Man, I’d really like to take a shot at building up a road bike from scratch. I’m not a mechanical genius, and have never really messed with headsets and bottom brackets. Mostly just basic stuff like cassettes, bars and and breaks.
Anybody got any advice before I take the plunge on this? I doubt I’ll try to build my own wheels, but maybe.
I won’t be scavenging parts from either of my existing bikes – I’ll need to acquire everything.
I’m probably gonna get in over my head on this one. I’m not even sure where I’m gonna start.
Thanks in advance to anybody who can save me some aggravation.
You need a set of tools, and I mean a complete set. Bottom brackets are easy, you just have to pay attention to the threading on each side. I do suggest torque wrenches made for bikes, as this is very important to make sure you cinch it down just right for the tightness. Many manufacturers now list their torque rating for parts these days.
Headset installation: a bit harder, and for this and other things, check with your LBS on mechanical courses. Many give them. I have seen experienced mechanics ovalise a headset cup due to the wrong cup press. I would even venture to say that possibly, this is the part that you should have done for you.
Also, try damon rinard’s site. He has a lot of good references to start from, including where I got some of my carbon fibre frame fabrication hints.
Wheel building: not that hard, and there are many reference materials for you to start from. You need a set of spoke wrenches, a spoke calculator (a programme for your computer, some are available free), a spoke tensiometer, and spoke prep. This goes with the all-needed truing stand and dishing tools. Bringhelli makes a nice stand to build wheels with, as it holds the rim, hub, and nipples.
There are enough references on the web and hard copy forms that if you can follow instructions, and be patient, along with good organisational skills, you can build a bike yourself.
My last suggestion: try and find your grouppo as cheap as possible. This makes the pain of screwing up much less painful. Learn your chops on something cheaper so that you don’t have that horrendous feeling in your stomach if you DO screw up.
If you can adjust shifting and braking, then building a bike is not a major ordeal. Tightening down the BB to proper torque specs is not hard. Tightening a headset is pretty simple too. If you know someone that has done it before, get there help. It is easy to do, but easy to screw up if you have no idea what you are doing.
I’m not sure why you want to do this. If its to learnd some mechanical skills, then its likely to be an expensive lesson. The price you’ll pay by buying everything al la carte is way more than buying a whole bike from a shop.
That said, the toughest thing is getting compatible parts. Make sure you know which seatpost, front derailleur, headset, etc you need. Front derailleurs come in a wide variety of Seatube clamp size, topswing or bottom swing, and top or bottom pull.
Once you have all the parts make sure you have the proper tools. Bottom, brackets and headsets need special tools.
Finally, double check that you know the threading direction on all of the parts, not all bike threads are righty tighty.
Do you have a beater bike? If so, use that to practice on. Take it apart completely, clean all the parts, and put it back together. You’ll learn a heck of a lot doing that.
These days GET A TORQUE WRENCH. Craftsman or similar are way cheaper than the bike specific ones. When I was a lad working on Cinelli 64’s and similar parts they weren’t necessary and unheard of in a bike ship but now with lightweight parts all over the place and the Ti, carbon, aluminum combo platter of exotica it’s a necessity. Beyond that it ain’t rocket science, otherwise those $8/hour guys at the LBS could never even do the semi passable job they do.