The *least expensive customized disc brake electronic tri bike* project

[Slowman]

the recent launches (QR, TREK) have me thinking again about what would be the least expensive decent (not an open mold no-name import) tri bike frame you could build into a complete bike. on this bike you would start with a frame, because it must be customized, that is, it must have the aerobars, wheels, tires you want.

in my mind, it would probably look like this:

frameset, and this is the big question. who’s got a decent frame for not a fortune? and, as i’m going 1x below, it needs to have a longish chainstay for best shifting. SRAM says 395mm minimum, but i’d prefer as long as possible. speedmaxes have 420mm. that would be the best. this new speed concept has 410mm, that’s 10mm longer than the last speed concept. ideally it’s a longish chain stay frameset with disc brakes.

drive train:

SRAM Rival XPLR AXS RD: $255
SRAM Rival XPLR AXS crank: $130
SRAM Rival XPLR AXS cassette: $150
SRAM force flat top chain: $35
blip box: $400
clicks: $125
brakes and levers: TRP HE-T910: $300
rotors: $40

so, where i’m at, so far, not counting wheels, tires, aerobars, stem, is: around $1,400-ish. so, just as some sample prices:

frameset + seat post: $2,000
aerobar + pursuit bar + stem: $500
wheelset: $1,500
tires: $150
saddle: $200

you’re at $4,200-ish

so, $5,800 for a quality frame, quality wheels of my choice (if i hunt and am not too picky), fast tires, saddle of my choice, and so on?

how can i get that price down? what is the frameset i’m looking for? what is the complete bike already out there that solves all of this for me?

[Motoarch]

This is tough and i have no idea how to start. The big sticking point has to be the frame set.

I actually was working on this very problem at the end of my season this year and came to the conclusion it was just easier for me to find a used bike with disk and electric shifting then buy the wheels I wanted.

Interestingly I hit your price point. I bought a 2016 Parlee TTiR from Pros Closet for $4400 and put a set of Scribe Wheels on it for another $1000 then sent it to my mechanic for tuning, adjustments and fitting and Im right about $5800.

With more effort maybe I could have gone all custom finding all the parts but I don’t think I would have ended up with a better bike or that it would have been less expensive.

EDIT: I wanted 1x also which is why I considered custom build.

[realbdeal]

$5700 for a Canyon CF with better brake levers and very nice extensions. Wheels that could easily be sold to finance your desired wheel purchase.

Hard to imagine building something for less unless you want an old gen electronic groupset. When the p-series frame is $2500, I don’t see finding a frame from a major brand for ~$2k. Plenty of ali-express options though!

[Slowman]

$5700 for a Canyon CF with better brake levers and very nice extensions. Wheels that could easily be sold to finance your desired wheel purchase.

Hard to imagine building something for less unless you want an old gen electronic groupset. When the p-series frame is $2500, I don’t see finding a frame from a major brand for ~$2k. Plenty of ali-express options though!

i think you’re right on the canyon. my original “spec” was for the vuka extensions, but they added a couple of hundred more. one note about these, they’re really the only wireless unit out there. no blip box. of course you have to like the shape. but i think canyon did a nice job on that bike, tho i’d have probably chosen other wheels.

cheapest decent new branded frameset i’ve found is a QR PR5 disc at $2,300 or so.

[littlefoot]

Hard to imagine building something for less unless you want an old gen electronic groupset. When the p-series frame is $2500, I don’t see finding a frame from a major brand for ~$2k. Plenty of ali-express options though!

I agree with the frameset statement. I was going to bring up the tire price as too high as you can get them usually for $50 less, but the frameset is probably off by a good $500 or $1500.

I still think the current (Gen2) SC is a great deal. And, they are still making it. I would love to see what a Gen2 with 800 carbon layup would feel like.

[andrewjshults]

$5700 for a Canyon CF with better brake levers and very nice extensions. Wheels that could easily be sold to finance your desired wheel purchase.

Hard to imagine building something for less unless you want an old gen electronic groupset. When the p-series frame is $2500, I don’t see finding a frame from a major brand for ~$2k. Plenty of ali-express options though!

You’re also getting a power meter, which helps increase the value prop (assuming you’re not bringing over a pedal based meter)

[gary_p]

$5700 for a Canyon CF with better brake levers and very nice extensions.

Yeah, the Speedmax CF 7 eTap was the first thing that came to mind when I read the original post.

Hard to imagine building something for less unless you want an old gen electronic groupset. When the p-series frame is $2500, I don’t see finding a frame from a major brand for ~$2k.

Cheapest decent new branded frameset i’ve found is a QR PR5 disc at $2,300 or so.

The Argon 18 E117 Disc frameset is listed at $1600US.

https://www.argon18.com/...thlon/e-117-tri-disc

[gary_p]

blip box: $400
clicks: $125

If you’re committed to 1x, don’t care about shift buttons at the bullhorns, and can be a little crafty with the mounting, you could replace these both with the $150 GX AXS shifter.

[Slowman]

blip box: $400
clicks: $125

If you don’t care about shift buttons at the pursuit position, and can be a little crafty with the mounting, you could replace these both with the $150 GX AXS shifter.

well, now you’re thinking! that’s 1 unit, that would shift a 1x up and down. 1 shifter on 1 extension. or on a bridge between the extensions. yes?

[Ryanppax]

You got my wheels turning again. Trying to make it make sense to upgrade from rimbrake cpeedmax cf di2 to something disk brake and longer.

[gary_p]

well, now you’re thinking! that’s 1 unit, that would shift a 1x up and down. 1 shifter on 1 extension. or on a bridge between the extensions. yes?

Yeah, I’ve only thought about it as an academic exercise; haven’t actually tried it. But this would absolutely work in a 1x situation. Don’t know enough about AXS to say if it will work with a 2x, so I amended my original post to qualify it for 1x, but I could see how it might be possible to use with a FD if you use the app to set up sequential shifting.

Since this launched slightly before Rival AXS, I was a little surprised SRAM didn’t offer something similarly priced with Rival that mounted to an aerobar end. Maybe something that looked like the Rotor 1x13 TT shifter.

[jasonmac]

That! I’ve spent months looking for a good value disc brake frame and the e-117 disc is impressive.

Easy to build up with all mech red/force/ultegra/trp (brake)/profile-design/hed jetplus parts.

Noting that I’m in NZ which complicates matters, but it was easy to import from Aus where there was availability.

[marcofoils]

Yeah, I’ve only thought about it as an academic exercise; haven’t actually tried it. But this would absolutely work in a 1x situation. Don’t know enough about AXS to say if it will work with a 2x, so I amended my original post to qualify it for 1x, but I could see how it might be possible to use with a FD if you use the app to set up sequential shifting.

Since this launched slightly before Rival AXS, I was a little surprised SRAM didn’t offer something similarly priced with Rival that mounted to an aerobar end. Maybe something that looked like the Rotor 1x13 TT shifter.

The Eagle GX AXS shifter body seems to be closed by screws? It might be hackable? Would be a candidate to make a small case and add some custom blips.

Blips by the way can be made a lot cheaper (and more custom) than the Sram stock ones if you are handy on the DIY front, only the blip box plug is a bit of a pain to source/make. Attached a picture of custom base bar blips hidden underneath hydro brake levers I built for a pro athlete. They are made with a thin carbon paddle and a micro switch. To activate you press the carbon paddle upwards.

[beston]

You can save ~ $700+ buying some asian carbon tubeless wheels built up with DT Swiss hubs.

[Slowman]

The Eagle GX AXS shifter body seems to be closed by screws? It might be hackable? Would be a candidate to make a small case and add some custom blips.

i have a question into SRAM right now. i don’t know that you need to hack it. because it’s closed by screws and uses a common coin cell battery it’s got a semi-infinite life. my question for SRAM is whether that shifter is compatible with the road derailleurs and can work just like road shifters in the AXS app. i suspect that’s all cross compatible. what i don’t know is how ugly or nice those shifters would be as bar end shifters.

[gary_p]

The Eagle GX AXS shifter body seems to be closed by screws? It might be hackable? Would be a candidate to make a small case and add some custom blips.

Blips by the way can be made a lot cheaper (and more custom) than the Sram stock ones if you are handy on the DIY front, only the blip box plug is a bit of a pain to source/make. Attached a picture of custom base bar blips hidden underneath hydro brake levers I built for a pro athlete. They are made with a thin carbon paddle and a micro switch. To activate you press the carbon paddle upwards.

Yeah, if you’re really handy and willing to take some risk, you could presumably hack this into a cheap “blip box” for your own blips. If you take the paddle off (a user-serviceable procedure, as they have an alternate part that more closely mimics the operation of a standard MTB shifter), there are two small buttons underneath.

My guess is that, underneath the waterproof cover, their just basic circuit board mounted buttons.

With a soldering gun and a little nerve, one could probably replace them with wire some wire leads that would go to whatever blip-style solution you wanted.

Again, this is all a theoretical thought exercise. I haven’t actually had one apart.

The GX AXS shifter demonstrates that SRAM, if they wanted, could make a basic TT shifter (i.e. stand alone, without ports for blips/cliks) for $150. It wouldn’t have to look too different than this part, which is probably very familiar to Slowtwitchers:

The fact that they don’t either indicates that they don’t see a market demand, or that they’re concerned it would cannibalize the higher price products. The latter hasn’t seemed to stop them from offering more affordable AXS products of other types, so I’m guessing its the former? I know I would be personally interested, but SRAM wouldn’t be alone in assuming most triathletes looking for a electronic shifting bike aren’t really that budget-conscious. Look no further than the latest Speed Concept price points for evidence of that.

[marcofoils]

Yeah, if you’re really handy and willing to take some risk, you could presumably hack this into a cheap “blip box” for your own blips. If you take the paddle off (a user-serviceable procedure, as they have an alternate part that more closely mimics the operation of a standard MTB shifter), there are two small buttons underneath.

After a quick Google search this looks very doable. Maybe even without hacking but simply by removing the stock MTB handlebar mount and paddles and replacing that with something you could attach to an aero extension plus a more compact paddle design? If that fails, it looks like the case can be opened and taken apart. See images below (source: first two Sram, third Pinkbike).

Let’s see what Sram answers regarding compatibility…

[DFW_Tri]

Your prices are retail. If you had to go buy all the parts today, fine. But, a little patience can net significant savings.

online trailers regularly have sales offering a minimum of 20% off. Competivecyclist/backcountry is a personal favor Kate as they have great return policy and excellent customer service. Plus, many have reward programs or cash back from activejunky or Rakuten etc.

moosejaw, for example, often offers 30% back in reward dollars. Black Friday sales offer great savings opportunities. Slowtwitch ads, eBay or Facebook marketplace (I’m not on that one) offer other chances to save money.

I’ve built up several highly customized bikes (Tri rim brake and road disc bike) probably at a average of 25-30% off retail prices at least for everything except a frame. Although I’ve bought frames on sale too, that just might be hard to do with current shortages.

Oh, and Jimatbeyond is a pretty good place to look for very good deep Reynolds wheels at WAY under $1,500. Or I’ve often had luck finding HED in the $1,000 range.

So your estimated frame price may be right. I would look for used or Black Friday sale on alpha one (I’ve bought in $500-$600 range), sub $1,000, knock about 30% off your component prices. Gp5000 can often be found on sale for $35-40
range. Saddles-personally I would consider used if you know what works for you. Barely used saddles are regularly sold on here ~$100.

[ericMPro]

Can you start this project from the bars first and back as is your custom and also the right way to do things?

E

[culpritbicycles]

by next year I plan to have my monopost stem, csr+ and a,base bar around 1300 usd. granted higher than your 500 usd but a superbar with full arm aerobar to start with.