builds/services you already have on Craigslist, ST and ebay without investing more time and money. You could find that selling is harder/takes longer than acquiring/doing.

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Indoor Triathlete - I thought I was right, until I realized I was wrong.

I have been around bikes for over 30 years and I always build my own bikes, generally starting with a new or used frameset. I will comment on some things some people have said.

First- used parts is a risk. I have had people lie to me about what I am buying, and I know bikes. I still got taken sometimes. Be careful. I would stay with new, take-off parts only or closeout stuff that is new.

In the end, as a self employed person myself- you will find it takes a lot of sales to make a little profit. Making enough money to truly pay yourself a decent wage, as a career full time, will really tweak this. I honestly think keep it a hobby. Unless.....

You plan to market lots on eBay like “Pro’s closet” has done. If you think you will stay local and do anything more than bikes in your basement, I think the overhead will destroy you. In the end, your basically a used bike store. Regardless if it’s high end bikes... I think you will turn to lower end bikes as you will need the sales.

There is a guy here who does something similar. Finds a good bargain on quality bikes and components, does bikes up from this and on-sells for a profit. I don't think it is a full-time wage but is a bit of extra cash.

One way I see this working is if you basically turn yourself into a online or ebay store of used bikes, parts, that also does custom builds on the side.

Deals can be had on used bikes/parts, but they are rarely available exactly when you need them. You'll probably need to constantly be looking for deals, maintaining an inventory, and flipping bikes/parts constantly in between custom build orders.

Yes, this would mean inventory space, but I can't see how this works in a larger volume without inventory space anyway.

Is there a 3rd option besides used or new?

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Pink? Maybe. Maybe not. You decide.

The more I think about this I believe your best bet for a real business would be to source decent frames from China or Taiwan and customize them with new parts... which you purchase with an OEM license primarily. In addition you can scavenge good used parts and offer them on your custom builds as well. But the idea you outlined earlier of scavenging *after* you get a request seems highly problematic. You have no idea how long it will take, what sort of condition the customer will accept, or even if you will find what they want, ever. Way too much back and forth, disappointment, etc. Wasted time.

You'll find out pretty quick that you don't want to dink around with stuff that is a PITA.

Have you thought at all about augmenting this service with others? Not trying to derail your idea but if you added bike fitting for example, you can provide add-ons to juice your margins.

Of course, you’d have to know how/learn to fit bikes, and have a fit bike/studio...could be a cool combo, custom bike building plus fitting plus coaching even. Or one-on-one spin sessions.

I run a home-based business and what I will tell you is that your expenses are always higher than you think. Make yourself a list of everything you can possibly think of that can/will cost you money - office supplies, tools, stamps, envelopes, gas, water cooler, whatever, so you have an idea of what your worst-case scenario P&L might look like. Shipping costs for example can very rapidly destroy any margin you might have had otherwise.

That said, it’s a cool idea and I hope it works out for you.

Yes, stolen.

Where do you live? Lol

Smart a**


FYI- I don’t like buying used carbon frames. Maybe I should have been more clear on why I said new or used.

LOL. You called me a smart ass for asking a legitimate question. I'll give you a smart ass reply to justify it:

You know stolen isn't a substitute for new or used, right? A stolen bike (frameset) is still going to be either new or used.

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Pink? Maybe. Maybe not. You decide.

I just hope your quality level of build would be a LOT better than your doppelganger's tuned automobiles.

There's hundreds of pages of internet gold on automotive forums about that company. There's even a meme with your name on it already. Well, that person's name, but same name.

Ok, the "break/brake" thing didn't bother me until now...