Build a road bike from frame?
11-13-20, 07:44 PM
#1
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Build a road bike from frame?
How long would it take a decent mechanic to build a road bike from the frame? Assuming rim brakes and all the parts in front you with a bare frame?
Groupset
bars, saddle, wheels (ready)
headset
Bottom Bracket
cables and housing as part of groupset
I don’t think missing anything and to me not difficult but time consuming.
Groupset
bars, saddle, wheels (ready)
headset
Bottom Bracket
cables and housing as part of groupset
I don’t think missing anything and to me not difficult but time consuming.
11-13-20, 07:52 PM
#2
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I'm no great mechanic but could do it in about 2 hours if I have all the correct parts. I never have all the correct parts. 
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11-13-20, 07:56 PM
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I could have it all together looking like a bike in probably 1/2 an hour, but it's the fine adjusting of everything that's time consuming. Getting rid of clicks and creaks, adjusting cable pull, trying parts out and then abandoning them for something different, finding out that won't work and going back to the original part, etc. That's where I spend all my time. That and dropping tools and cursing like a sailor. 
11-13-20, 08:04 PM
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...if you are keeping track of time when you are doing this, you are doing it wrong.
...if you are keeping track of time when you are doing this, you are doing it wrong.
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11-13-20, 08:16 PM
#6
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Takes me a few hours because my workspace is so disorganized and I'm slow. I do a lot of coffee sipping and staring at my various boxes of rocks trying to decide which artifacts to cobble onto a frame.
The last bike frame I put together from scratch (2011 Diamondback Podium) took longer because it was my first monocoque carbon fiber frame. I disassembled the integrated headset because I'd never seen one before and wanted to be sure I understood how it worked. And with the fat seat tube and it took awhile to find my least-ancient front derailleur that would fit properly. I think I tried three FDs, including a mid-2000s 105 FD (disappointingly crude) before settling on a nice 1990s Shimano FD-6401, 600 Tricolor/Ultegra that works pretty well.
A good mechanic with an organized shop probably could have done it in an hour, maybe 90 minutes.
The last bike frame I put together from scratch (2011 Diamondback Podium) took longer because it was my first monocoque carbon fiber frame. I disassembled the integrated headset because I'd never seen one before and wanted to be sure I understood how it worked. And with the fat seat tube and it took awhile to find my least-ancient front derailleur that would fit properly. I think I tried three FDs, including a mid-2000s 105 FD (disappointingly crude) before settling on a nice 1990s Shimano FD-6401, 600 Tricolor/Ultegra that works pretty well.
A good mechanic with an organized shop probably could have done it in an hour, maybe 90 minutes.
11-13-20, 08:17 PM
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Working uninterrupted with the proper tools, probably an hour or two, depending on beer breaks. The parts assembly itself isn't all that time-consuming, but chasing and facing, wrapping bars, and cabling can add time.
11-13-20, 08:38 PM
#8
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It takes at least 2 hours to build up a bare frame. Internal routing and hydro discs add more time to the build. Have yet to see one done, even in the days of friction shifting, under 1.5 hours. Hanging parts on the frame is easy, the tuning takes much more time. Routing lines through a frame is time consuming, installing rotors, calipers, cutting and connecting hydro lines is time consuming. These types of details add to the overall time it takes to build up a bare frame.
When we sold high end steel frames back in the 80's part of the build was face and chase the frame which added an hour of time. Fortunately today that is rarely needed. Have a campy tool kit that has only been used by me a few times in the last 15 years because frames require very little face and chase operations anymore.
When we sold high end steel frames back in the 80's part of the build was face and chase the frame which added an hour of time. Fortunately today that is rarely needed. Have a campy tool kit that has only been used by me a few times in the last 15 years because frames require very little face and chase operations anymore.
11-13-20, 10:14 PM
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It takes me all day, including meal and bathroom breaks. Since I'm working on my own bike and not charging by the hour, I am painstaking with every component and every adjustment. Then too the most bikes I've ever built up in one year is two so each one is a new learning experience.
11-13-20, 10:24 PM
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A leisurely afternoon.
11-13-20, 10:40 PM
#11
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I'll let you know.
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11-13-20, 10:41 PM
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How long would it take a decent mechanic to build a road bike from the frame? Assuming rim brakes and all the parts in front you with a bare frame?
Groupset
bars, saddle, wheels (ready)
headset
Bottom Bracket
cables and housing as part of groupset
I don’t think missing anything and to me not difficult but time consuming.
Groupset
bars, saddle, wheels (ready)
headset
Bottom Bracket
cables and housing as part of groupset
I don’t think missing anything and to me not difficult but time consuming.
Realistically, 2 to 4 hours.
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11-13-20, 11:19 PM
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It took me a couple hours working slowly. What happened was my fork broke, and while walking home with the bike, I realized that I had a spare frame in the house, set aside from another project. So I transferred all of the parts from one frame to the other.
But there's not much to adjust on a Sturmey Archer, and both frames were Schwinn from a similar time period, so there were no unknowns regarding compatibility etc. Getting the fenders, chainguard, and rack to fit nicely is always annoying.
But there's not much to adjust on a Sturmey Archer, and both frames were Schwinn from a similar time period, so there were no unknowns regarding compatibility etc. Getting the fenders, chainguard, and rack to fit nicely is always annoying.
11-13-20, 11:22 PM
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Depends on the bike
Half an hour on each wheel build, probably only another half an hour into the rest of the build, maybe 45 min.
There's four and a half in this one with wheel building included, hydraulic brakes add a lot more time when they have to have hoses cut to length and be properly filled and bled. But Rock Lobster chased and faced everything.
Typically everything cable and a decent groupset, one and a half to two hours.
Half an hour on each wheel build, probably only another half an hour into the rest of the build, maybe 45 min.
There's four and a half in this one with wheel building included, hydraulic brakes add a lot more time when they have to have hoses cut to length and be properly filled and bled. But Rock Lobster chased and faced everything.
Typically everything cable and a decent groupset, one and a half to two hours.
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11-14-20, 01:33 AM
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Are you going to build the wheels?
are you going to include the time spent finding, ordering, and waiting for that one fastener?
are you going to include the time spent finding, ordering, and waiting for that one fastener?
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11-14-20, 07:15 AM
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There is only one bike in this world that is a must have, and I already have it...or so I thought. This is one hellava beautiful machine!
11-14-20, 07:31 AM
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11-14-20, 09:35 AM
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I’m pretty good mechanically, but slow and methodical, and very detail oriented. It’s one of the parts of this hobby that I really enjoy, especially when the snow is flying. So I would say 3 or 4 days, and about half a bottle of decent bourbon. Most of my bikes are built up from frames I’ve found, the other 2 have been stripped to the bare frame and rebuilt.
Tim
Tim
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11-14-20, 10:37 AM
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My own bike takes a long time on the rare occassions that I do assemble bikes. It takes two weekend afternoons, including checking that everything is running as it should, a couple of test rides, adjustments, and so on. But I enjoy the process (when it's my own) and try to take my time to get it just right. But I can do it much quicker if need be. Luckily a bike is a simple machine.
11-14-20, 10:41 AM
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Well, there’s your problem! You’re working on two bikes!
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Plan Epsilon Around Lake Michigan in the era of Covid
Old School…When It Wasn’t Ancient bikepacking
Gold Fever Three days of dirt in Colorado
Pokin' around the Poconos A cold ride around Lake Erie
Dinosaurs in Colorado A mountain bike guide to the Purgatory Canyon dinosaur trackway
Solo Without Pie. The search for pie in the Midwest.
Picking the Scablands. Washington and Oregon, 2005. Pie and spiders on the Columbia River!
11-14-20, 10:55 AM
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11-14-20, 11:10 AM
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I wonder about the OP motivation for asking. Did he question LBS pricing for the job? It makes a difference if you do it to make money from it or do it for yourself. In latter case, it depends if one is a pragmatic when it comes to bikes and and working on them, or loves bikes and working on them and so takes all the time to do the job as best he can, and even prolonging it to prolong the enjoyment of it (I fall into this category) ... I mean, without revealing the motivation behind such post, he can't get the answers he may be after.
Last edited by vane171; 11-14-20 at 11:13 AM.
11-14-20, 12:11 PM
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I wondered the motivation for asking too. Just putting all the parts together is very inconsequential to everything else. Even if all the parts came as one package.
