Building a bike (or 2)

[Charlie]

Hi,

Used to mountain bike in my early teens (8-10 years ago) and want to start doing it again. Also want to get my girlfriend involved too.

I like the idea of building my own bike to get better value parts and I don't mind second hand (I'd probably prefer it tbh). I think I want a hardtail and considering a 29er, probably willing to spend about £700 on each bike.

So a couple of questions:
How do I figure out what frame size we need?
Do you think going to for a 29er is a good idea?
Does building your own still represent value for money? Or can manufactures buy things a lot cheaper than the general consumer?

Cheers

Charlie
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Past: Honda x8rs, Honda City fly, Honda Hornet 250, Honda VFR750, Yamaha xt600e.
Current: Honda CBR929RR & Yamaha XT660Z Tenere

[G]

There's currently some very good deals around on 2012 bikes - I doubt you'll come that close to building a bike up yourself for the money with new parts.
With second hand parts you may well find you end up spending more on general servicing, getting wheels trued up etc to the point you might as well go new.

From wiggle, this is a very good deal on a 26":
https://www.wiggle.co.uk/gt-avalanche-10-disc-2012/
If you take a medium, very light (I believe) hard tail for not much money:
https://www.wiggle.co.uk/gt-zaskar-comp-2012/
Or a bike that got decent reviews at £1600 for £800
https://www.wiggle.co.uk/charge-duster-plus-2012/

29er, a tad over budget but still paying £840 for a £1400 rrp bike.
https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=66765

[Wafer_Thin_Ham]

On your budget/entry level stuff you'll struggle to build for more than you can buy for. Especially at this time of year when everyone's selling off 2012 bikes to make way for the 2013 kit.

If you were looking to top bigger money on a bike, then you can usually build for the same/less money.
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[stinkwheel]

Aye. Not a cheap job BUT if there is something specific you want on it that is unavailable or if you have a particular frame/running gear combination you want, it's sometimes the only way.

Like I'm just ordering parts to build a 700c wheel with a 3-speed hub in it to make an updated shopper bike out of an old Raleigh Pioneer for the wifes Mum. You can buy them but not with a rim worth having. It's going to land up costing more than buying a new bike but it'll be the bike she wants/needs/can ride.

From previous experience, it's to much like hard work trying to get a bike shop to build a wheel for me so I've decided to teach myself. I can re-dish and true a wheel so building one shouldn'ty be too much more painful.
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“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[chris-red]

What is the point of 29er? more ground clearance?
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[G]

It should 'roll over' rocks, bumps, rocks and the like more easily due to the wider diamater - as an extreme example, try sticking a skate board wheel on the front a push bike. On the road, not a massive issue (with longer forks), but off-road it's going to get stuck on the first little rock.

Of course suspension will make up for it to some degree, but won't entirely compensate as the extreme example demonstrates.

I went for a '700c' hybrid bike partly for the higher gearing - you don't really get 26" ones with the same gearing. Less of an issue with mountain bikes, but I think a 29" is often geared that bit higher (well, the same, but with bigger wheels so effectively higher.)

Should give one a go sometime, but so far suspect I'd prefer the alternative of lighter weight and longer suspension travel.

[stinkwheel]

An interesting point to note is that "700c" and "29"er" rims are exactly the same diameter.

Also that many of the rims that claim to be 700C are, in fact, not. They are often wider than a 700C "Standard"* rim by a considerable margin. Especially the ones they sell for hybrid bikes.

Next thing I'm going to try is sticking a 29" tyre on the "700C" hybrid rim on my mountain bike. The cyclocross tyre I'm using can't cope with the combination of my weight and pointy stones taken at speed at any pressure that affords a degree of comfort.

* Not actually standardised in any way but in theory there are 700 A, B, C and D which denotes the different widths of rims on which nominally 70cm outside diameter tyres are fitted. Any rim of any width with a 622mm bead seat is now called 700C... Except the ones that are called 29"er. It's laugh a minute in cycle engineering.
____________________
“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[G]

Don't see any reason it shouldn't work - as you say, it's the same thing by another name.

Presumably trying not to confuse mountain bikers with 26" vs '700c'.

I didn't realise the 'c' stood for width - certainly get a range of different tyre sizes that will fit on such rims and always presumed the rims were different sizes - haven't checked if a 23mm race wheel is thinner than a chunky hybrid's wheel which takes up to 40mm, but presumed that'd be the case.

[furry-ninja]

It's fun but it won't save you money and you'll spend more time shopping for parts than building or cycling.

One of the better budget bikes from Wiggle/Halfords/Chain Reaction/Decathlon will very hard to beat, bang for buck.

I'd steer clear of second hand parts - if you're going to put the time into building it, it may as well be shiny. The stuff does wear out and you'll spend your time trying to figure out which half-worn bit is making the gears not shift smoothly or something.

I'd def buy the missus an off the peg one that she likes the look of, buy yourself one and either think about upgrading bits or start a side project building yourself a second one to tinker with, like a single speed or something.

[JonB]

Lets put it this way.

People build bikes because they can.

People don't build bikes to save money.
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Be careful whose advice you buy, but, be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia, dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it?s worth.

[Bred2shred]

[stinkwheel]

But if you do buy a bike from Halfords. Check, tighten and adjust EVERY SINGLE PART as if you'd built the bike yourself. Remove anything that should have been lubed and lube it with the appropriate grease/oil. Take the bottom bracket out and chase the threads through. Replace any loose bearings with an appropriate number of uncaged ones. Tension and stress relieve the wheels. Replace any cheap and nasty sundries they have scrimped on with decent stuff.

Then you'll have a bike like one you would have built yourself. WHich you may as well have.
____________________
“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[furry-ninja]

I think if you buy online from Halfords, it just comes in the box from the manufacturer and their monkeys won't have had the chance to to "assemble" it.

[Irezumi aka Reuben]

[JonB]

I agree.

I was merely comparing new to new.
____________________
Be careful whose advice you buy, but, be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia, dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it?s worth.