Building a bike piece by piece!

[Just Keep Pedaling]

Some hassles I encountered.

 

-Tubeless tires too tight for the rim. After four hours of swearing and heating tyres with a hairdryer I finally realised that some tyres are just too tight for some rims. Ask around about rim tyre combo's before you buy a tyre. I can tell you that Swalbe's USTs are super tight tyres.

 

-BB sizes - 73mm or 68mm - frame not matching my previous bb's.

 

-Trying to cut gear cables without real cable cutter. I bought cable cutters from a hardware store for R100 and destroyed them on the first attempt - the cable just laughed.

 

-Brake cable length - My front cable was too short - just slightly. Asked the bike shop to put on a longer one. Cost R500.

 

-Trying to convert a through axle to a quick release on a DT swiss wheel. It took three months of endless frustration and cost more than I paid for the Wheel. Do not try this at home.

Edited April 7, 2011 by Just Keep Pedaling

[kosmonooit]

I disagree with the it will cost more, i build my bike up for much less than what i would have cost to buy the bike complete. and have better parts on it aswell

 

 

Sure you can do it on the cheap, with whatever you can get here and elsewhere. However if you like me (unlikely) once you start shopping around and looking at the options, I tend to go for unique high quality stuff, maxing out the cc in the process, which generally is far from the cheapest

[Mojoman]

Some hassles I encountered.

 

-Tubeless tires too tight for the rim. After four hours of swearing and heating tyres with a hairdryer I finally realised that some tyres are just too tight for some rims. Ask around about rim tyre combo's before you buy a tyre. I can tell you that Swalbe's USTs are super tight tyres.

 

-BB sizes - 73mm or 68mm - frame not matching my previous bb's.

 

-Trying to cut gear cables without real cable cutter. I bought cable cutters from a hardware store for R100 and destroyed them on the first attempt - the cable just laughed.

 

-Brake cable length - My front cable was too short - just slightly. Asked the bike shop to put on a longer one. Cost R500.

 

-Trying to convert a through axle to a quick release on a DT swiss wheel. It took three months of endless frustration and cost more than I paid for the Wheel. Do not try this at home.

R500 for a cable and installation? That is shameful!

[Just Keep Pedaling]

"Sure you can do it on the cheap, with whatever you can get here and elsewhere. However if you like me (unlikely) once you start shopping around and looking at the options, I tend to go for unique high quality stuff, maxing out the cc in the process, which generally is far from the cheapest"

 

+1

 

It is loads more interesting than just buying a bike and riding it. Its a whole seperate hobby. Don't do it if you think you won't enjoy it.

[Just Keep Pedaling]

"R500 for a cable and installation? That is shameful!"

 

They originally quoted R100. Then they phoned me back - oops, its SRAM and not Shimano - we did not realise. I wanted to ride with a front brake on the weekend (race) so I had no time to shop around. To make matters worse - when I go to collect it they can't find it. This is why I hate bike shops.