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What are the pros and cons about building a bike from scratch vs. buying it new?

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4 Answers 4

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The pros of buying pre-built are the cons of building your own.

Each approach is born of very different requirements. That is, the person who is actually likely to build their own is very unlikely to buy off the shelf and vice versa. (I assume that 'build from scratch' also covers getting the LBS to do it for you to your specification).

I would caution everybody thinking of building their own that you will get much better 'value for money' if you buy pre-built. A $1000 pre-built will get you much higher quality parts than a $1000 build your own. This disparity seems to reduce the sillier the price becomes at the high end.

You will need access to some specialized and expensive tools (thanks Gary!) and the skills to go with them.

There is, as always, an intermediate stage where you source everything yourself but have the LBS do the trickier jobs like headset pressing, bottom bracket cups and steerer tube cutting/star nut pressing. Just remember that your LBS is a business and needs to make money - so buy the parts from them if you want them to fit them!

Buying New

Pros

  • Integrated package
  • Lowest cost
  • Guaranteed that all the parts will fit and work together
  • Just go pick it up from the bike shop and you can ride
  • Don't need to know as much about bikes
  • Possibility to test ride (usefulness varies, often takes a while to get to know a new bike)

Cons

  • No choice of components
  • The color frame you want is either too cheap or too expensive!
  • Often component compromises are made to reach a price point
  • You don't get to choose what factors to optimize for

Build Your Own

Pros

  • Get exactly what components you want
  • You can choose what to optimize for
  • You can get your frame color
  • You choose what compromises you make within your budget
  • Every part is chosen for a reason and you get to spend hours researching it
  • The incredibly deep satisfaction you feel building a bike from scratch
  • Knowing that nobody else is riding a bike like yours
  • You may need some very specialized (read expensive) tools and you end up with the ability to use them.

Cons

  • You spent hours researching every part
  • Building wheels from scratch is not for the faint hearted, but it is rewarding
  • It's the most expensive way I can think of to get a bicycle
  • You may be more prone to 'overprotective parent syndrome'
  • You may need some very specialized (read expensive) tools and the knowledge to use them
  • You must be comfortable filing and sanding and abusing your frame (think headsets and bottom brackets)
  • You will make mistakes with part compatibility
  • It takes a lot longer to get riding
  • Only feel how the bike rides after spending a lot of time end money, although you can often find people with similar bikes to test ride (see above)
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    You do not have to pay twice if you want an aftermarket part Oct 8, 2010 at 17:46
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    If you ever want to work in or start a bike shop, building your own bike is the best possible training....
    – Ville M
    Oct 11, 2010 at 21:16
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    @Joe, True, but if you only want 1 or 2 aftermarket parts, you're probably better off buying a complete bike. Geez, I love those cranks would be a silly reason to build from scratch. (Disclaimer: I'm a hardcore build your own nutcase!)
    – Byron Ross
    Oct 12, 2010 at 8:32
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    I can't agree with the pre-built always being cheaper. Oftentimes it is (if you were to buy all brand new parts piecemeal from the same shop), but it wasn't in my case because I was able to get lightly used wheels and frame at a significant discount. I chose to build my own for the fun/learning, but ended up saving about $1000 over what it would have cost to buy the same thing pre-built new. Oct 13, 2010 at 12:46
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    @Brian Sure, but you must have been up in the rarefied atmosphere where you could save $1000! I would suggest at most price points DIY is more expensive than OTS. Once you get to the silly expensive end, there's not enough manufacturer volume to really make it cheaper. Also, let's restrict my observations to the all new bike.
    – Byron Ross
    Oct 13, 2010 at 23:41
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The list by Bryon is great, but I have one more addition - In addition to buying parts, you need to buy or have access to a number of specialized tools and the knowledge to use them.

If you are like me and find the dis-assembly, cleaning and re-assembly of your bicycle a zen-like and cathartic experience, this is a "pro", otherwise it may belong in the "con" column.

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    Good idea - shamelessly stolen :)
    – Byron Ross
    Oct 8, 2010 at 7:29
  • Fortunately, that number is relatively small. I've only got a handful of cycle specific tools and half of them are convenience rather than required tools. Oct 15, 2010 at 15:04
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Building from scratch is cool because you really get to build a bike that suits your needs perfectly.

Buying a built bike is cool because the price of the whole thing is usually lower than the sum of its parts. Also, you're sure that you won't mess anything up while assembling the bike.

So if budget isn't an issue and you know what you're doing go ahead and build, but the popular idea is often to buy built and modify some parts as you go.

EDIT: I might add that if you build your bike you get to "know" it really well and it will ease the maintenance since you'll already know how each part works. But you can get the same knowledge by dismantling your pre-built bike for an end-of-season/beginning-of-season maintenance.

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Building your own anything (bike, shed, computer) is more about the "yeah, why not?" than the "why should I?"

Most people wouldn't begin to think about it for a whole raft of reasons - ability, cost, quality. But if you're the kind of person to even think the question, most of the cons just evaporate after a little thought, preparation and practice.

Why shouldn't I do that? - no good reason at all, apart from the facts that I know that I probably couldn't actually do it, it would be quite pricey and I'm not sure I'd want to ride the result in traffic ...

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  • The thought of having to ride the result in traffic was very much on con side of building my own, and the thought that had me handing my credit card over to LBS! it was the only way to be sure.
    – Michael B
    Nov 1, 2015 at 1:47

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