Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community (https://thetfp.com/tfp/)
-   Tilted Sports (https://thetfp.com/tfp/tilted-sports/)
-   -   I want to build my own bicycle. (https://thetfp.com/tfp/tilted-sports/115825-i-want-build-my-own-bicycle.html)

Harshaw 04-08-2007 01:28 PM

I want to build my own bicycle.
 
When I first moved to San Francisco, I thought it would be too hilly to ride. But this city is really bicycle friendly. So as I get more and more into the sport, I was thinking it would be fun to build my own road bike. I figure I can get a lot of the parts I need from the various bike stores around town. Anything I can't find in town I can buy on ebay. My only problem is I don't know where to start.
I'm wondering if anyone knows a book, or a website that I can use as a reference.

kurty[B] 04-08-2007 02:21 PM

You will want to start with a frame, and work from there. If you don't know what size of frame you need go to a bike shop and get fitted. Are you building the bike for the thrill of building something yourself, or in hopes of building the bike for cheaper than an already manufactured bike? Depending on parts you will find the premanufactured bikes run cheaper than building your own (unless you find a parts wholesaler).

I'd say pick up a thorough bike repair manual and look at the annual maintenance section where it goes through stripping the bike down and reassembling it. For me, a bike repair manual with good photos helps the most.

eribrav 04-08-2007 03:37 PM

The best manual I have worked with is Barnett's. Pretty much idiot proof if you take your time and read things over before working on each part.

kurty's right that buying a complete bike will likely be cheaper than assembling from parts, unless you slowly accumulate used stuff at great prices. Many new bikes come for the same price as a full parts groupo; you essentially pay nothing for the frame.
Hey and if you're looking for something in a 54 cm frame let me know!

squeeeb 04-27-2007 11:57 AM

check out sheldon brown, http://www.sheldonbrown.com/. it's a pretty good place to start, and a great place for reference and such...

Ilow 04-28-2007 09:04 PM

Building bikes is a really fun thing to do, but as several people have pointed out is is unlikely to be cheaper than just buying a whole bike, if that is your goal. I like the idea of building to my own custom specs, while not breaking the bank in areas that were not as meaningful to me. For example, I built one of my mountain bikes to be light but bombproof and tough. I could have saved weight in several areas but chose a modest weight sacrifice for a major improvement in durability (fork is 3.49lb, not 2.99, but gained 20mm in travel and 4mm in stanchion diameter). PM me if you have any ideas; like many cyclists i am never short of opinions and I am around bikes pretty much every day. BTW, I was in San Fran earlier this month and was thinking about what I would do to build an urban assault bike for that location, such a fun challenge!


All times are GMT -8. The time now is 08:29 AM.

Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2025, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
Search Engine Optimization by vBSEO 3.6.0 PL2
© 2002-2012 Tilted Forum Project


1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330 331 332 333 334 335 336 337 338 339 340 341 342 343 344 345 346 347 348 349 350 351 352 353 354 355 356 357 358 359 360