You don't need to be an 'investor' to invest in Singletrack: 6 days left: 95% of target - Find out more
How much do you save if you buy something like an Orange 5 as a complete bike, rather than buying the frame and parts? Is this saving broadly the same for all brands, or does the saving you make when buying the bike complete tend to vary?
completely vary,
for me it would be cheaper to buy the frame as i have loads of parts.
But most of the time if its identical spec the bike will save you a couple of hundred quid.
Depends if you can fid a bike with the exact spec you want to build, right drivetrain, right gear config, bars, brakes, frame, etc etc.
For me, it's impossible to seemingly find a 29er FS with Fox forks, Shimano brakes, running 1x10 apart from stupid money.... so anything i'd buy whole needs changing/selling/buying to build into what i actually want.
i hav't built a bike for about 4 years, and parts prices have shot up since, but based on my experience of going through a few bikes to get to my ideal quiver there is no way i would buy complete.
however, tomake it work you need to be patient, hunt, be lucky and be flexible.
Interestingly, when I've bought full bikes new from a shop, I've only ever replaced stuff that's worn/broken. Buy all the bits separately, or a S/H full bike and I'm forever chopping and changing, usually upgrading.
Often buy base-model bikes with decent frames in the sales, then sell the unwanted bits.
Frame only prices are steep. Orange full biek prices are even steeper.
Thanks for the info guys. anlegov
If you're doing it purely for price reasons, then i'd say that you're generally going to struggle, unless you get very lucky with internet bargains (and you are prepared to wait for the deals to come up)
If, on the other hand, you're doing it in order to get a spec that's not available off the shelf, then it's worth doing, even if it costs you a bit more - after all is the complete bike a bargain, if it doesn't have the spec that you want.
I did exactly this, two years ago, to get my 29er. Didn't like the finishing kit on the top of the range bike, and couldn't get the frame separately, so bought the bottom of the range bike (same frame), and replaced all of the bits that I didn't like.
By the time I'd sold on some of the parts, and bought new parts, I actually came out about £100 ahead but, as I said, I wouldn't have minded too much if it had worked out the other way, as I got [u]Exactly [/u] the spec that I wanted.
I suppose, though, that it varies from one supplier to another.
Depends on the brand I think. Complete Giant bikes, for example, always look like a good deal to me as the extra price over the price of the frame seems to be a lot less than the cost of the components. Of course you could just argue that Giant framesets are overpriced.
With Orange, on the other hand, it always seems the opposite to me.
For example, a Trance X29er frameset is £1200 and the 1 spec bike, which has pretty decent kit is £2K. An Orange Gyro frameset on the other hand is £1,500 but a full build (pro spec) is £3K. So that's £1,500 for the components on an Orange compared with £800 for the Giant (which includes a dropper post in its spec).
I did this last year, thinking I could beat the RRP by building it myself. It was an expensive build (+- 3.7k)
The only reason I may have come out even is because of online retailer discounts and sales. If I had to factor in the cost of the tools required, I'd be well out of pocket. (LBS did the crown race and headset fitting)
Did get the spec I wanted though, and that nice feeling of having built it up myself.
FWIW, calling round suppliers and going for 'bundles' like fork and frame, or wheelset and fork etc does pay off. Most LBS & suppliers can afford to knock of a couple of hundred quid if its new (latest) or top end stuff.
I think it basically depends on how fussy you are and how quickly you want it.
If you must have Fox forks over RS, or Avid brakes over Shimano, you really care about things like bars and grips, and you're prepared to spend a lot of time online finding/waiting for parts then it might be worth it.
If you just want a bike in the right sort of spec range then I don't think you'll ever do better than just buying one off the shelf.
The other thing of course is that you might just want to build it up yourself, which is a good enough reason to do it as any!
For what its worth, I built my first bike up last year...
Its a Cotic BFE (steel hard tail)...to give you an idea the frame was only £300 new but the the build still cost me just over £2k...
Absolutely love it though...That being said, I'm already looking to strip it and build up a FS...Maybe a Nukeproof Mega!
I have built 2 bikes in the past 2 years and bought 1 from a shop. The ones I built are how I want them, didn't get exactly what I wanted on the shop bought one and spent a lot of times making it nicer, pedals, better wider bars, better stem, better tyres, better seat clamp, bigger disc at the back, then decided I wanted something burlier so it got sold on to build myself another bike... I reckon if you have the tools and the know how, build it, it might cost you a few extra quid but its better (for me) in the long run.
If you're doing it purely for price reasons, then i'd say that you're generally going to struggle, unless you get very lucky with internet bargains (and you are prepared to wait for the deals to come up)
It's not a struggle. I can do it pretty much at the drop of a hat, and have done several times. I'll generally save £500, £1000, and more recently about £1300
But there's a few 'buts'!
You need some skills, and you need some tools. I've been collecting both for 15-20 years. I can fit anything, I can build wheels, that sort of thing.
You need to be prepared to pounce on a bargain, so you need to be constantly looking for them, and when you've got one, squirrel it away for a rainy day!
You need to accept that some of it will be used. You can't really buy new stuff and expect to compete with Giant or Specialized etc on price
You need to be versatile, and prepared to change your plans slightly or go in another direction if need be.
You need friends. Friends that know what you need. You need to do favours for these friends, becasue one day, as sure as eggs is eggs, those favours will pay off. People don't forget when you service their bike for free, or fit some forks, or give them a chainring....... 🙂