azforme

I've been researching and riding both new and used bikes for the past couple months. I have yet to find the exact bike I want and I'm curious if it may make sense to find the frame I like and have my LBS built it with the components I want but to do so and still be cost effective. Is it possible?

vwchad

I can't imagine this would be cheap. Being your first road bike I would say that you should get a complete bike to start with. Put some miles on it and decide what you like and don't like, then build the bike you really want once you know what that is. How can you really know what you want if you don't ride now? Also, build it yourself. Why pay someone to do it?

StephenH

My opinion- if you don't know what you're doing, you'd be better off letting someone else spec the components, and just picking major features you need, and it'll normally be way cheaper, too.

You can search around on the internet and ask your buddies and find out that Component A is better than Component B, but is it $10 better or a $100 better? Or wheel A is lighter but weaker than wheel B. Is that worth more or less, if more, how much more?

Commodus

nope

Carbon Unit

If your objective is to save money, buy a new bike. If you know what you want, then buy parts and built it but it could end up costing your more. I bought my Calfee as a used bike and bought used and new parts off of Ebay and built it and I saved money doing this. I just bought a Calfee Bamboo frame off of Ebay for half price of what a new one would cost. I can get the componets from European websites because they are cheaper and the bike should cost me about the price of a new frame. However, I could walk into a Specialized reseller and pick up last years model with some discount on it for several hundred less than I will spend on my wife's Bamboo Calfee, but I wouldn't have what I want.

I started out with a used Calfee that turned out not to fit me right. I replaced the frame with a used Calfee frame that fit, then I replaced the handlebars, crank, saddle, wheels and bottle cages. What is left from the original bike is the brakes, shifters, cassette and seatpost. Next year I replace the group. Then all I will have left is the seatpost from the original bike. I probably spent more money that I need to because I didn't know what I wanted. Now I know what I want and will not make the same mistakes again.

caloso

If you've never owned a road bike, how do you know what you want? I would buy as nicely spec'ed bike as I could reasonably afford, then decide what I like and what I don't like. A lot of it is personal comfort and fit, especially at the contact points (bars, saddle, pedals). If your butt hurts after 50 miles, you're really not going to care whether your derailleur is DA or 105.

Cyclist00976

I'm assuming that the reason you ask this question is due to a limited budget - if that's the case then the answer is "no, don't look at custom".

I can't think of a single case where a rider who is starting out should not buy a complete bike. I recommend a good aluminum bike with Shimano 105 components to all of my friends who are getting started, some of them move up to a carbon fiber frame and others move down to Shimano Tiagra to save some money. After a few years they are able to tell me what they want in their next bike without having dropped a lot of money to get started. There's also a vibrant resale market for entry-level complete bikes.

Carbon Unit

You could also buy a bike and if you don't like things on it, over time you could replace them and sell the old parts on Ebay. Most new bikes do not come with great wheels or saddles. So, replace the wheels and saddle and sell them. However, Shimano 105 and Ultegra are great groups so no need to replace them.

merlinextraligh

That is virtually impossible for that to be a cost effective answer. It's usually cheaper to buy a complete bike because Trek, Specialized, etc. get much better deals on components than you do paying retail at a bike shop.

If you're a real bargain hunter carefully searching for deals, and/or buy some used parts, or recycle some parts you already own, it's possible to build up a bike cheaper than buying a complete bike.

But paying retail prices at an LBS, and paying for the labor is going to be very pricey. Sort of like trying to buy a new car a piece at a time through your Car Dealer's service department.

valygrl

Depends on what you mean by "cost effective." If you mean "as cheap as possible" no, but if you mean "as cheap as possible to get exactly what you want" then maybe.

If you know what you want but can't find it, sure. It will probably cost more than buying off the shelf, but it will be exactly what you want.

That's what I did for all the bikes I'm actually happy with.

If you find something that is almost but not quite what you want (like, you want to swap a stem or crank or something) then you have to do the math on your own. The answer for me has been if I only want to swap one or two parts, buy a whole bike, if I want to swap more than that, build it from the frame up.

If you aren't sure what you want, then no, buy a whole bike.

And no, you don't have to build it yourself, what with learning curve, tool purchases and breaking stuff, it can be cheaper and more reliable to have someone build it.

dtrain

Easily the best value is to find a slightly used bike (complete) that is close to what you want. That will take a little patience and you'll have a better sense of 'what you want' around bike two or three - but you get the idea.

pallen

Definitely not cost-effective. It depends on how sure you are about exactly what you want and how willing you are to pay more for it.

StanSeven

Another thing is if you buy from a good LBS that knows fitting, you get the right bike to begin with. Many will do things like switch saddles so you are fitted and comfortable. If you buy used, you probably end up buying a different stem, bars, cranks, etc. and that's assuming you know enough to get the right sizes.

JakiChan

This is an interesting question. I've seen multiple experts saying "You really should buy a triple as your first road bike", but the frame that I'm looking at doesn't come as a whole bike with a triple in any configuration. So option 1 is to buy the bike I want in it's compact double configuration and then pay the money to convert and (and possible sell off the excess parts), or option 2 is to buy the frame and build it us as a triple from the start. It looks like building it is much more expensive than converting, which seems odd to me. But I guess I can't buy all the parts as cheaply as the big company can.

nastystang

Personally I would take the compact double over the triple. I always felt like I needed to shift chasing the right gear. Now with a compact double riding is more enjoyable.

valygrl

Compact double with 11-28 cassette is really close to a triple. I wouldn't worry about that too much.

JakiChan

I'm just using it as an example of "build vs buy". I lean towards the CD but I figured I should investigate the cost of getting the bike I want as a triple.

Carbon Unit

I have a triple and my next bike will have a compact on it and not a triple. If I lived in the Rockie Mountains, I would get a triple but around here, a compact would be better.