So, I’ll be buying a bike soon. Not sure yet if i will go the Serotta/Seven route from my LBS, or just have them build me up a Curtlo or Strong frame. Custom is really my only option because of my height, certainly not because of my skills/needs. I will likely outfit the bike at the Ultegra level on average. So, my question is:
when I start putting together the component kit where should I try to save $$$ and where should I make sure I don’t skimp. I am already “forced” into spending some coin on the cranks because Dura Ace is all I can find in a 180mm. But are the seatpost/bars that important? How about the headset - should i really buy a Chris King instead of a Cane Creek? Or should that extra $$$ be spent on better hubs?
Personally, I wouldn’t worry about fancy hubs this year. Get the custom bike with some solid training wheels and get new wheels next year.
Headset=Good.
What hubs are “good” and “average” to you? I’d recommend just getting some Ultegra hub/Open Pro’s. Cheap, strong, and work well. Get the King headset, unless you really can’t afford it. You’ll never have any problems with it. For seatposts and stems, I always recommend Thomson. If you do decide on nice hubs, go with Dura Ace, Chris King, or DT. For the price, the Dura Ace are good. If it were me, though, I’d just get the Ultegra hubs and spend the extra cash on the King headset. You can upgrade wheels later.
Spend money on a good saddle that fits you, a good, microadjust seatpost (thomson masterpiece), levers, Cranks/BB (you have that covered) and bars. You could get away with downspec’ed parts pretty much everywhere else - IMO.
1 over rated part - Front Der…they all work the damn same, I still have a 15 year old+ Superbe Pro that will work as well as my new Record Carbon…they all work the same.
Yes, a Kind headset is 100% worth the money. It will never fail you, is easy to adjust and will never fail you - ever.
Hubs? What are you planning to build up for wheels? Most people get boutique wheels and cant alter their hubs…but if you can DA or Record are the way to go for sure. Record is a better hub than the DA for many reason (like adjustability while it is in the dropouts, grease ports, better bearings)…
Spend the money on the frame and get ultegra. My last custom steel bike lasted me 18 yrs. You’ll appreciate the better fit of a custom bike more than a few grams on components. Get some durable good quality wheels (like 32 hole mavic open pros-chris king hubs) so you won’t have to be truing your wheels after every other ride. I say this because if you’re getting a custom bike due to height then you probably aren’t 140lbs. You can get FSA cranks in 180mm if you want but they aren’t any cheaper than dura ace.
Most things have been covered. I’ll throw in another vote for the Chris King headset. Great headset. I removed one from my mtb recently, that had been in a lot of wet/grimy riding conditions for about 4 years with no maintenance. Simply cleaned it up a little and regreased. Still works like the day I bought it. Before CK, I used to go throw headsets every few months (again, on a mtb, not road bike).
You won’t regret the crankset, even though you spent more. As a big rider, you don’t want flexy cranks. In the future, if you want, just replace worn chainrings with Ultegra. Along this vein of thought, the bottom bracket is another place to invest some money. If you get a good one, you’ll never have to worry about it. A cheap one will drive you nuts (I know from experience!).
For myself, I’ve never spent too much on the handlebars or stem. These do wear out and are very prone to breakage from crashes, so why bother wasting money on a chi-chi carbon set-up unless you have the money to burn.
Front derailleur, go cheap (how often to you really shift chainrings?), rear derailleur, go at least Ultegra. You can get away with a 105 cassette though with only a small weight penalty.
If you haven’t already committed funds to all the components and can get the bike as a frame only (with the exception of the crankset), there are some good deals to be had on the net (chucksbikes.com and gvhbikes.com) for complete gruppos.
Just giving you a hard time with a smart ass response.
For what it’s worth, I would make sure to get the best frame possible. Next I would focus on drive-train. Get the best bb/crank-set combination and then work out from there.