You've got the itch. No, not the kind that requires a trip to the doctor – the kind that calls for a visit to your local bike shop, or favorite online store. It's new (or at least new to you) bike time.
Do you start with a bare frame, and assemble it with a selection of carefully chosen parts? Or do you go with a complete bike, saving time and likely a bit of money in the process? There's also the option of getting a new frame and building it up with your current parts, assuming they're in decent condition and there aren't any compatibility issues.
In the past, it was relatively easy to go down any of those paths, but given the current parts shortages and limited stock that are prevalent in the mountain bike world this year there's a good chance some riders may find themselves getting creative in order to obtain their dream machines.
In all my years working in bike shops, sales of complete bikes vastly outnumbered frame-only sales. Yes, there are plenty of shops out there that do a great job with custom bike builds, but a pre-built bike is still the route that most riders take. It's quicker and easier, which means more time to ride and less time spent waiting for that final little widget to arrive in order to finish the build.
I'm curious about what Pinkbike's readers typically do, though, which brings us to this week's poll questions.
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But the secondary market is going to be pretty flooded as the 1/3rd of people realize they don't like riding sell there their bike.
The middle 1/3rd will ride less, but be content.
Big problem is they reply with line a never registered the frame so the warranty is still good.Which isn't true since most companies now require a scan of the receipt which has you name on it.
I've even built bikes recently, knowing that it was a bad economy, just because I like doing it
My last bike was a YT base spec and it cost me £2000. I also looked at a Nukeproof Mega at the time, it was £1800 for the frame.
Maybe you get a lot better deals over in the US of A. Over here you have no chance whatsoever of doing a build for less than a complete. Unless of course you do a build with an alloy frame and deore, and compare the price to a carbon bike with XT and carbon wheels.
I just create a spreadsheet and search for the best prices for each component. In many cases you don't have to pay sales tax for out of state purchases... state sales tax on a complete bike is $250-500 dollars. I also grab brand new parts from PB Buy/Sell for considerably less than retail.
By my spreadsheet... I'm about $1000 under retail on my spur build, and close to $1750 under on my SB165 build.... both about $9000 retail.
Ill have to give it go on my next build... see if I can build a GX level bike for cheaper than retail.
However... you could probably source used (preowned should I say) high end components and frames for cheaper or equivalent to mid level new bike purchase... and have a much better ride and resale value.
According to my calculations it's £1500 and up for a build including a used fork for £500-600. You're looking at about the same cost, but you got an unreal deal on the frame.
I think the only other way to get a cheap frame right now is to buy a YT or similar and sell the components off but you're playing the long game as deals aren't coming up so much on parts now.
This is probably where the smaller brands (predominantly where you can buy direct to consumer) are a bit more agile and able to flex...?
Shimano parts, especially the 12 speed groupsets, are getting scarce. Of the 2 main webshops in France, one doesn’t have any, the other mostly has the 2x version with 10/45 cassette instead of 10/51.
I contacted the website and they replied they didn’t know when they would be in stock again.
Ice tech disks, especially in 203mm, are hard to find (had to resort buying through amazon :/ though they’re now in stock again on the shop I usually buy from)
I got an SLX groupset but first wanted to buy SLX & XT stuff separately and there was just no SLX crankset (best weight to price ratio) available anywhere. Also everything is in 175mm, no 170 or 165mm available and I ideally rather have some 170mm.
I also wanted some Hope wheels and stem, well it’s different because of brexit but I had to get all 3 parts from 3 different stores.
I wanted some Teravail tires, again, not many stores have them (ok these are not the easiest to find anyway).
Many saddles and grips, as soon as you want something a bit different (like a brown chromag saddle) are out of stock.
The Yari fork is out of stock as well (is it discontinued ?), though I got a Lyrik.
There are many references, but when you trim it down to the options you want (for wheels for instance 29, MS spline, boost and right color) there aren’t that many available.
We’ll see in the coming months how it goes, cuz’ I’d expect component brands to deliver more to bike brands with whom there’s probably agreements, then to reseller who order probably less but more often ? I don’t know I suck at business :p Seems that Dabbo is saying the contrary.
of bikes bought (lets say, "nice bikes, around $1000 and over complete, not the 300 quid walmart specials)
33% never get ridden more than a few times?
33% are owned by "dentists" who wouldn't class themselves as Mtb'rs, but just like riding aroiund in the woods and have the money to drop on a nice bike (and good for them, not a critisicm)
and the rest are people who do consider themselves MTB'rs, tinker bikes, ride whenever they can wherever they can, wear bike brand tshirts 100% of the time, have a "fleet", or a "quiver". Have strong opinions as to why every single manufacturer are amazing/shit.
I have 11speed X01 drive-train, hope brakes, bars and stem, seatpost, and seat that is moving to it's third frame. The wheels and headset are moving over from the last frame, and the fork and frame are new. Instead of buying a brand new bike, I only bought fork and frame only.
I get it, no hard feelings toward the shops. But it's kind of a waste of everybody's time; inevitably I'm going to be swapping parts, cutting steer tubes, trimming housing and recabling the whole thing, adjusting the shifting and whatnot, to the point that we'd all be better off if they just skipped the in-shop assembly part or the process.
Note that you can ask them to leave the steerer full length so that it has a larger market for resale.
This is the main reason why the ever changing "standards" have been such a pain in the a...
People think if someone works at a shop, they know what they are doing,
I've seen someone on a warranty replaced frame nearly crash because the shop didn't tight the stem or bar adequately, The closest shop to me employs someone who had no idea what TriFlow was.
On the otherhand, I have friends in another city that revere one mechanic as a god; I don't think he has to ever pay for beer.
If you walked in asking for TriFlow I would have no idea what you are talking about. I use a different chain lube. i know how chain lube works though, so I'm sure it would be fine
I don't have the time to f*ck around with fishing cables and housing, but you bet I'm rebleeding (or at least checking it out) the brakes as soon as they are done. Trust but verify.
Standard OEM trim packages are too steep and include upgrades I don't need or want.
Pick any S-works bike as an example... list out the components and price them. Spech want $9-12k for the bike but sells the frame only for $3-3.5k.
As far as building a frame up from old parts, that really only works if the frames are very similar. My 2017 Range, while clad with carbon rims, XT and Fox Factory components, has 27.5 wheels, 11 speed drivetrain, and 2 piston brakes. There's very few components I could or would bring over to a modern 29er enduro bike. At a minimum, I would need new a new wheelset, tires, and a fork.
Sell bike for $2000 and buy new bike for $8000 costs $6000.
Sell frame fork and wheels for $1500 and buy a new frame fork and wheels for $6000 costs $4500.
The swap over might be cheaper, but I'll still have a outdated and worn out drivetrain, powerless brakes that need a bleed, and a too short dropper that feels like it's full of sand.
I like to buy new because I like warranties and correctly-maintained parts. I worked in the industry for twelve years so my bikes are on point - not so sure about that on the used market, especially buying online. If the history is known and the seller is trusted that can change the calculus.
That being said, I have very strong opinions about the equipment I buy because I intend to ride it for years. I'll pour over spec sheets and nothing pisses me off more than garbage parts where an average consumer won't notice (usually bearings; in pivots, bottom brackets, headsets, hubs, etc.). I remember selling some sweet carbon XXC bikes that I refused to let leave my showroom without replacing the stock pivot bearings.
If I could afford it, I would buy frames and build them up from scratch, but completes ultimately save money if there are minimal swaps required to get what you want. So I'll wait until the spec is right and enough progress has occurred to convince me to upgrade.
In an industry that has no standards, and when components cost as much as they do, I just don't have much interest in building a bike from the frame up. It costs way more than getting a complete bike from a manufacturer that has way more buying power than me. The build may not have everything just as I would want, but it is very unlikely to hold me back. If a particular component really bothers me, I can sell it and put the cash towards an upgraded item.
I don't know there in the US, but here in Europe online shops gave me a very sweet deal on brakes and drivetrain (shimano slx) and a nice one on suspensions duty; i still got carried way too far with wheels (my bad), and it was a nerve wrecking and time consuming experience, but overall i think it turned out as a good(ish) deal.
For some people that have a lot of spare parts or takeoffs lying around, I'm sure it makes sense to go frame only. For me buying everything new, not so much.
I'm done with buying a complete bike and having to swap around parts from my old bike or buy new ones. I have a whole draw of OEM junk (which I call the SRAM graveyard) I've taken off new bikes after a few rides.
Need more brands to provide alloy frame only options. A Privateer is most likely going to be my next frame.
Get the bike I want waaaaay cheaper than building up a bare frame. But it can take a week of 2 to sell unwanted parts and get the stuff I want on there.
"I buy complete bikes, tear them down and throw the parts in a bin never to be seen again and then replace everything because frame only is never available"
I have five brand new NX drivetrains if anyone is interested
As for building a bike, currently I'm in the boat house of not having enough free time in my life to both ride and piecemeal bikes together. That said my last bike was a complete. My next bike, however, I may consider the piecemeal approach but it is notably much easier to select a complete bike on a budget that it is to build a bike on a budget. The fun factor quickly diminishes when what you want collectively exceeds your project budget and everything becomes a compromise to the point that you may as well have purchased a complete bike and saved yourself the headache.
I would also agree with the sentiment of buying a used newer bike rather than buying brand new. Bikes are liabilities not assets and they lose a lot of value in that first year or two of ownership. Better to buy a lightly used depreciated bike than a brand new bike. The only reason my last (current) bike was brand new was because insurance money paid for it and I was required to buy new, otherwise I'd have bought used.
this is already included into bike price, why do the job twice?
2. Swap choice parts from old frame.
3. Build old frame with new parts.
(3.5 gripe about standards)
4. Sell old bike.
5. Ride new bike.
6. Repeat next year.
Sell old carbon bike.
Ride new bike.
Continue to ride no longer new bike.
The only bike recently I did that with was my Kona Honzo ST. I thought it would work out because I already had wheels and cranks... that would work. I did use those parts and even got a reasonable deal on the fork, but everything I had to buy killed me. It was impossible to figure out and acquire the correct headset and when I did it was well over $100 (good quality but).
I am not a bike mechanic by occupation but enjoy working on bikes so the time and effort isnt a factor.
Swapping in parts off your old bike, even if its not very old, means trying to ensure everything is the same "Standard" which will really limit some of your choices.
I bought a Stumpy carbon comp this morning (one of the few left)
just wondering from anotheroldfart whose sort of looking around for something decent/solid not a waste of dough
It’s almost always cheaper to buy a complete bike too, as opposed to a frame and all new parts.
I'm not looking to build or even buy my "dream rig" ,at the moment I'm leaning towards upgrading by buying a complete used rig that has or at least some of the upgraded parts that I'm picky on (brakes, hubs) and then using the extras I have if needed (bars, dropper,maybe wheels)
I don't want and can't afford or even need the latest newest rocket
Last year I bought a brand new 2018 specialized Enduro pro carbon with ohlins suspension. It was half price. Same as the s works except it has X01 instead of xx1. Don't think I'll ever find a deal like that again.
For wheels I have an expensive set of carbon wheels which I put on. I then keep the original wheels lying around and out them on to sell the bike. Keep the bike maximum 2 years within its current production cycle and sell for relatively high given its good condition.
Means that it doesn’t cost too much to keep having nice bikes
Ive always had Orange Bikes over the last 10-15years(3 x fives & 3 x P7's) but fancied trying something different to single pivot so decided on a Nukeproof Reactor, especially at the moment very hard getting a 2nd hand one but think i was quite lucky last month- hardly any coming up on eBay, i was after a 275 Medium in alloy, then Wiggle's outlet store started auctioning off loads(comparatively speaking - maybe about 10) of Reactors & i managed to get one of the last ones at a good price - it was just the base model with SRAM SX which was the real weak point - suspension, brakes & general components weren't too bad....so i swapped the 12 speed SX drivetrain(as its the base groupset it had HG not XD driver) to my used 11speed Shimano XT drivetrain(with a new chain). Totally happy with 11speed- £75 for a new XT cassette whereas SRAM GX is about £150!! - for a mid-range cassette!!!
Also converted to tubeless which saved a fair bit more weight(removed 320gram inner tube from each wheel- added an 8g tubeless valve & about 80g of sealant). Finally i removed the Maxxis Assegai, moved the minion to the front & put a new High roller2 on the back.
So all in I've knocked about 1.2kg off the bike, it now feels like "my" custom build & i had an absolute ball in the process
The exception being specialized, I once played with the thought of getting an enduro but their builds are unacceptable (6k for an nx drive train makes me laugh evertime I see one in the wild) and way overpriced so I calculated what it'd cost to build one up. You can get a better build for cheaper if you find a deal on parts here and there.
And then there are the german direct sellers, where you basically exceed the complete bike price with the frame, seatpost and a fork. The rest is "free".
I’m not against progress but it’s obvious that some standards change to make things easier for bike companies and not because it offers the rider any advantage.
Sure, there are real differences in durability and feel between different spec levels in groupsets/suspension, and I'm not trying to argue a Lyric fits the same purpose as a SID, but 90% of custom building is about tribalism and vanity, no different to buying high heels and handbags.
I like working on my bikes, but buying complete is a no-brainer from the value point of view. I might swap out the saddle if it's uncomfortable, but apart from that I'll only replace or upgrade components when they wear out or break.
This is why I try to buy completes even when I only need a frame, because I can sell takeoff parts and come out significantly cheaper than buying frame-only.
This is also why bicycle/frame manufacturers can't sell frames at even half the rate they sell completes, and this isn't a good thing, even if in the short term it gives us better deals on completes, imagine how things would be if parts were cheaper (due to less being sold OEM at significantly lower margins) and bike shops were selling and building bikes for everyone that needed a new one.
This was a year or so ago, but they wanted €2999 for frame, shock, motor, battery & controller
Mfgs increased msrp frame prices recently...usually just $1k more for complete base build.
Also I'm a wheel wrecker, and have a preference for hope brakes.
I’ll be selling the old one once it comes in.
Upgrade parts on the new bike as needed.
This obviously has not been the case for bottom bracket technology, for instance.
But maybe it's a bit of a double-edged sword. Nonetheless, boy howdy would I be pissed if I had just spent $3K on a sweet wheelset and found out it won't be compatible with my new bike.
I'm seeing bikes around $3K with SX components - this stuff is like Shimano Tourney or Altus with more gears (and a lower likelihood of functioning properly).
They do it so the shops can do quality control but the problem is really with the shops. Many of them have their new techs building but too many of them aren't experienced enough to know diagnose problems that won't reveal themself until way down the road, like over torqued pivots, cinch ring too tight, cone/cup bearings not having enough grease or being too loose/tight.
Everybody says "go to another shop" but I hate hearing that because not everybody lives in an area with 2 dealers within an hour and if you have never been to that other shop then you don't really even know. Granted this year is different because most people do have to travel hours away to find a bike.
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