I’m considering purchasing a frame and components and putting together myself to save some $$, is this something that is easy to do for a novice? If not how much should I expect a local bike shop to charge to put everything together?
Can you change the oil in your car or lawn mower?
It’s not technically difficult, although for a first-timer with no experience it can be challenging… you’ll likely spend as much in tools as you would having it assembled…
Are you getting a better ‘deal’ by buying the frame / components seperately? There’s alot of parts on a bike, and in my experience it’s tough to source them all individually for less $$ than a full bike, without spending waaaay too much time scouring for deals / auctions / etc…
If you have yourself a torque wrench (for carbon parts) and the special tools for the bottom bracket and headset with basic knowledge on derailleurs…sure. It’s really not hard to put together a tri bike. I think the biggest pains in the butt about them is the internal cables for some frames and any headset that’s not integrated. I usually leave any headset other than integrated for my LBS. Most people here can help you if you get stuck for whatever reason. The new superbikes though are another story with integrated stems and forks and such. I wouldn’t touch those.
Best thing you can do is clamp on your wheels and roll those into your LBS. Unless you’re ready for a crazy project.
It’s really easy, fun, and a great learning experience. I’m not very technical at all and I got it done. (Don’t ask me about the bar end shifter that exploded and which I tried about 17 times to reassemble before admitting utter defeat). It makes me love my bike even more than I would otherwise and every single component on it is one that I chose so I got exactly what I wanted (how often can you say that?) and buying a used frame and building it up saved a ton of $ over a new bike. One tip–when I got finished I took it to the LBS and they checked it out for me to make sure I hadn’t done anything really stupid, which was very possible. You do need a couple of specialized tools but I bet you can borrow them, I did no prob.
It is a ton of fun to build your own bike, and it’s not overly complicated. If you buy all new components, you won’t save money. If you have time to be patient, I found that it was actually pretty fun trying to find deals on used or new components. I put together my P3 with mostly ebay parts, for well under what I would have paid for a complete bike.
Cabling/derailleur adjustment may give you some problems, particularly if you’re going with an internally routed frame. Experience helps with getting the lengths correct for housing, but trial and error can get the job done too.
Zinn and the Art of Tri Bikes got me through what I thought would be some tough repair/installation jobs, but there are a few that you legitimately can’t do in even a well-stocked “home shop” (Areas involving rotating parts under high load are typically places you want a very professional job done–BB and headset installation are two that come to mind…you may need to have your BB threads chased, and the headset and BB exterior surfaces “faced” to ensure that they are perfectly flat and free of things like paint and other frame imperfections). As long as you’re willing to dive right into it, spend a little more time, and perhaps a little more money on the consumable parts like cables/housing/etc (give yourself wiggle room for screw-ups, etc) it can be a really rewarding (and will make future maintenance easier as you’ll have a much greater understanding of how your bike works). My advice would be to get the LBS to install the headset and BB, and once that’s done you’re home free. The rest can basically be done in under 2-3 hours…
It’s not technically difficult, although for a first-timer with no experience it can be challenging… you’ll likely spend as much in tools as you would having it assembled…
Wise words. Plus having it put together by a pro will also help avoid any ongoing technical failures which can kind of ruin the new bike experience. I had mine built for $130.
Also, x 2 on the parts. Buying a built bike is way cheaper. You can spend loads of time looking around for bargains but the you could do the same negotiating a complete bike. I think most, as I did, build because they have a bunch of stuff already (wheels and such like) or their chosen ‘fully built’ bike does not come in a nice selection of options. Maybe that is the case for you.
It’s not that hard if you’re mechanically inclined. There are lots of great resources, like the park tools website that will help. You will need to buy some tools (cable cutters, allen wrenches, chain whip, etc.). There are certain things that you just might have to pay a bike shop to do as it’s not practical for an individual to acquire certain specialty tools (install crown race, chase and face the BB shell, etc.).
I will say that if you’re doing this simply to save money, you probably won’t. I’ve built up quite a few bikes for myself and I have done it part by part, exactly as you describe. By the time you find the parts, pay shipping, etc. the costs add up. Plus don’t forget to factor in all the little stuff, bar tape, cables, housing, tubes, tires, etc. Sure, you can do it cheaply if you’re incredibly patient but I think you can almost always find better deals on complete bikes.
That said, if you’re mechanical and enjoy this sort of thing, I still think there are a lot of advantages to building your own bike. I like knowing how my bike went together and having the knowledge to fix stuff. There’s a learning curve and it’ll take you longer the first time but once you have the tools and knowledge, you can do much of your own tuning and maintenance and reduce your dependency on the bike shop. I’ll add that the suggestion to get the bike shop to look over anything you’re not sure of, is a smart one as you don’t want to learn that you installed your headset wrong the first time you hit a 40mph descent.
Good luck!
Agreed that it’s not too tough, and it’s really fun and rewarding. Plus, you’ll gain all kinds of knowledge to fix or adjust things on your own. The first bike I built was a cheap Leader frame (aluminum with external cables). I also had another bike, so I had something to look at and ride. I was patient shopping for pieces on ST and eBay. At the end of the day, I built a decent tri bike for $284 + bar tape (Shimano 105 brakes, Ultegra/Dura Ace drive). I could never have bought one for that. (Admittedly I did have some pieces already, like wheels, so I didn’t have to buy absolutely everything).
Absoluley get a cable cutter. A wire cutter won’t do it right.
… you don’t want to learn that you installed your headset wrong the first time you hit a 40mph descent.
Too funny. I did that about two weeks ago. I thought I had just finished a bike and took out for a break in ride. At just over 30 mph I learned:
- The headset had a wobble (not put together all correctly)
- The handlebars were loose (damn those 31.7 Deda bars with 31.8 stems)
- I can clench really really tight when I’m going 30 and the front end wobbles and the bars drop away from me.
I built one up at the beginning of the year. It was fun project and helped me learn a lot about my bike. Like ZackC, I thought Zinn was a helpful reference. I also used the internet. I was not in a hurry, which I think helped keep the project enjoyable for me. Good luck.
I was in your boat about a month ago and decided to go for it. Local bike shop wanted 325-400$ to place the sram red group + new aero bar on my cervelo. I decided to do it myself, took a lot of time but it went great, i did go to the shop and have the look it over and they made one minor adjustment of the RD cabel and that was it. I have the leonard Zinn book which helped a fair amount + You Tube Videos made it pretty doable.
I am planning on doing a total new build from the ground up next year with a new frame and everything and i know it will go much faster. You will need to buy a few tools, that can be expensive, but if you use them long term you will save mucho dollars. Things like a torque wrench, bottom bracket remover, wire cutters, lots of different hex wrenches, lubes, tool to chase a BB, chain whip/wrench, pedal wrench, freewheel remover etc. The shifters were slightly hard to get right as well as aligning the RD correctly, but figured it out slowly.
I think the skills you will learn after the first build will be invaluable as you can fix your bike anytime-anyplace for free.
If you have to ask, you should watch your mechanic put it together. Bring her coffee and lunch, and generally just watch the progress.
paid 100.00 to have mine put together, all ebay-slowtwitch parts
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