Benefits to building a new bike?
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"Leftover frame" often means the same frame in a color offered the previous year. Look at places like The Pro's Closet, Excel, Competitive, etc and you'll find $1000 Cervelos and Ridleys, $2000 Lightweights, etc, etc. Even direct from manufacturers like Trek, you'll see last year's colorway at half off.
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"Leftover frame" often means the same frame in a color offered the previous year. Look at places like The Pro's Closet, Excel, Competitive, etc and you'll find $1000 Cervelos and Ridleys, $2000 Lightweights, etc, etc. Even direct from manufacturers like Trek, you'll see last year's colorway at half off.
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So price it out to your heart's content and justify it, or don't, however you see fit - this is a rather personal exercise, so whatever floats your boat. Many here are taking the stance that building from the frame up is almost always a losing proposition; others, like myself, are simply saying that it doesn't necessarily have to be.
#29
in bagnomaria
Building up a new frame with new components will often be more expensive than buying a similarly-spec'd new bike.
The total cost in dollars is not the primary consideration for me.
The foremost driver is that I get the frame I want, with the exact components I want, built precisely the way I want to build it.
Maybe it's hard for some people to wrap their minds around this concept(?)
The total cost in dollars is not the primary consideration for me.
The foremost driver is that I get the frame I want, with the exact components I want, built precisely the way I want to build it.
Maybe it's hard for some people to wrap their minds around this concept(?)
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So price it out to your heart's content and justify it, or don't, however you see fit - this is a rather personal exercise, so whatever floats your boat. Many here are taking the stance that building from the frame up is almost always a losing proposition; others, like myself, are simply saying that it doesn't necessarily have to be.
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#32
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I don't care what bike he bought. But, the OP asked if it made sense to buy a complete bike or build one, and the comparison used to compare pricing involves two very different bikes. (new Emonda SL7 vs. year old Colnago, Ulegra Di2 vs. mechanical Campy, disc brake vs. rim, carbon wheels vs. aluminum). You don't think the validity of the comparison is important?
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I’m looking towards a new bike in a couple of years and I’m wondering if it’s better to buy a complete bike or build. For those that have done both, what did you prefer, cheaper one way of the other?
What I’m finding is that the more I ride the more I specific I become with what I like, prefer. For instance I like the Tarmac pro disc, but would prefer di2 instead of SRAM components and I would most likely change the wheel set once I purchase the bike. So I would have to buy/sell to get the components I want. Has anyone else had this issue, or an I just too nitpicky?
What I’m finding is that the more I ride the more I specific I become with what I like, prefer. For instance I like the Tarmac pro disc, but would prefer di2 instead of SRAM components and I would most likely change the wheel set once I purchase the bike. So I would have to buy/sell to get the components I want. Has anyone else had this issue, or an I just too nitpicky?
Since then I've made updates as parts wore out, I needed different fit in middle age, power meters became affordable, and I realized I had patience to ride all day which required lights. I still use the original headset and fork.
If I buy a second bike for my weekend place in the Colorado foothills I'll do the same, probably using parts from my shed plus a set of wheels I build because I don't like what's currently available.
Last edited by Drew Eckhardt; 02-06-20 at 01:17 PM.
#34
in bagnomaria
I don't care what bike he bought. But, the OP asked if it made sense to buy a complete bike or build one, and the comparison used to compare pricing involves two very different bikes. (new Emonda SL7 vs. year old Colnago, Ulegra Di2 vs. mechanical Campy, disc brake vs. rim, carbon wheels vs. aluminum). You don't think the validity of the comparison is important?
#35
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The comparison shows that a bike with an equal quality frame and better parts can be assembled for substantially less than many new bikes. Only $1000 of the $2000 lower cost was due to the low priced frame. I could build the same Trek Emonda SL, as good or better parts and not spend more. The SRAM AXS bike could not be built as cheaply, because the AXS groupsets are currently way over priced. I can buy two chorus 12 groupsets for less than one Force AXS group. Only the large OEM companies are getting a good deal from SRAM.
Last edited by DaveSSS; 02-13-20 at 03:12 PM.
#36
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When I built that first frame back up, the complete bike weighed about 2 pounds less than the original 105 bike and of course it was the latest 12 speed chorus that just came out.
#37
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Compare a well-priced Ultegra disc group price with the $1060 I paid for my Campy Chorus group. Here's an example, for the ultegra disc group at $860.
https://www.merlincycles.com/en-us/s...et-110281.html
If a rim brake bike was built, the group might be $160 less.
https://www.merlincycles.com/en-us/s...et-102895.html
Disc brake wheelsets, of the same model may cost as little as $100-150 more.
The bottom line is an ultegra disc bike can be built for no more than I spent on my Chorus 12 rim brake bike.
Unfortunately, many companies are now only selling prebuilt bikes with discs, so you pay more and they make more profit.
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The Campy chorus12 group is a higher level and more costly than ultegra.
The wheels are an extremely well respected model that weigh less than the wheels on the comparison bikes.
The comparison shows that a bike with an equal quality frame and better parts can be assembled for substantially less than many new bikes. Only $1000 of the $2000 lower cost was due to the low priced frame. I could build the same Trek Emonda SL, as good or better parts and not spend more.
#39
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I did make a mistake in my price comparison. I should have used the Emonda SL6 in my comparison, that only costs $4,000 instead of $5,000 for the SL7, that has Ultegra Di2. I meant to compare bikes with mechanical shifting.
If you add all of the costs for an SL6, it would probably cost at least $300 more, to build one yourself, if the exact same components are used. Trek includes what seems to me to be a very over-priced wheelset for an Ultegra level bike. They show a list price of $1300 for Aeolus pro 3 wheelset, included with the prebuilt bike. To me, that's way out of line for a bike with a $1700 dollar frame and groupset that's under $1000. There are plenty of light carbon wheelsets for less than that.
One strange part of their stock build is the 100mm reach bars and stubby stems, instead of using 80mm reach bars with stems that are 20mm longer.
If you add all of the costs for an SL6, it would probably cost at least $300 more, to build one yourself, if the exact same components are used. Trek includes what seems to me to be a very over-priced wheelset for an Ultegra level bike. They show a list price of $1300 for Aeolus pro 3 wheelset, included with the prebuilt bike. To me, that's way out of line for a bike with a $1700 dollar frame and groupset that's under $1000. There are plenty of light carbon wheelsets for less than that.
One strange part of their stock build is the 100mm reach bars and stubby stems, instead of using 80mm reach bars with stems that are 20mm longer.
Last edited by DaveSSS; 02-06-20 at 02:46 PM.
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I did make a mistake in my price comparison. I should have used the Emonda SL6 in my comparison, that only costs $4,000 instead of $5,000 for the SL7, that has Ultegra Di2. I meant to compare bikes with mechanical shifting.
If you add all of the costs for an SL6, it would probably cost at least $300 more, to build one yourself, if the exact same components are used. Trek includes what seems to me to be a very over-priced wheelset for an Ultegra level bike. They show a list price of $1300 for Aeolus pro 3 wheelset, included with the prebuilt bike. To me, that's way out of line for a bike with a $1700 dollar frame and groupset that's under $1000. There are plenty of light carbon wheelsets for less than that.
One strange part of their stock build is the 100mm reach bars and stubby stems, instead of using 80mm reach bars with stems that are 20mm longer.
If you add all of the costs for an SL6, it would probably cost at least $300 more, to build one yourself, if the exact same components are used. Trek includes what seems to me to be a very over-priced wheelset for an Ultegra level bike. They show a list price of $1300 for Aeolus pro 3 wheelset, included with the prebuilt bike. To me, that's way out of line for a bike with a $1700 dollar frame and groupset that's under $1000. There are plenty of light carbon wheelsets for less than that.
One strange part of their stock build is the 100mm reach bars and stubby stems, instead of using 80mm reach bars with stems that are 20mm longer.
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#43
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The drawback of Trek's approach is that longer-reach bars leave the tops with less knee clearance (i.e. when riding out of the saddle) and the ramps are more likely to interfere with the wrists when riding in the hooks. Beyond those considerations, it's just a matter of where you prefer the tops to be.
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I'm throwing the equivalent of the red challenge flag here. If you are comparing left over depreciated, discounted stuff to current inventory, the comparison is logically absurd, no matter how it makes him feel, what makes sense to him, how many participation trophies we give him, or how many gold stars we paste on his forehand.
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I'm throwing the equivalent of the red challenge flag here. If you are comparing left over depreciated, discounted stuff to current inventory, the comparison is logically absurd, no matter how it makes him feel, what makes sense to him, how many participation trophies we give him, or how many gold stars we paste on his forehand.
#50
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I'm throwing the equivalent of the red challenge flag here. If you are comparing left over depreciated, discounted stuff to current inventory, the comparison is logically absurd, no matter how it makes him feel, what makes sense to him, how many participation trophies we give him, or how many gold stars we paste on his forehand.
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