I dont know too much about the technical side of bikes, my friend knows a good amount more but neither us have ever built a bike, or messed around with parts. can you actually save a good amount of money, is it that hard?
I think building a bike will be fun. There are some things that you'll probably need to have a bike shop do, like install the Headset in. You can search for Zinns book on mountain bike maintenence and park tools.GothMogs_Fury said:I dont know too much about the technical side of bikes, my friend knows a good amount more but neither us have ever built a bike, or messed around with parts. can you actually save a good amount of money, is it that hard?
since youre in the beginers forum, and it sounds like neither one of you is mechanicly inclined. I would seriously consider having it built or buy one allready built. you will need alot of specialty tools (BB wrench, torque wrench, cable cutters, headset tools) plus there are alot of details, (bleeding the brakes, cutting brake line, adjusting derailliers, brake levers, shifters) running the cables and lines is an art unto itself.GothMogs_Fury said:I dont know too much about the technical side of bikes, my friend knows a good amount more but neither us have ever built a bike, or messed around with parts. can you actually save a good amount of money, is it that hard?
Agreed. You'll get plenty of maintenance/building experience in on buying another good bike, and you can see if you "have what it takes" patience-wise to do some building, or if you actually would enjoy doing such a thing.Rufudufus said:Buy yourself a decent used bike, then learn to wrench on it as you repair/upgrade parts. Yes, building up a frame is fun if you're mechanically inclined, but it sounds like you don't have much experience, and for all you know you'll hate it. I have a buddy who was given a carbon frame, he bought all the components for it, and he never put the thing together. He's an engineer so he's no dummy, he just wasn't in to working on it. And as others have said, It's cheaper to buy a complete bike, plus you get to ride right away.
Squash had some good points, but I disagree about buying the parts before the frame. Seatposts and front deraillers come in a variety of sizes and configurations and if you buy them ahead of time they may not work on your frame.