dimrub
Über Member
My son seems to have grown out of his Giant Talon MTB, besides, it's not suitable for trips we're contemplating together. I was thinking of buying him a gravel bike here (in Israel), but they were not very popular here even before COVID-19, and now there appears to be a shortage, so none are available at all. I've been told that a shipment of Kona gravels can be expected some time in November, but I consider this to be a low confidence information. So a crazy thought occurred to me - to build him some bike out of parts (I blame YouTube that makes this sort of projects look so effortless and easy).
I've never built a bike, and I lack the necessary tools (I think). I think that the benefits of this project is that we can build a bike that is a perfect fit for his requirements, that we can have without waiting for Kona to do their shipment, and that we can perhaps get at a similar price if we manage to source some of the components 2nd hand (this last one is questionable, since the 2nd hand market here appears to be sparse and somewhat unreasonable price-wise). I also think that it's a great way to obtain some necessary mechanic chops, good to have on a multi-day tour. Oh and we can do this together as a father-son project, if he can be persuaded (for once, I'm the crazy one and he's the reasonable one who says this is a pipe dream of a plan).
With that said, I think I'd prefer to choose an existing bike as a point of departure, so any pointers will be most welcome. The idea is to have a medium sized frame with the standard stuff - flat mount disk brakes, 1x drive-train (probably 1x11?), drop bars, rack mount, alloy or steel (no carbon), the standard bottom bracket and front/rear wheel clearings (thru axle) etc. I'm thinking tubeless, of course, and tires wide enough for gravel, but not prohibitive on asphalt - I have G-One Allround on my Canyon Grail, and I think I want something similar for him. One peculiarity: it can't be Shimano - Shimano parts can't be shipped to Israel (although can be shipped as part of a whole bike - go figure).
As for tools, I'll probably buy them on AliExpress - the price difference for similar tools as compared to say Park Tool is x3, and I'm not going to be building bikes day in day out, so extreme durability is not an issue. Is there a flaw in this plan? Is there a minimal list of required tools/materials one can recommend?
Thanks all!
I've never built a bike, and I lack the necessary tools (I think). I think that the benefits of this project is that we can build a bike that is a perfect fit for his requirements, that we can have without waiting for Kona to do their shipment, and that we can perhaps get at a similar price if we manage to source some of the components 2nd hand (this last one is questionable, since the 2nd hand market here appears to be sparse and somewhat unreasonable price-wise). I also think that it's a great way to obtain some necessary mechanic chops, good to have on a multi-day tour. Oh and we can do this together as a father-son project, if he can be persuaded (for once, I'm the crazy one and he's the reasonable one who says this is a pipe dream of a plan).
With that said, I think I'd prefer to choose an existing bike as a point of departure, so any pointers will be most welcome. The idea is to have a medium sized frame with the standard stuff - flat mount disk brakes, 1x drive-train (probably 1x11?), drop bars, rack mount, alloy or steel (no carbon), the standard bottom bracket and front/rear wheel clearings (thru axle) etc. I'm thinking tubeless, of course, and tires wide enough for gravel, but not prohibitive on asphalt - I have G-One Allround on my Canyon Grail, and I think I want something similar for him. One peculiarity: it can't be Shimano - Shimano parts can't be shipped to Israel (although can be shipped as part of a whole bike - go figure).
As for tools, I'll probably buy them on AliExpress - the price difference for similar tools as compared to say Park Tool is x3, and I'm not going to be building bikes day in day out, so extreme durability is not an issue. Is there a flaw in this plan? Is there a minimal list of required tools/materials one can recommend?
Thanks all!
