The short answer is that shimano cuts sweet deals to the bike companies. And the larger the volume the sweeter the deal. Which is part of the reason that the most of the big companies have shimano on their complete bikes.

So you think going to a LBS I could get a much better deal buying a built bike rather than buying a seperate frame and build kit?

A P2C with full Dura-Ace for an extra $1,200, do you think that is a reasonable expectation in terms of price difference between frame and complete bike for other bikes built with the same kit? As opposed to the $1,700-$2,000 I would pay if I bought the kit?

---

---

Portside Athletics Blog

If you are going with shimano group and dont plan to make any changes it is always much less $ to go with a complete bike. Now if you are going with Campy it is not a big of a difference between complete bike vs. frame+grouppo. And to further complicate matters if you can buy a 2005 before the 2006's show up you will save even more. However you will not get a 2005 p2c.

when I was pricing my guru it became very clear that most Bike manufacturers want to sell complete bikes. Not just frames. I also noted that the current spec crono with the Es wheels and dura ace was maginally more than the group alone could be purchased for. The only way that I would consider doing my own build up would be financial so that i can defer the costs over a larger time period.

It is my feeling that you will lose money if you buy the group seperate from the frame.

Make sure you give a look to guru as the have a very generous groupo pricing structure discount with all of their bikes.

Kevin

I figured I would buy a complete bike, just suprised as to how drastic the difference is. I like the Litespeed Saber and at $2,500 for the frameset thought it to be comparable to the P2C, however, I cannot find one built for under $4,500 online, maybe I need to look into a LBS, not sure why Cervelo can spec a bike for $1k and Litespeed wants $2k.

And no worries about time frame, I am planning on doing this all at this time next year, so hopefully I can get a 2006 before the 2007's show up. Thanks

---

---

Portside Athletics Blog

I am looking at Guru, really like the Tri-Lite, from what I have seen it's around $3,700 with Ultegra, jumps about $1,000 for Dura-Ace, seems like a big price jump. What are you riding?

---

---

Portside Athletics Blog

I think alot of depends on what you are buying. Some brands are more expensive to try and build the bicycle up from the frame up. Other times it's worth the work to build it on your own.

You also have to watch for when bicycles are built up with mixed componetry, such as substituting expensive Shimano parts like a crankset for a high quality aftermarket crankset alternative. It will often lower the price point of the bicycle, so that may make a difference in making the decision to build. Plus, I think bicycle makers raise the prices of their frameset comparatively when sold separate from the complete bicycle.

But, building a bicycle up by yourself lets you pick out the components you want to use from the get go instead of having to slowly upgrade or play bartering games with the bike shop to exchange parts. If you know what you want and it isn't offered as a ready made bicycle, then go for the build-up option.

Plus, you also need to ask yourself, do you really know how to build up a bicycle from just a frame? Jumping into bicycle building is not like dusting crops, kid. One wrong miscalculation and you'll have a stripped thread or loose cable. That'll make your ride end real quick.

Plus, you also need to ask yourself, do you really know how to build up a bicycle from just a frame? Jumping into bicycle building is not like dusting crops, kid. One wrong miscalculation and you'll have a stripped thread or loose cable. That'll make your ride end real quick.



Whoa tough guy, don't need a lecture from my Dad here, just looking for some input...thanks.

---

---

Portside Athletics Blog

Besides, if I want those things, I could've saved myself a lot of trouble and stayed with my local bike shop!

I've struggled with this problem in the past as well.

I have a couple of older (mid-80's) steel frames that I really like. I have basically rebuilt them with new components 3 times over the past 15 years. Every time I look at the price of components only - I get pissed.



Here is what I have done that actually worked out pretty well...

Find a used bike for sale (Ebay is great for this) with the component spec you are looking for. I've found that you can buy a used bike (or in some cases even a new mass-produced bike like a Motobecane) for less than the cost of simply buying the components.

I buy the bike, strip the stuff I want and sell the frame for a few bucks.

I've bought two used bikes now for no other purpose than to strip the components.

Viola! Components for much less than retail.

I am in the final stages of the purchase of a crono. I did all of the custom work with Paul at Signature and the specing via paul with guru. They were really helpful and allowed me to do some custom specing swapping of stuff to keep the pricing were I needed it.

Could it be that Litespeed uses a full Shimano group whereas Cervelo, only some of the components are Shimano? That could explain the big difference in price.

---

________________________________________________

Pasadena Tri Club

Must not be a big Star Wars fan.



ps. I am the droid they are looking for.

Tsk tsk. Youth of today...

Hands up who else didn't recognise this as a corruption of a line from Star Wars (1977)?

Heh! Funny. Love the Star Wars-ish quote.



As we all know, bike building is rocket science . . . only without a rocket and you don't need to be a scientist.

Also, when you build your own bike, your seat will be too high.

SBR44 - Don't know what size you are but If you want a Saber check out this deal on eBay. I'm tempted as hell but I think it would be a bit big for me. '04 55cm Saber with DA 10-spd, profile carbon bars - and comes with Zipp 404's. Buy it now for $2700 and it seems legit. Seems worth it just for the wheels and components.

http://cgi.ebay.com/LITESPEED-SABRE-55CM-TITANIUM_W0QQitemZ7192191961QQcategoryZ64681QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

the best deal is usually on a complete bike. I, being cheap, have been buying frames and moving components across for each upgrade. So, now I (will) have an 8-speed Cervelo Dual, with a 6spd Exage rear derailleur.. hm. Maybe it's time for a component upgrade.

I like the idea of getting a used bike off ebay and stripping the components off.

---

"It is a good feeling for old men who have begun to fear failure, any sort of failure, to set a schedule for exercise and stick to it. If an aging man can run a distance of three miles, for instance, he knows that whatever his other failures may be, he is not completely wasted away." Romain Gary, SI interview

Thank you Han Solo...

If you're buying new, you'll always get a better deal just buying the full bike. The bike companies get much better deals from Shimano than we can get buying a build kit. If you're willing to take the time to shop for used or closeout components; or if you have some stuff already lying around you might do slightly better, but then you have to do the building or pay someone to do it.

For what it's worth, I recently bought a used frame because I wanted to build out a particular bike. I had some components laying around and shopped around for good deals on the rest. It was fun because I got to hand pick each and every part. It also allowed me the chance to improve my wrenching skills by building it from scratch. If you've never done this (as I hadn't) you need to be careful and take your time, but it's not rocket science. You better be mechanically inclined to some degree, but I didn't find anything that hard. Now, if I was brave enough to add up my receipts, I'm sure I could have bought a decent new bike for the same money I spent on my "project". But in the end it was worth it to me because I got exactly what I wanted and had fun doing it.

Keep in mind that if you buy a new complete bike you get lots of value add services from your LBS that you won't get building out your own. They'll typically fit you, give you better deals on maintenance, etc. That can be worth a lot if you're not comfortable with your own abilities to do all that stuff.