Buy off the shelf or build my own?

[jay clock]

OK I am not a beginner, but as often is the case I cannot think where to post.

I am looking at a new carbon bike in the £2k range, and my LBS has a BMC Racemaster which is built up with Campag kit (Chorus Carbon I think). Size looks good (and I am quite difficult to fit) and the tag says £2500 and he threw out £1900 as an example.... not sure I will get it for that.

I really would much prefer Ultegra (sorry to be fickle but I hate the look of Campag -those levers look like Sora to me) but he says the frame is £1700 and he is not interested in selling the frame, only the whole thing (fair enough)

I can get the same frame (different colour) for 1099 at CRC, or the same colour as my LBS for 1275 from Wiggle. An Ultegra SL groupset appears to be £450 from Merlin cycles. Add handlebars and stem (£100) and wheels (£250) and I have a bike exactly as I want for £2000 ish

Weaknesses are that I have to assemble it myself ( I am fine with most stuff,) poss the BB would need a pro, setting up all the gears and brakes I should be ok. There are bound to be some odd things that are not compatible, with some extra money or help needed to do them

Am I missing something here? Any advice about what I am doing? What would another LBS charge to assemble the whole lot?

Jay

 

[gavintc]

Build your own, then you decide when to cut the corners and make the compromises. If you shop around as you clearly have researched, you can get bits and pieces for good deals. I paid an LBS £40 to put it all together for my first bike. I am now able to do it myself and my latest bike was a self build - most satisfying.

 

[accountantpete]

The only hard part is the headset - but presumably the frame is supplied with forks.

Bottom brackets are not difficult- you just need the right tool.

At a guess the first build will take you 5 - 7 hours with a bit of cursing in between but this will stand you in good stead when minor problems crop up and you can fix them yourself rather than having to be dependent on the LBS.

 

[threebikesmcginty]

Yup, build it yourself if you feel capable - plenty of on line help. Bicycletutor, Sheldon, Parktools, here!! etc..

Like acc'pete say's - there's swearing involved but the end result is very satisfying.

 

[therams]

I don't want to hijack the thread but I am thing about something similar. I want to get a SL Pro Carbon Frame from PlanetX (£450) and then transfer as much as possible from my 2009 Allez Sport (tiagra). Even the carbon forks if possible. I already have some new wheels (open pro / 105 hubs) to use.

I might not get a much lighter bike, but I will have a great light and comfortable frame and upgrade the rest when I can afford it (eBay). The only areas that bother me are the BB and the headset.

To be honest, the building work appeals to me as much as the new bike its self

 

[chris667]

Despite what some people would have you believe, nothing is really difficult when it comes to building bikes. But you need a few special tools, and I think you need help to get started.

I'd get a **good** shop to do your headset and BB. Everything should be faced, and the threads should be tapped before you install headsets and bottom brackets.

Everything else is straightforward, if you read the instructions, and everything is fresh from the box.

 

[therams]

I'd get a **good** shop to do your headset and BB. Everything should be faced, and the threads should be tapped before you install headsets and bottom brackets.

Does that mean its not a good idea to take these off one bike and put them onto another?

 

[chris667]

It's fine, but if it's a decent frame it really should be prepared first. The new external BBs are particularly intolerant of bad preparation of the frame.

It's just not economical for most home mechanics to buy the tools, although if you're in a club maybe someone you know has them.

 

[jay clock]

Thanks for all this. I am off to the LBS in a mo to ride the one they have and see what they can suggest.

The bits that worry me are "Everything should be faced, and the threads should be tapped"... sounds like I should be an enegineering apprentice. I am more than competent at installing all the kit, brakes, setting up gears etc as I do all my own maintenance.

I have called another LBS who quoted me £100 if I turned up with all the bits and asked to have them assembled.

My other worry is that I suddenly find compatabilty problems with things like BB length, front mech fitting and chainline.

I will post again later

 

[gavintc]

Thanks for all this. I am off to the LBS in a mo to ride the one they have and see what they can suggest.

The bits that worry me are "Everything should be faced, and the threads should be tapped"... sounds like I should be an enegineering apprentice. I am more than competent at installing all the kit, brakes, setting up gears etc as I do all my own maintenance.

I have called another LBS who quoted me £100 if I turned up with all the bits and asked to have them assembled.

My other worry is that I suddenly find compatabilty problems with things like BB length, front mech fitting and chainline.

I will post again later

£100 is steep. I have a very helpful LBS in Glasgow who did the facing for me for free, just popped in and we had a chat about life etc. However, I have bought a fair amount through his shop in the last year. Even so, I suggest that you ask around for a build price.

 

[jay clock]

The £100 was to hand over a bag of bits and get a bike back! I will certainly shop around

 

[chris667]

The bits that worry me are "Everything should be faced, and the threads should be tapped"... sounds like I should be an enegineering apprentice. I am more than competent at installing all the kit, brakes, setting up gears etc as I do all my own maintenance.

Don't let that put you off.

The jobs are straightforward; the only reason you can't do it yourself is because the tools cost hundreds of pounds, and there's no satisfactory way to do the job without them.

 

[Jonathan M]

Sorry if this offends, but your only reason behind not purchasing the whole bike is simply fashion - you do not like the look of Campag ergos, so want Shimano. Interestingly though, Shimano on the 2009 Dura-ace groupset finally got around to concealed cable routing, thus making the possibility that those who dislike Shimano STI on the grounds of flappy cables might have more options ope to us in the fashion market in the future.

You do sound crystal clear over what bike you wish to achieve though, so IMHO go for the custom build. You will get exactly what you want, you can build to your budget, and if you compromise on one area now, you will know exactly what needs to change in the future.

It is perfectly possible to ask an LBS to fit headset & BB to a frame, if you've not bought the frame from them it may be that buying the parts from the LBS and negotiating free fitting would be cheaper than buying them in from elsewhere & paying the workshop costs. If you buy a complete groupset from somwhere like Merlin then you can always keep any duplicate parts like headset or BB for spares or sell to re-coup the costs.

Re headset, won't it be an integrated anyway? So it would only be the fork crown race to fit?

 

[PpPete]

Facing & tapping for BB - I was quoted £20 by my LBS not a million miles from your location Jay.
Can't see that putting a headset on should cost much more than another £10 on top.
Everything else is reasonably straightforward.

 

[John the Monkey]

The bits that worry me are "Everything should be faced, and the threads should be tapped"... sounds like I should be an enegineering apprentice. I am more than competent at installing all the kit, brakes, setting up gears etc as I do all my own maintenance.

I have called another LBS who quoted me £100 if I turned up with all the bits and asked to have them assembled.

My other worry is that I suddenly find compatabilty problems with things like BB length, front mech fitting and chainline.

Frame preparation does need good quality, accurate tools - that's why I got Sideways Cycles (who supplied my LHT frameset) to do that, and fit the headset cups for me. The frame was £350, and they supplied a headset (FSA Orbit XLII, I think), did the frame prep (faced BB shell & headtube) and fitted the cups for an extra £25.

Everything else I was able to do myself.

I'd think that the compatibility for your bike will be slightly more straightforward, if you're buying a complete groupset of matching bits. I had to faff a bit with my 105 front mech to get it to play nicely with my Truvativ square taper triple & Deore rear hub/cassette. Even then, this mostly came down to applying more cable tension than I usually would (acheived by shifting down without actually moving the chain, *then* applying the tension).

With matched parts, the whole thing should be much easier. Do get the bb shell faced. Do prepare the threads properly (i.e. clean them & grease them). Don't apply too much torque to the preloading nut on the cranks. Spacing, chainline etc on a matched groupset should pretty much take care of itself, imo (certainly found that with the Hollowtech stuff on my SCR2, in any case).