julianf

Hello everyone

I've been cycling for quite some time but I am rather new to the mechanical aspect of it, and I'm planning on doing my first project of building a road bike starting with a frame. As I live around lots of mountains and also because I'm not lightweight (around 85kg) I'm not sure what brakes I should go with. Surely there are pros/cons to both options, would love some insight from more experienced people though! Besides everything else I feel like getting my hands on a used frameset and wheels that are compatible with disc brakes is a lot harder as there are more options for rim brakes, my budget also isn't that high so I have to watch out for that aswell. Thank you for your answers!

shelbyfv

What does your current bike have? As you said, you'll have more frame choices and an easier, less expensive build with rim brakes.

andrewclaus

I like the mechanical discs on my "new" salvaged bike, but I still like the old one with rim brakes. The only time I really notice the difference when cycling is the few times a year I'm caught out in freezing rain or wet snow--then the discs are indispensable. Hydraulics come into their own while bikepacking, having to hold a heavy bike on a steep incline. But I don't do that.

The rim brakes are less expensive. I ride a lot, also in mountains, and I go through a set of pads every year. Discs cost about twice as much. (If an extra $25/year bothers you as it does me.)

julianf

Well my current bike has disc brakes and I‘ve also never had rim brakes before. The weather changes surely are something I might have to consider aswell, but my budget is set low just for the sake of creating something with a low budget, maintenance costs and stuff don‘t really matter actually.

Germany_chris

Just use good pads and you'll be fine with rim brakes.

julianf

Alright, I‘ll have a look now keeping that in mind, thank you!!

What are your opinions on drilling holes into the frame to get in the cables? I‘ve read different things about it, and if I can‘t find a frameset that is set up so the cables can run through on the inside I thought about that option.

Crankycrank

Not recommended. There are some frames that this can be done to but just drilling holes without knowing the inner structure of the tubing could cause a weak spot and potential breaking point. I have never understood the desire to have internal cables other than appearances as they are usually a royal PITA to replace compared to external cables and some tend to have more rattling and sticky cable issues. But if you are really set on having internal cables get a frame that was designed for them.

Andrew R Stewart 

As a shop mechanic I see very little practical reason to run the cables/hoses internally. A solution seeking a problem. With internal routing one gets more friction (if cables), less easy serviceability, crud and water entry ports into your frame, stress risers that if not done well can become failure points, often poor routing loops for the exposed portions. All this for the cosmetic look.

Now if one's pay (as in a professional bike racer) depends on their finishing position then that's another mater. But were this to be the case the sponsor will be making these decisions for you. Andy

julianf

Doesn‘t sound very smart to do it myself then… Thanks a lot for your advice! I‘m fully aware of how there is very little reason to do it besides the looks as I‘ve talked about this issue with a salesman before, I just really like the looks of it and think of it as a further part I could integrate into my project.

veganbikes

Keep in mind julianf if you don't have much budget building a bike yourself is not a good way to go. Specialized for instance is going to be buying 10,000 105 rear derailleurs, you are buying one. If you have parts then building a bike is awesome or if you have budget you can do it but it does tend to be more expensive. That being said you get what you want if you put the money towards it. I have built most of my bikes from the frame up because I know what I want and nobody makes it like that for various reasons. However just building a bike to build a bike without the budget or knowledge of what I want is tougher and might not get me where I think I am going.

Cable actuated brakes can work fine just get really high quality polished stainless cables and compressionless housing and good stiff brake shoes and pads with a good compound. I like Jagwire for their cable kits and Kool or SwissStop for the pads and shoes. Many bikes are going towards disc brakes these days but a rim brake will work my road bike happens to have eeBrakes and they stop fantastically but they are also quite expensive but make up for it in extreme lightness and good power and modulation and a nice look.

In terms of internal routing, it looks clean but doesn't necessarily provide a benefit beyond that. It is certainly tougher on a lot of older frames but more new frames are coming set up for internal routing properly so there are guides so it is less work but the external stuff will almost always be easier to deal with. It comes down to what you want to do and deal with or have your local shop deal with.

julianf

Thanks for the information! I've tried to roughly estimate how much the things I'd like to build the bike with in total come up to and thought it will be in the range of about 1500-2000 dollars, does that seem unrealistic? I know that there are bikes f.e. by Orbea which pretty much have everything I'm looking for but I'd love to ride around with something unique that I've created if that makes sense? I'm also aware that I don't really have the skillset (atleast yet) to fully be able to do it myself, my girlfriend reminds me of that everytime I talk about my project lol, but I hope I can make it work with all the great videos on youtube out there, some nice people on here maybe helping me out if I'm stuck or my local bike shop

veganbikes

In that sense go for the Orbea. You will get more bike for the lower budget. If you have a bunch of good parts then that budget is great but if you are going to be buying most of your parts you might not get anywhere close to what you want. The reason to build from the frame up is because maybe they don't have have you are looking for.

Plus with the Orbea you do get the chance to hopefully test ride it and the bike will already be built and ready to go.