Bike Build Gurus. I want to upgrade the components on my ’05 Giant OCR2. It is my daily commuter, training wheels, and all around transport. I use it to get to work, track, and pool. It’s all I have for a bike at the moment. Like I said, I want to upgrade the components but also want to use this experience to learn about “building a bike.†In the future I would like to build my own tri bike from scratch, along with developing the skills necessary to repair things on my own. I know that this is a much more expensive way to go vs. just buying a ready-made rocket. I see that you can buy used components on ST, fleabay, or club bezos. Anyone have other suggestions? So where would you start? What tool kit would you recommend? Are there any great resources for doing this? I was inspired by the below link (Eagle Has Landed) and just motivated to learn a new skill. Danke.
Bike Build Gurus. I want to upgrade the components on my ’05 Giant OCR2. It is my daily commuter, training wheels, and all around transport. I use it to get to work, track, and pool. It’s all I have for a bike at the moment. Like I said, I want to upgrade the components but also want to use this experience to learn about “building a bike.†In the future I would like to build my own tri bike from scratch, along with developing the skills necessary to repair things on my own. I know that this is a much more expensive way to go vs. just buying a ready-made rocket. I see that you can buy used components on ST, fleabay, or club bezos. Anyone have other suggestions? So where would you start? What tool kit would you recommend? Are there any great resources for doing this? I was inspired by the below link (Eagle Has Landed) and just motivated to learn a new skill. Danke.
screwdrivers for derailleur adjustment.
set of allen keys
bottom bracket tool for whatever your BB is.
a set of good cable cutters (Park Tool makes nice ones)
tube of grease
chain whip (for removing the cassette)
cassette lockring tool and a wrench or socket wrench for that.
chain breaker tool.
I like to have a level, a plumb line and a tape measure for saddle adjustments.
I did a build where I bought a bunch of used parts from ST, Facebook, and Ebay. It worked great. The key is planning your upgrade. Your bike is Tiagra 9 speed, right? What do you want to upgrade to, 11-speed 105 or Ultegra? Something else?
If you upgrade to 11 speed, you will need to replace the shifters, FD, RD, crankset, cassette, and probably the wheels. You do not need to change the brakes, unless you want to. So, just start sourcing the parts. There is not much I can add to JasonHalifax’s post recommending tools. And of course, the Park videos are fantastic.
I have never bought a bike off the shelf in my life.
I genuinely enjoy tinkering and working on my bikes. Sometimes more than actually riding…
You may want to invest in an work stand. Makes things easier to spin and adjust.
You can find a basic one on Amazon or a fancy Park if you want. Aldi even had some for $25 a couple weeks ago.
Just be careful with the clamping ones because they sometimes don’t play nicely with carbon top tubes- or thin aluminum- and can ruin your frame.
Invest in a box of disposable gloves and some good soap and a bag of shop rags. Your hands will get dirty. That’s a good thing.
Don’t set up shop in your dining room. I’ve been told that the kitchen table is not a work bench. That is a bad thing.
Don’t cheap out on Allen and torx wrenches. Buy the best you can afford. I like the ones that have a ball end on one side. It helps get some funny angles.
May want to invest in a torque wrench as parts these day are a little more sensitive to the right tension. Ritchey makes a preset 5nm allen wrench that is awfully handy for only $25.
Wherever you set up shop, buy a dorm fridge and fill it with beer. That is a good thing.
And it doesn’t have to be more expensive unless you make it.
I have intentionally stayed 1 or 2 generations behind on technology, primarily for cost reasons. My tri bike, both my road bikes, and my cross bike are all still 10 speed. And I didn’t go 10 speed until 11 speed became the new shiny thing and folks started offloading their 10 speed stuff. I can pick up a lightly used 10 speed cassette for a song and a brand new chain is $25-30. If you don’t have to have the newest and lightest- which I would strongly recommend against for a '05 Giant commuter- you could easily put together a good 10 speed groupset for $3-400. Less if you keep your crank and brakes, which are likely fine.
And YouTube is your friend. If you prefer a hard reference, Zinn’s Art of Road Bike Maintenance is still the gold standard.
May want to invest in a torque wrench as parts these day are a little more sensitive to the right tension. Ritchey makes a preset 5nm allen wrench that is awfully handy for only $25.
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Good luck, have fun.
I’d second that. Generally you get torque wrenchs that cover the low torque or the high torque stuff. I’d say the low torque one is the most important. If a bearing cup quotes 30, 40 or 50 nm then it isn’t that sensitive. But is something is quoting 4 nm then it might be pretty easy to over tighten it and strip the threads. Personally I like the low tech beam deflection type. I also like that Ritchey type that was mentioned and Park tools make one that does 4 to 6 nm in 0.5 increments which is a pretty narrow but useful range.
The other thing is why not just strip your bike and give it a complete overhaul, clean, re-lube? Take photos, take everything off and change the cables. Have enough small trays so that you can keep the right parts with the right screws. You are bound to mess something up but then make the mistakes now rather than when you are playing with the new parts.
Learn about compatibility between various parts of different generations.
Study the entire Sheldon Brown website.
Subscribe to RJ The Bike Guy on YT.
Practice on the small things first (brake maintenance, chain replacement, new cables, etc)
Buy tools as and when you need them (that said, it would be cheaper in the long run to buy one of those cheap kits if you have the cash up front)