Bike building

A bike stand to hold the
A bike stand to hold the frame off the floor as you bolt on the shiny bits.

If you do the usual maintenance on a bike, building it from scratch itsn’t that much more, especially as headsets just drop in and BB are a bit more straight-forward.

I built my bike about a year ago and the hardest part was cutting the steerer tube, due to fear. An old headset taped in place as a cutting guide helped. Don’t cut the steerer as short as needed immediately but instead run some spacer above the stem so you can change the height. After a few rides, when it’s all dialed in you can cut off the excess. Oh, and sizing the chain length can be harder as you don’s simply match the old one.

An once you’ve built it, no one else will have one exactly the same, and you can mend any part of it.

£3K is a healthy budget to have.

MKultra wrote:Cooper slip is

MKultra wrote:

Cooper slip is not really needed or a good idea,

Good to know, the idea of it never really felt right to me.

MKultra wrote:

if you feel like splashing out on an posh anti seize then a small tub of teflon impregnated will do

White lithium grease is my pet hate as it bonds ally seat posts to steel frames if left in place

Ah – that’s interesting, tah.

MKultra wrote:

For cage bolts, stem bolts and the like vasiline has always been cheap/works, plain old brown moly grease for seat posts and BB’s.

You can walk into the LBS and drop the best part of £50 on enough “special” lube for a year when most of it’s available commercially through trade suppliers for much less, most of it’s not even really required for a bike and is massive overkill

I normally buy that sort of general stuff from trade counters or marine shops anyway, can’t normally stomach the price hike for anything bike related.

MKultra wrote:

The one thing you will want to but that no one thinks of is a spray tin of silicone spray for the inside of shifters and a small squeezy tube of the thicker silicone lubricant. Shifters consist mostly of plastic on plastic moving parts and silicone works best.

Cheers – thanks for the pointers.

bashthebox wrote:For assembly

bashthebox wrote:

For assembly – anti seize, grease, lube, carbon grip paste.

Speaking of which – mind if I ask folk here what the general feeling is about dedicated anti-seize (in particular metal additive ones, issues with metal types etc) and if positive, any recommendations for a specific type or make ? Cheers.

Make sure you have all the
Make sure you have all the tools you need, and a workstand. Both make it a fairly easy job. Have your laptop nearby to watch tutorial vids, and make sure you understand the vids before you attempt the task.
Take your time.

Make a list of all the parts you need – and it’s a lot. In fact, I’ll try to help, but doubtless I’ll leave something off…

Frame
Forks
Headset – can be very tricky, esp with tapered forks. There’s about a billion different types.
Groupset – Shimano, Campag, or SRAM? Do you want all matching components or do you want to e.g. use some FSA cranks with a Shimano group? Is your front deraillieur braze on or band on?
Bottom bracket – will come with your groupset if you buy it complete, but is ithe frame GXP or BB30?
Cables – both brake and gears
Wheels! Factory or handbuilt? Carbon or alloy?
Tyres!
Stem, bars, bar tape. Carbon bars or alloy?
Saddle, seatpost.
Speed/cadence monitor and garmin holder.
Extra bling? shiny Jockey wheels, QR skewers, chain

For assembly – anti seize, grease, lube, carbon grip paste.

Now, as for what you buy – the world is your oyster. With your current fleet of bikes, you should already have an idea of what you want, what you don’t, and what you really need. Shiny things.

Just done the same: went
Just done the same: went titanium (frame), campag (gruppo), then mix & match bars, saddle etc, based on what I’ve enjoyed on other bikes.

Fitting BB, headset etc pretty simple (integrated headset & no paint to worry about simplified things), just watched youtube videos & web how-tos. Scariest thing was cutting the fork steerer: measure twice, cut once.

Don’t rush it, dry-fit everything, and keep checking it over (easy to miss tightening a bolt). Torque wrench is a godsend, especially with carbon bars etc. You can always get a LBS to do any bits you’re scared / not sure of.

Overall, it was easier than I thought & I’m a lot more comfortable to do any repairs now. Plus I have everything specced as I wanted it, no compromise.

Zinn’s book on road bikes is
Zinn’s book on road bikes is a decent technical manual. Prepare to buy yourself lots of tools.