The Chainlink

Build-a-bike: Fun or Dumb?


Hello all,

 I wanted to get the community's opinions (or at least start a discussion about) the merits to building your own road bike from all the bits and pieces. I'm looking to start a long term, piece-by-piece project...purely for the fun of it.

I have no experience with bike maintenance, but am reasonably adept with tools (and can read how-to guides like the dickens!). I'm not under the misconception that this will save me money...I'm fully aware that it will end up costing way more than if I'd just bought a new bike BUT

I thought it would be a great experience.

Summary: I'm really just looking for opinions/thoughts/horror stories/success stories/humorous antidotes (not anecdotes)/tips

for how to accomplish this behemoth (at least from my vantage point) task.

Thank you.

p.s. If it's not abudantly clear, I'm new here. So, hello everyone!

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Permalink Reply by Don P on December 6, 2010 at 8:15am
Sorry I forgot to include this in my last post:

Check out Sly Red's Blackadder Project in the British Bicycles of Chicago group. He didn't build a roadbike, but the project lays out a great template of how to conceive, execute and build a bike.
Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on December 6, 2010 at 8:21am
And like Howard mentioned earlier about distinctive-looking bikes, Sly is ending up with a bike that is distinctive and recognizable. It'd be hard for a thief to sell such a bike and even harder for the buyer to get away with riding it anywhere in this city without someone soon recognizing it.

Don P said:
Sorry I forgot to include this in my last post:

Check out Sly Red's Blackadder Project in the British Bicycles of Chicago group. He didn't build a roadbike, but the project lays out a great template of how to conceive, execute and build a bike.
Permalink Reply by SlyRed on December 7, 2010 at 4:34am
Thanks for the props, guys (SlyRed blushing). Nice to hear such good comments about Blackadder. My Bianchi road bike project from earlier this year was very fulfilling for me, too. I built it from the frame up with components of my own choosing. It's 98% Dura Ace 7700 series. I built the wheels myself on Tiagra hubs and Velocity Deep V rims. I'm sure it's not to everyone's taste, but it too is distinctive enough to be a bad choice for theft. How many yellow Bianchis have you ever seen.

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