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So sat at home today working/dog sitting poorly pooch and thinking about the frame and box of bits I've yet to put together to make a bike.....
So how quickly do you reckon you can build a bike from a frame and a box of bits?
A couple of days,I hate rushing any build (and I am easy distracted) ,SQUIRREL
Quite quickly but as I do it for pleasure I take my time, enjoy the process and make sure I'm not going to think 'I wish that cable outer had been a bit shorter' or anything when I'm done.
Quick, right up to the point when I find I don't have enough gear outer/brake hose/chainring bolts/threadlock/carbon paste...etc. It's all the small things that scupper it.
So allowing for multiple trips to the lbs to pick up the things I would have forgotten, suspension set up in the garden, multiple cups of tea etc, then a good 1/2 day or so.
As long as it takes.....does it matter?
As long as you have all the correct sized parts and they're all clean and degreased then not long I'd say!
Depends. If it's a pile of bits that you know all go together with no fuss, a couple of hours (plus the same again to build the wheels from scratch). But sometimes you find bits are incompatible or have other issues: sometimes mudguards can take ages to get spot on, or occasionally a drivetrain can have a chainline or clearance issue that causes a real headache.
My most recent full build was my 9yo son's bike, which involved me getting him to do everything as his first introduction to spannering (except finishing off the headset press and a couple of bolts he didn't have the strength for, and setting up the front mech) and, ignoring time spent on things like having to pop out for some different chainring bolts, it took four hours from start to finish.
So there you go, I'd say it takes about two hours for an adult and four hours for a child 😉
Anyway, get cracking and keep us updated!
Assuming you DO have all the bits...the cables, ferrules, end caps, long enough hose or housing, headset spacers....and everything taken off other bikes is already clean, degreased and ready to go...and there's no demonic internal routing to overcome....and you have a stand and the proper tools - an easy half a day.
7min 18secs
but I'm a professional
I enjoy building the bike, so with taking my time and ensuring everything is how I want it between half and a full day.
This inculdes internal cable routing, tubless setup, cutting the steerer, etc.
Depends how much you take apart before building it up. Stripping forks, shocks and pivots down adds time to the job.
Never timed myself. But there's [i]always[/i] something that delays it. 1 small part that doesn't fit or you haven't got... or you can't find the right tool for... so the answer is - as long as it takes.
Take away all the faff like discovering you need a spacer or ran out of rotor bolts, and it's a few hours of work.
Couple of hours if we are talking just hanging new bits on a frame, and not building wheels etc, taking into account making a brew or fetching a beer. I wouldn't generally be looking to do a final trim on steerer length etc till a few weeks in when position was sorted. Could add a bit of time for internal cable routing, especially if this is for hydro brakes as I would probably give them a proper bleed at the same time. I've built a lot of bikes, so I'm pretty effecient and don't really like to faff about, plus my spares box is beyond infinity...
I should note this is for hardtails and road bike's, I've not had a full sus for about 15 year's.
geex7min 18sec
Ah, so that's [url= https://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/oval-chainring-for-higher-gearing-without-affecting-ground-clearance/ ]Rocketman's[/url] white bike with ground clearance issues!
Couple of hours with new parts. With used parts, much longer. My last build is nearly finished, I think I started in April with a new frame and forks on closeout. Been riding it for a few weeks without a front derailler. Took several months between ordering some tyres for it and fitting them to the wheels, then a month or so of procrastinating about which box of spare parts to start looking in for all the other bits.
I took a bucket of (cleaned and ready) parts, two hales of a stripped FS frame and associated linkages and bolts and turned it onto a ridable bike in about 90 mins.
Then rode it and worked out was was loose, misaligned and broken later with zero fatalities.
Ah, so that’s Rocketman’s white bike with ground clearance issues!
😐
So how quickly do you reckon you can build a bike from a frame and a box of bits?
If the bits were once a complete bike then an afternoon no problem. If it's all new bits in boxes and stuff has to be cut/trimmed etc then many days
as others have said 3 hours if there are no hitches. In my current case, 3 weeks and counting due to unforeseen things requiring tools I don't have and general faffing / perfectionism.
bought a heckler frame from 18 bikes once and get them to fit the hs and bb abd provide a seat post. took my 456 and swapped the bits over in the carpark. only needed a new gear cable.was riding it in less than an hour.
1.5hr to stirp a frame for re-spray, including cleaning everything.
about 2hro build, including new cables. BUT doing this, i know everything is there and all fits together, as it was a week or two before. Nothing getting a service included in this time.
Make a start. When You've finished, let us know! ;0)
From a box of new bits, the correct tools and nothing missing? An hour maybe?
It's once it's all together, and the brake needs bleeding, or adjusting STI positions before taping up the bars that then takes time. Or trying to bodge it with the wrong tools (getting a SFN in with a bolt and hammer, cutting cables with pliers then spending 10 minutes trying to prise the ends open).
about 45 mins to strip a frame properly. 2-4 hours to build one depending on the level of internal routing, BB installation etc. I've done it a few times and it's very satisfying.
1.5-2 hours when I did it for a living.
Just the basics, less than an hour .... assuming any internal routing is done and wheels are built, steerer cut, headset fitted and such. Add of course everything is laid out, the right fit and cleaned.
Any one of those additions might be another hour.. day... week.... then I usually want to ride it before final cable and hose lengths...
Last build was externally routed except the dropper and had the headset fitted. .. and built first without dropper done over lunch. The hoses still need shortening, since fitted the dropper, cables might need a tweak and replaced the with cranks from another bike and fitted a chain device... swapped cassette (10 to 11) and swapped the shifters for 11 sp... probably too another hour to switch the for travel... which I had to wait for the airshaft... but rode it all the same.
It's still not finished .... so 1 hour to 1 year ???
About 5 days if it’s a yeti sb6 with horrible cable routing round the infinity linkage.
normally a couple of hours.
When I was mechanic-ing, we used to reckon on 20-30 mins for building a boxed bike (ie supplied by Trek / Specialized etc to the shop) to get it "showroom ready" and then each bike got a further full check over before it was let out the shop.
Framne and a pile of bits though. Wow. Anything up to about 3 days for the inevitable bits where the fully assembled brakes need spliiting and threading through awkward internal routing and reconnecting and bleeding and the widget isn't compatible with the thingy and the clearance on the wotsit isn't right and needs taking off and respacing 3 times and the tool that you thought was right for the BB actually isn't and the Di2 needs programming.
I hate new bikes.
(Sorry rocketman 😀 )
About 5 years and counting for the frame I bought way back when.
All the standards seem to have changed with the passing of time.
Is this an idea for a new shitty reality programme on telly...? excuse the title, I'm sure some one can improve on
ahem, "The Great British Bike Off"
It wasn't - but now you come to mention it.......
Maybe call it 'Star fangled nuts in their eyes'... or 'Cranks for the memories'....
I reckon with all new parts and not faffing with shortening/bleeding brakes I could do it in a couple of hours.
Matt Jones 'built' (although doesn't do a couple of things) his Dirt Jump bike in just over an hour:
Used to be 90mins to 2 hours. Then internal routing happened, so I get the lbs to do them, as £80-100 to keep my sanity is pretty good value.
I started to build my hardtail up at the end of May.
I hope to have it ready for winter.
Dirt Jump bike in just over an hour:
This week, the non-technical challenge is to build a singlespeed 😉
It took me a day to build my transition scout earlier this year, started around 8am and finished around 9pm.
All parts were in boxes and that included my first time fiddling with an internal dropper post which was a real pain, bleeding brakes and setting up tyres tubeless.
Building? About a month of random spare time (evenings and odd days at weekends). That assumes the pile of parts includes a pile of uncut steel tubes.....
Assembling? A few hours once the frame is finished.
Yeah so I'm smelting my own iron these days? It's the only way I can be totally sure of the provenance of my tubing.
Soo... have you finished yet? 🙂
Just like Fasthaggis, it takes as long as I want it to. I'm building myself a trials bike right now, it's already taken 4 weeks
Looking back at the last couple of weeks I realise I pretty much assembled the bike I'm building to check it all went together then took it to bits then assembled it again, which isn't terribly efficient but prolongs the enjoyment.
Ps. Hope your dog is feeling better.
I’m building myself a trials bike right now, it’s already taken 4 weeks
1 Hour for almist everything and 3 weeks 6 days and 23hours for the fork setup?
Edit : After all that the picture wouldn't even show up?!
johnw1984
Soo… have you finished yet?
Not started yet lol
I put a pile of used parts onto a new hard tail frame a month ago. It took about 3 hours to get it pedalling down the lane. However, getting it to the point I would take it comfortably on a trail would add about 2 more hours. Used gears and chain from another used set threw me last time. Drive trains slipping is my biggest fear when out on the trail, something about it just fills me with terror so I make sure it's perfect before hitting the jumps.
Going tubeless would add time to this.
I deem building a bike up in my garage as one of life's pleasures.........
My Smuggler took about 4 hours including shortening and bleeding the brakes and Reverb post.
About 45 minutes of that was trying to figure out which Reverb post I had and how I needed to shorten it, and what the little red connector was for.
Only when I did it did I realise how stupidly easy it was: cut the hose, thread it back on and push some oil in from the seat post end.
Part of the build was an XT goupset from CRC. When they start using boxed stuff and OE stuff in bubble wrap?
Well started with a frame and a box of parts today.
Took me about 2.5 hours to get this far today:
[img] 
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That included cutting steerer, setting up tubeless and trying to find a couple of mislaid items and having a copious amounts of tea.
Done a frame-swap in about an hour and half if that counts? No compatibility issues (oh, those were the days), wheels already built, brake hoses the right length by sheer chance, well the front one would be with the same forks/bars, but got lucky with the rear, so no bleeding required.
The actual construction doesn't take long, but you can't hurry the brewing of tea, and biscuits don't eat themselves....
Hunting for the correct parts, waiting for some "sales" takes time. I try to buy most of the parts in winter time. February has crazy deals...
Putting an hardtail together: couple hours
Assembled my first full suspension bike last spring. Took 2 days. It's an 150/150 all mountain bike with 2,6 inch rubber. All new parts, new frame, new fork - total budget 1.5 k
Challenge for me: to get started. The piles of boxes with the parts are scaring. Have the custom wheels and the frame normally sitting a couple of weeks (or more) in the living room before I make the decision to move on to the basement...
Depends on the bike, but generally a couple of hours. As said before though, it’s the unexpected bodges that take the time, like realising you’ve got the wrong disc mounts or whatever.
Putting it together doesn't take long, it's all the little bits to finish it off that take the longest time I find.
Shortening brake hoses and cables and getting them tidy, setting up the brakes, bleeding the brakes, setting up the gears, and so on.
Took another 1.5 hours to get to the finished article including indexing gears, bleeding the brakes and setting the forks.
[img] 
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So 4 hours - which is about the same as it took to build my lads HT.