Need some help with a bike build

[Bub Marley]

So I recently purchased me a 26" Mtb frame to build me a bike up from scratch. Unfortunately, now that I'm trying to get some components, I'm getting all confused due to the volume of differents parts available and what actually will fit. I'm starting to think I might have done the wrong thing.

 

Anyways, if anyone can assist me, it would be greatly appreciated.

 

I'm looking at fitting sram components and I'm stuck on the following:

 

Front Derailleur:

It's asking me for high clamp, low clamp, low direct etc? What does any of this mean? Do I need a specific one for my bike or can I choose any of them?

 

Rear Derailleur:

It's asking me for either, medium cage, short cage, long cage. Again, I'm completely clueless.

 

Brakes:

It's asking me for either 800mm/1400mm/750mm hose etc. Also rotor size. Again, no idea what to pick.

 

Crankset:

The set I want says you need the frame to be BB30 compatible. How do I know if it is?

 

Wheels:

It's asking me either a 6bolt or centrelock option. Again, what is better here?

It's also asking me for either 15mm front & 135mm X QR Rear or 155m front & 135/142?

Again, completely clueless here.

 

Thanks guys

 

 

[shaper]

What frame did you buy?  Then we will be able to answer with regard to the front derailleur and crankset

 

You going to have a 9 or 10 speed bike? as will affect the thought process on the rear derailleur if you decide to go 1 x 10 later on, it will either be medium or long.

 

Same with the wheels, need to know the frame make, then will be able to tell you if you need QR or TA wheels

 

So lets first start with the name of the frame you have bought?

[Captain Fastbastard Mayhem]

Hey Bub, 

 

What frame did you get? It would help with the investigations. If you have a BB30 bottom bracket shell, then the crank you want would fit. However - if you don't, then don't buy it. 

 

Likewise - long / short cage depends on the frame and selected gearing. 

 

Brakes - normally go for the 800mm for the front and 1400mm for the rear. Centrelock / 6 bolt depends on your choice of hubs, but 6 bolt is the most common standard. Centrelock is used by Shimano, but if you buy centrelock rotors you can get a set of 6 bolt adapters to fit them to a normal hub.

 

15mm front is the fork standard (15mm through axle) and is the most common at this point in time. 

 

135/12mm & 142/12mm & 150mm & 135/9mm QR are the rear dropout standards. You need to get the one that is compatible with your frame. 

 

Front - again - we need to know what your frame is so we can help. 

[Bub Marley]

I bought a 26" Sintesi Rockster Hardtail. Aluminium frame.

 

Im looking at 2X10 speed gearing.

 

Components: I'm looking at Sram components. So obviously everything has to be compatible with this.

 

Thanks

[BenGraham]

Okay dude. Having done this I have the following to report.

 

Front Derailleur:

Simple - you don't actually need one. This depends somewhat on the terrain you ride but I ditched mine and went 1X10 and couldn't be happier. Part of building a bike is getting exactly what you want and none of what you don't I decided I wanted to skip the front derailiuer since its a finicky silly thing anyway. If you ride 1X10 with a 34 tooth chainring and an 11-36 cassette you've got the same ratios as a 3X7 mountain bike which was my reference point. You might not be able to maintain the exact cadence you want but then you just have to harden up.

 

If you insist on a front derailiuer the best is to google your specific frame and read what works well.

 

Rear derailieur:

If you go 1X10 or 2X10 then medium otherwise long. The only reason to go short is if you're riding a downhill bike in which case you probably wouldn't have asked.

 

Brakes:

Rotor size is dictated by your fork often. Common setups, XC 160 front 140 back, trail 180 front 160 back. Important point here is that excessive braking on the rear is largely pointless unless you're on a full sus. On a hardtail your rear end unweights when braking hard so no matter how far back you are your front wheel is doing most of the work. Brake hoses are standard lengths for front and back there's not much in it. You'll have to shorten them most likely.

 

On the subject of wheels. This is a rabbit hole on its own. Centre lock vs 6 bolt. No one they can be interchanged as needed. More important is you need a front hub compatable with your fork ie. 15mm thru on works on a 15mm fork etc. A lot of the better hubs are interchangeable but you'll need to make sure.

 

Cranks:

Again there's not a great deal in it. Its a weight game. I put slx cranks on with a raceface ring and an aerozine bottom bracket and its runs beautifully. The standard old school bottom brackets were 73mm and were threaded. Bottom brackets since them have gotten all complicated it seems but I stuck with tried and tested on my bike. Get the frame specs online and they'll tell you what bottom bracket you need.

 

Part of building a bike is the learning process. It sounds like you've only just begun. I spent a year building my bike. Don't rush it. And one final thing, be cautious not everyone online knows what they're talking about. A little bit of knowledge can be a dangerous thing. You might make some mistakes on your build try not to make expensive ones. I had to resell a fork because I suddenly realised I wanted more travel. Fortunately I had a friend who was keen but it could have been an expensive mistake.

 

This is what I built in the end. It has wider bars and a shorter stem now and it totally rocks! Edit: Lame can't drag and drop pics. Oh well.

[Bub Marley]

Okay dude. Having done this I have the following to report.

 

Front Derailleur:

Simple - you don't actually need one. This depends somewhat on the terrain you ride but I ditched mine and went 1X10 and couldn't be happier. Part of building a bike is getting exactly what you want and none of what you don't I decided I wanted to skip the front derailiuer since its a finicky silly thing anyway. If you ride 1X10 with a 34 tooth chainring and an 11-36 cassette you've got the same ratios as a 3X7 mountain bike which was my reference point. You might not be able to maintain the exact cadence you want but then you just have to harden up.

 

If you insist on a front derailiuer the best is to google your specific frame and read what works well.

 

Rear derailieur:

If you go 1X10 or 2X10 then medium otherwise long. The only reason to go short is if you're riding a downhill bike in which case you probably wouldn't have asked.

 

Brakes:

Rotor size is dictated by your fork often. Common setups, XC 160 front 140 back, trail 180 front 160 back. Important point here is that excessive braking on the rear is largely pointless unless you're on a full sus. On a hardtail your rear end unweights when braking hard so no matter how far back you are your front wheel is doing most of the work. Brake hoses are standard lengths for front and back there's not much in it. You'll have to shorten them most likely.

 

On the subject of wheels. This is a rabbit hole on its own. Centre lock vs 6 bolt. No one they can be interchanged as needed. More important is you need a front hub compatable with your fork ie. 15mm thru on works on a 15mm fork etc. A lot of the better hubs are interchangeable but you'll need to make sure.

 

Cranks:

Again there's not a great deal in it. Its a weight game. I put slx cranks on with a raceface ring and an aerozine bottom bracket and its runs beautifully. The standard old school bottom brackets were 73mm and were threaded. Bottom brackets since them have gotten all complicated it seems but I stuck with tried and tested on my bike. Get the frame specs online and they'll tell you what bottom bracket you need.

 

Part of building a bike is the learning process. It sounds like you've only just begun. I spent a year building my bike. Don't rush it. And one final thing, be cautious not everyone online knows what they're talking about. A little bit of knowledge can be a dangerous thing. You might make some mistakes on your build try not to make expensive ones. I had to resell a fork because I suddenly realised I wanted more travel. Fortunately I had a friend who was keen but it could have been an expensive mistake.

 

This is what I built in the end. It has wider bars and a shorter stem now and it totally rocks! Edit: Lame can't drag and drop pics. Oh well.

Ben, thanks so much for this response.

 

I've actually bought a Rockshox Reba RL 26 Solo Air fork already. Forgot to mention that.

 

I've done a lot of research on the 1X10 setup and personally, I don't think I'm tough enough for that just yet. I'm an avid road cyclist but have never done mountain biking before, hence really confused by all of this. In hindsight, I should probably have bought a pre-built bike, but then you always end up replacing this part and that part. I figured if I built it from scratch, I can basically fit what I want to it.

[s14phoenix]

Wow...

 

You really jumped in the deepend here...

 

Lets start with the basics first...

what axle type is the REBA? 15mm thru axle or QR??? you need to know this to know what hubs you need on the front wheel.

 

As for the rear - depends on your frame and what way the wheel attaches to the frame.

 

I suppose you bought this???

 

 

 

In which case it looks like a QR rear...

 

so if you have all that then you got a roller... start there first...

 

Perhaps you need to post some close-up pics of the bb area of the frame. Is there threads on the inside??

[Cois]

I've done a lot of research on the 1X10 setup and personally, I don't think I'm tough enough for that just yet.

I thought that same thing with my SS bike.  You grow and you adapt. My ass is itching to build my own SS Fatbike or a 1x10 Fatbike would be great as well.

 

Good luck, and remember, you are only as weak as you think you are.

[Cois]

REBA should be a QR 9mm

 

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/za/en/rockshox-reba-rl-solo-air-forks-9mmqr-2014/rp-prod109672

 

Have a look here as well.  Maybe it will help:

http://www.chainreactionhub.com/bicycle-components/1449-derailleurs-buying-guide

[Bub Marley]

I bought the suspension from CWC:

 

http://www.cwcycles.co.za/product/rockshox-reba-rl-26-solo-air-2014

 

That is the same one I have.

[BenGraham]

This really is a case of jumping in the deep end but building a bike isn't a totally rational decision to begin with. No one builds a bike to save money. We build bikes because its cool. Its like building a very expensive go cart. You may have built a go cart when you were young, maybe you only rode it once but the important thing was you build it with your hands from stuff you had in the garage or bought at the hardware store. Its in us to build things, its a part of what makes us men and I for one will never apologise for that.

[shaper]

This the frame you buy or something similar? https://www.bikehub.co.za/classifieds/101668-sintesi-rockster-26-ht-frame-brand-new/

 

If so, 

 

Wheels will be QR as it looks like the frame is and from the pic your Reba fork is too

 

Rotors, does not matter whether is centre lock or 6 bolt, it will be dependent on the hubs of the wheels and 160mm rotors will be fine,

 

If the frame is similar to the pic is looks like a standard BSA bottom bracket, you can confirm if you look where the crank goes if it has a thread, then can fit a standard shimano hollowtech crank and BB

 

Front Derailleur you should be able to fit a low clamp, Rear go with a medium cage

 

Brakes, front hose will be 800mm, back hose will 1400mm, you can always get your LBS to trim the hoses if they seem too long

 

As for building the bike yourself, google and YouTube are your friend, you can also look at the parktool website which has a service and repair section http://www.parktool.com/blog/repair-help/categories/crank-service It will give you a good idea of how things come apart and go together

 

Finally buy yourself at least a basic tool kit, you can always add tools later.  Something like this http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/za/en/x-tools-bike-tool-kit-18-piece/rp-prod40997

[BenGraham]

Finally buy yourself at least a basic tool kit, you can always add tools later.  Something like this http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/za/en/x-tools-bike-tool-kit-18-piece/rp-prod40997

 

Yes buy a toolkit. There are tools in there you don't yet know you will need. Also its a good idea to buy a torque wrench. I did so purely to quell my fear at my own ineptitude. The first time I rode my bike I spent the whole ride waiting for something to go horribly wrong. Fortunately nothing did.

[Bub Marley]

This really is a case of jumping in the deep end but building a bike isn't a totally rational decision to begin with. No one builds a bike to save money. We build bikes because its cool. Its like building a very expensive go cart. You may have built a go cart when you were young, maybe you only rode it once but the important thing was you build it with your hands from stuff you had in the garage or bought at the hardware store. Its in us to build things, its a part of what makes us men and I for one will never apologise for that.

The reason I went this way besides getting the parts I actually want, was the fact that I couldn't fork out 20-30k for a bike. I don't have that cash at the moment. I also looked at the finance route, but something about financing a bike, didn't sit right with me. So I thought, because I'm not in a rush for it, let me take my time, and buy different parts whenever a good deal comes up.

 

This the frame you buy or something similar? https://www.bikehub.co.za/classifieds/101668-sintesi-rockster-26-ht-frame-brand-new/

 

If so, 

 

Wheels will be QR as it looks like the frame is and from the pic your Reba fork is too

 

Rotors, does not matter whether is centre lock or 6 bolt, it will be dependent on the hubs of the wheels and 160mm rotors will be fine,

 

If the frame is similar to the pic is looks like a standard BSA bottom bracket, you can confirm if you look where the crank goes if it has a thread, then can fit a standard shimano hollowtech crank and BB

 

Front Derailleur you should be able to fit a low clamp, Rear go with a medium cage

 

Brakes, front hose will be 800mm, back hose will 1400mm, you can always get your LBS to trim the hoses if they seem too long

 

As for building the bike yourself, google and YouTube are your friend, you can also look at the parktool website which has a service and repair section http://www.parktool.com/blog/repair-help/categories/crank-service It will give you a good idea of how things come apart and go together

 

Finally buy yourself at least a basic tool kit, you can always add tools later.  Something like this http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/za/en/x-tools-bike-tool-kit-18-piece/rp-prod40997

Cheers for this.

 

This helps a lot. The frame was bought from the guy in the link in your post. I'll maybe drop him a PM, asking about the BB thread as he should know.

 

I think I've got a better idea as to the rest of the parts now and what to go for.

 

Anybody have experience with SRAM's gripshift gear shifters http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/za/en/sram-x0-10sp-grip-shift-shifter-set/rp-prod84858 ? CRC have a set for about R 1800.00. Is it worth the price or should I just stick with normal trigger shifters for about 600 bucks less?

[s14phoenix]

go try before you buy

 

honestly it sounds to me like you are rushing into a lot of decisions.

 

even if you just look at the bikes in a shop and what they have fitted etc.

 

oh and get the toolset as said before... you will thank yourself for it later.

[beachless]

Take a few photos of the frame and the important bits and post it.

 

Then make a wishlist and have the guys on here tell you whether it will fit or not then watch them argue about whats better than the choice you have made.

These days you can find a video on youtube for anything so its hardly a problem putting a bike together.

 

Building a bike is fun and like you said you can do it over time and the research and reading up on all the parts is half the fun. Just be prepared that you will make a few mistakes but thats how it goes. Good luck.