STlers,
I am thinking of putting my own bike together from parts. The plan is for it to be a Triathlon-bike but any hint is welcome.
I would be doing this for the fun of it but wouldn’t mind saving a bunch.
The problem is that I have never worked on bicycles much and have no idea what is all needed (in every detail).
Would I best be starting with a frameset and probably buy a take-off gruppo like sometimes offered on ST?
I do have a background in mechanical work (cars) am a mechanical engineer by trade and have a decently equipped workshop/garage.
Can you tell me what’s needed or point me to some good resource, instructions or lists to get started?
Flo Cycling (the guys behind Flo Wheels) have a number of maintenance videos on their YouTube channel that can be very helpful. Overall if you want a visual aid for doing this you can find a YouTube video with the details.
I typically build 4-5 bikes a year for friends, and am currently upgrading my 1992 Merlin Road to 10-speed. Here’s a few thoughts…
If you buy a frame, get the correct fork with it, along with the headset. These days, the fork and headset can be specific to the frame.
If you buy a frame, make sure you understand the bottom bracket specification. Your choices of cranks is dependent on the bottom bracket specification.
Build up the frame, fork, seat, stem, base bar, extensions, crankset, derailleurs, and chain. Install the cables and shifters, but leave extra cable housing between the shifters and frame.
Ride the bike and dial in your position, either inside or on the trainer, so that you know where your seat, headset spacers, and extensions will be in their finished position. Then, take the cable housing and cables off and cut them to finished size. Reinstall.
Youtube is your friend for derailleur tuning.
Park Tools are expensive but worth it.
Use assembly lube on carbon parts.
Get a good torque wrench.
Know your torque specifications and follow them.
Started doing own maintenance a few years ago and this book is invaluable. YouTube is great resource too. But I still prefer the book especially for in garage.
Thanks for all the hints.
Questions:
If you buy a frame, get the correct fork with it, along with the headset. These days, the fork and headset can be specific to the frame.
When I buy a frameset, I suppose this would be no concern?
If you buy a frame, make sure you understand the bottom bracket specification. Your choices of cranks is dependent on the bottom bracket specification.
I’ll have to learn about bottom bracket specifications. Is there one or two dominant ones or is that all over the place and therefore maybe difficult to find used?
Get a good torque wrench.
Know your torque specifications and follow them.
As a mech eng’er I am disappointed you asked for assistance and or instructions… You ought to be able to throw a bike together by feel, and ignore any and all instructions… At least until the end if the build when you are trying to figure out why it doesn’t work…
And as for having the right tool for the job… C’mon… U make your own…
Now off you go…
depending on the bike, you will need some cable cutters, lockring tool, chain whip, chain link extractor, maybe a spoke wrench, maybe a headset press and some tool to install whatever bottom bracket system you end up with. Plus the usual hand tools, rubber mallet all that junk. 90% is just bolting stuff onto the frame, doing the cables, BB, chain and sometimes the headset can require your doing a little research.
Remember the pedals and threaded BB use one left hand thread
Buying calipers is helpful for figuring out the sizes for stuff like seatposts
This is all good advice above. I’d throw in that the Park Tool website has a lot of build and adjustment info available as well. You should be able to find out anything you need to know with online resources.
I’d suggest narrowing down your brand and frame choice ahead of everything else. This selection will crossover to bottom bracket and crankset choices. The bottom bracket standards have gone crazy over the last several years and each frame manufacturer has adopted their own version of “standard.” Your basic starting selection is a 24mm or 30mm O.D. crankset spindle. There are multiple variations on each. Generally, Shimano, SRAM and FSA use 24mm as their standard, though the latter two offer 30mm variants.
Since this is a tri-build, after the bottom bracket, I’d say your next most important decision will be your aerobar selection, which might make a difference for component selection.
Wheelset and drivetrain is also worth some research. The market trend is towards 11 speed. This doesn’t mean you have to go that route to start with, but if you are planning a Shimano/SRAM build I’d suggest buying a wheelset that will accommodate a 11 speed cassette or at worst allow for swapping a 11 speed-compatible freehub on in the future without redishing or rebuilding the wheel. This effort will provide some future proofing on your new build!
The basic wrenching on bikes won’t be more difficult than your vehicle experience. Cabling is probably one of those things that could take some time to get right or working the way you want. By this I mean more about things like where brake cables loop versus shift cables, etc. rather than how they function. Again, with a tri-build, some of the cabling choices may take care of themselves based on what frame you chose (ie. top tube entry, internal routing).
You will need some tools - park tools tend to be of better quality, but there is plenty of cheaper stuff that can be found on ebay and amazon. You will need some other standard tools like hex wrenches, pliers, etc.
I’d personally stick with shimano 11 speed stuff, since it is widely available and is generally longer lasting. There are some choices to be made in the aerobar department, and especially the wheels/powermeters… Lots of choices, with some compatibility caveats.
Performance Bikes has a starter toolset that they have Black Friday for $40. Nashbar sells what looks to be the same set for $50 all the time.
It contains most of what you will need - screw driver, allen wrenches, chain whip, lockring tool, BB68 bottom bracket tool, square taper crank extractor and a bunch of other stuff that I cant remember and some stuff that I still cant identify. In addition to this, you may need the following:
-Torque wrench (I have been going by feel, except for the high torque stuff, for which I have a 1/4" torque wrench. Many will flame me for this)
-C-Clamps and wood blocks (if you want to press in headset or have a press fit bottom bracket)
-Rubber mallet (if you have existing press fit BB and need to pound it out, though I used a good old fashion hammer)
-Cable cutters - I would spring for Park Tools here
-Grease
-Shimano crank tool if you have certain Shimano cranks. Its like literally $2 and helps you screw in the flower shaped plug on the non-drive side.
After that, youtube is your friend. I was total noob and have worked my way through doing literally everything except headset installation.
Do buy the frame, fork and headset together, it’s just easier.
Merlin, Probikekit and Ribble appear to have the best prices on new groups, though they are from UK, but ship to US free and I dont know how warranty works, but I bought from them.
Performance Bikes has a starter toolset that they have Black Friday for $40. Nashbar sells what looks to be the same set for $50 all the time.
It contains most of what you will need - screw driver, allen wrenches, chain whip, lockring tool, BB68 bottom bracket tool, square taper crank extractor and a bunch of other stuff that I cant remember and some stuff that I still cant identify. In addition to this, you may need the following:
-Torque wrench (I have been going by feel, except for the high torque stuff, for which I have a 1/4" torque wrench. Many will flame me for this)
-C-Clamps and wood blocks (if you want to press in headset or have a press fit bottom bracket)
-Rubber mallet (if you have existing press fit BB and need to pound it out, though I used a good old fashion hammer)
-Cable cutters - I would spring for Park Tools here
-Grease
-Shimano crank tool if you have certain Shimano cranks. Its like literally $2 and helps you screw in the flower shaped plug on the non-drive side.
After that, youtube is your friend. I was total noob and have worked my way through doing literally everything except headset installation.
Do buy the frame, fork and headset together, it’s just easier.
Merlin, Probikekit and Ribble appear to have the best prices on new groups, though they are from UK, but ship to US free and I dont know how warranty works, but I bought from them.
Great tips!
Don’t have a problem buying in Europe. Actually found that parts can be quiet a bit cheaper in Europe.
Remember the pedals and threaded BB use one left hand thread
The Three Secrets of Bicycle Mechanics
Secret #1: Lefty Loosey
Secret #2: Righty Tighty
Secret #3: Secrets #1 and #2 apply to everything EXCEPT the left-hand pedal threads, the right-hand bottom bracket threads, and SOME crank extraction bolts.
i should know better, but I was trying to get this old octalink BB out of a alu frame and assumed it was seized, so I’m soaking it with penetrating oil, breaker bar, cheater pipe the whole deal.
Finally took it to the shop and sure enough it’s the pedal that’s the left thread on the left side and for some reason I assumed the damn BB was the same. Came right out when you turn it the correct direction…
I’ve done it, too. Probably everyone has at some time. With the proliferation of bottom bracket systems and conventions, the confusion will still be there. That just reminds us to keep or download the part-specific instructions and study them before taking wrench in hand…
