Anyone Build Their Own Bike

Actually if you look around you can build up a nice bike rather cheap.  I bought almost every part from e-bay, BT, ST, craigs list, etc and put it together last winter.

I used "Zinn and the Art of Road bike Maintenance"

http://bicycletutor.com/

And park tools website for just about all of my build explanations.

i build all my own bikes, its a lot of fun and you get to put on eveyrthing you want.

parktool.com was the only place i looked for help when i could not figure it out.

If you really want to have a project, what about building up the frame as well?  There is a class I've thought about taking that you build up your own frame, then have it custom painted.  It's pricey (around $2750), but how cool would that be?

I built up a TT bike with spare parts that I had in the garage a few weeks ago. Over all these years I was suprised at what I had kept. Built it from just a frame and had everything I needed to get it on the road in one afternoon without going to the bike shop to pick something up. Felt like some kind of packrat. Can't tell my Mom to stop hoarding stuff anymore!

I just built my 1st fixed gear/track bike. If I could figure out how to post a pick I would. Anyway remember E-Bay is your friend. It's not that hard, Enjoy

All the time.  I rarely buy a complete bike.  And even if I do, it does not stay stock for very long typically.

x2

www.partool.com is a godsend and the only thing I can officially not do now is laceup a wheel up from a rim and hub.



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I built my own road bike a couple years ago.  Was nice to pick out the exact components I wanted without having to settle for a saddle or bars or  what ever that I really didn't want.

If I decide I need a tri bike, I plan on building that myself also. 

Only 3 of my last 13 bikes were bought as complete. 2 of those complete bikes lasted less then a year before the frame was sold and all the parts hung on something else.

The good resources have been listed. It's fun to do, but can be expensive if mistakes are made. If you aren't already familiar with doing most of this work yourself. Go find an old 10 speed at a garage sale. Take it apart down to the bare frame and rebuild it. It's better to make mistakes on that then while building an expensive bike.

Except with integrated head sets, external BB (or even better - press fit external bearings) and internal cables, working on the old Schwinn Varsity isn't going to help quite as much.

Most of the places for help have been mentioned (Zinn, Parktools.com) and most new components come with basic instructions too.  It is not too difficult and if you run into problems or need a very specific tool most LBS will give you hints and may loan tools or be able to remove/install a tricky component for nothing (5 minutes or less type stuff).

I love putting together bikes.  Very fun and you can get good deal on-line with frames and components. 

Knowing how to assemble you own bikes makes it easier to do a full cleaning every year or two, strip everything off and give it a good scrub.  It feels like new when you are done.

i just got done(as in 5 min ago) putting together a P3.
I have to say, this was the hardest bike i have ever cabled, and that includes in the past- a B2, caleinte, planet x, felt s34, cervelo dual, blue 16. i spent more time getting the two shifter cables trhough than on the rest of the bike!!!! photos coming tonight or tomorrow.