mymorningjacket

I work at a bicycle warehouse and Ive been interesting in building a bicycle from scratch. It sounds like a fun project to do, to teach me more about bicycles.

At my work I found an older Norco Indie frame in the metal waste that had nothing wrong with it besides a small crack in the dropout. I dont know how substantial the crack is yet. I was told its miniscule. So im thinking of using this as my frame.


-How easy is this sort of project for a beginner/adept bicyclist?
-What sort of parts will need to buy?
-What should I keep in mind when buying parts as to not buy the wrong ones.
-What things should I be careful not to do?
-What will be the most difficult part?

I am a bit worried about are buying/installing the bottom bracket and the headset.

Any good articles or websites that you find helpful would be greatly appeciated to.
Thanks

Edo

I want to do the same and have the same question so will follow your journey!

josh23

I am in the process of turning an old geared bike (actually 2) into a fixie. Its fairly easy. If you can use a spanner you can do 99% of it. I have had a few setbacks, either due to the difficulties of working with an old bike (siezed and rusted parts mostly) and of not having all the correct tools, but its been fun, rewarding, and not too hard in retrospect.

The biggest mistake I made was not planning, and penny pinching. Although, that was the plan. Origionally I turned the bike into a singlespeed, so I ended up getting a SS freewheel I won't need. I also broke 2 weeks (old ones) and replaced them with equally old ones I got for £10 second hand. In retrospect, it would have made more sense to buy new wheels. So, either plan the build meticulously from the start and save money, or, experiment with different setups and parts, and be aware it will cost a little more in the long run.

First thing to do is find a good frame with horizontal dropouts. I am not an expert, but I would suggest there is a reason that the cracked frame is in the trash?

elmore leonard

i would buy a Critical Cycles from Amazon, as they have great frames allbeit about 30lbs, a tad heavy but still well within the ballpark for a great ride, and then upgrade any parts you think you would like too. Great bikes for the money. i rode one for 3 years and sold it for what I bought it new for because I wanted a smaller frame. Good upgrades for these bikes are tires, pedals and seat and possibly handlebars if you prefer different ones and do a lot of riding..

zeeman

I'm with Edo, I've also started a fixie project and I am intrigued in reading good tips to inspire me

zeeman

I think it is great that you want to build your own bike, I am doing the same. There isn't much better than the feeling you get when you know you built something from scratch. Thankfully these days we have platforms like YouTube where there is a great information on how to build and how not to build just about anything. I would say, most of the time it is your preference when the trouble comes in, especially if you're indecisive like me hehe

EchoBravo

I'm also doing a build. Taking a 1977 Takara hi-ten 10-speed frame (in my size--64cm--that was very inexpensive) and fork and doing a vintage looking SS (with brakes). Sourcing used/take-off parts through LBS...and a few new parts on EBay/Amazon...

SeanBikes

Careful with Amazon... They have everything you need at a low price, but you tend to get what you pay for in quality. May be a good idea to build THIS one as cheaply as possible and call it a "practice run" (especially since the frame sounds like junk). Then you can sell it for peanuts (try to just recover your costs) and build yourself something good, once you know the ins and outs.

Good luck!

Colnago Mixte

1, Get your flip flop wheels, cogs, and fixie chain.
2, Remove derailleurs and shifters
3. Fit the chain to the right length
4. Start riding

It's not that difficult, though figuring out gearing can be tricky, that's completely dependent on what kind of shape you're in. I think around 42 x 16 is a decent place to start.