Originally Posted by
WhyFi
I'm a fan of the Johnny Cash, one piece at a time, method. Seems to be easier to find deals on parts rather than complete and it spreads out the financial blow.
....then again, when a deal comes along on a complete bike, it's a grand thing, if you're agreeable to all of the parts.
Yeah, a little bit at a time spreads the pain out, but overall the price tends to be higher on a piecemeal build. Kind of annoying when the end value is less than the sum of the parts, but I suppose that's (literally) the price you pay for getting exactly what you want.
Most any modern complete would be pretty agreeable to me. I'm a bit picky about aesthetics but so long as the shifters have under-tape routing and the crank isn't hideous most modern bikes are pretty sweet. My two requirements for frame aesthetics are that the downtube is the same cross-section the entire length and if it's a metal frame the welds need to either be very small or filled and blended à-la Cannondale.