Cost of a build

[MartinYorkshire]

Hey guys and girls,

Like many of you, I spent my youth lusting after particular bikes and wondering if one day I'd be able to afford one.

I started riding back in 1992 after learning on a Budgie (If anyone remembers those).

Sadly, in around 1994, my beautiful Alpinestars al mega dx with all its tarty bits and XT groupset was sold off to make way for a computer. Whilst computers eventually made my career I still regret that decision!

My wife has now shown an interest in going cycling, so Im now left with a choice. Whether to go and buy a new off the shelf model for a grand and have done with it, or relive my youth.

I've no idea where to start with a build. Of course I remember certain things, but what kind of costs are we looking at if I wanted to say, build a Merlin titanium with XTR groupset, NOS parts. Might still be above my price range!

I'd settle I think, for a nice XT bike from say Kona or perhaps Rocky Mountain, Klein, or brand that used to make my pulse race.

Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[cchris2lou]

top end models are very similar in price to BITD .

some are more expensive .

the bragains are more in mid range bikes .

 

[bduc61]

relive your youth

roughly computed, I have computed that if I build a bike with top end parts like XTR but not NOS ( you want to use it or put it on the wall ),
the cost is about 1/3 to 1/4 of the bike new in its days
ie 500 to 600 euros for a bike of about 2000 euros 10 years ago ( for a steel frame - titaniumwould be quite costlier)

but that s only my experience and I am patient not to overpay the parts
or I rebuild the wheels myself

I would recommend buying a second hand bike ( such as here) with quite a few tasty parts already and change the last bits or improve what you want to.

buying new you will have much less fun, pay the margin of the shop and have present parts which are not very good looking :roll:

 

[MartinYorkshire]

Its all very confusing. Looking at a new Kona Kula as my initial beer belly busting steed.

I've got a bag of old parts downstairs including things from USE, Girvin and god knows what else.

The bag of parts inspired me to create something that was more than the....some of its parts.

If I could, I'd absolutely love to recreate my Al Mega DX. Not sure on year as its so long ago, I think 93, it was Fluro. My many trips to bike shows at Excel gave it some lovely gear. I can barely remember.

How do you guys go about finding NOS stuff? Surely its rarer than a cows egg?

 

[xerxes]

I've always found that buying a whole bike works out much cheaper, especially if you don't mind buying a brand new older model. Take my last bike which I bought brand new as a last years model, and as far as I know the only difference to the newer model was the paint job.

Original cost was £1500, I got it for £890, over £600 off. The bare frame would have cost £850, so I effectively got everything other than the frame for £40 and the forks alone were worth around £300.

In any case, this is where I bought it: http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/, they specialise in older models and you can find quite a few, with very little spec change to the current model, for a lot less money.

 

[mikee]

if you've got a pile of bits ,it sounds like project time to me
see what turns up frame wise ,the sale forum on here's a good place to start ,have a read back thru the posts to see if theres anything you fancy
some of them may not have sold ,so that might give you a start

you've always got your raliegh ,that'll shift the flab till you get summat
built

my 2p's worth

mike

 

[brocklanders023]

You should be able to get a decent Alpinestars for a couple of hundred quid. Follow GT-Steve about and just pick up what he drops!

From my experience you should be able to fix up a decent old bike (Clockwork, Alpinestars, Pine Mountain, etc) with DX or XT kit for between £150 and £250. There's also bargains to be had if you're lucky and it's not uncommon for members to buy lovely bikes for less then £50! When you start playing with Titanium, Kleins, XTR etc you can spend some serious cash so it all depends on what you've got to spend.

 

[MartinYorkshire]

This is a lot of info to process.

Seriously, an Alpinestars for a couple of hundred? This cant be the cost for a rebuilt bike surely. I'd be ashamed to offer someone so little for the amount of time and effort it must take to complete a build.

I have some bits, but nothing really useful. I think I have an XT rear mech but its shot to pieces and I doubt it can be rescued.

Perhaps if I did take on a build I'd look at XT spec rather than XTR. IIRC the difference to me as a rider was miniscule as I was never very good. It was mainly just for looks. Having said that, it would be a travesty to put anything less than XTR on some frames, your Merlins, Klein, Fat Chance's etc.

I hope Im not coming across as lazy asking all this stuff. I have blank areas in my memory about which parts to use for what. In all honesty I dont think I'd know where to start with a build, not until Im back into it a bit. I also lack all the tools I used to have as they have got lost over the years.

I wonder if anyone out there is selling a completed Ti-Mega with XT kit. Now that would make my year if I could snag that for a decent price! Always wanted one!!

I appreciate the replies. I think without doubt, this is the friendliest and most helpful forum I've ever participated in. I'll try to help out where I can, I might have a useful memory or two left, especially relating to Alpinestars stuff

PS. I've seen Pauls Cycles, some amazing bargains to be had for sure, especially on 2 year old NOS. Thats part of the reason why Im umming and arring over a build.

 

[wadsy]

I stumbled upon Retrobike last year when looking to build a cheap 'retro' run-a-round. Well things have moved on a bit since those 'sensible' plans - see my sig

I think it depends if you just want to go out and ride or if you think you'll get enjoyment from sourcing parts and building a bike.

By the sounds of it you have a hankering for your old 'steed' and as others have said I think you'll get a lot of enjoyment and more owner satisfaction from going down this route.

You may want to keep an eye on the for sale forum (and ebay too) and see what parts go for (ebay can be rather variable though) to give you an idea.

There are often very nice bikes that come up for sale on here and the whole bike route is (as said above) more often than not more cost effective. Even if you want to change parts, you should be able to re-sell on here.

Something to think about though when looking at the older bikes is (if you want it) are they capable of running 'decent' suspension forks as opposed to a rigid. If you do want front suspension then I think that mid 90's on would be about right. Other more knowledgeable peeps can/may advise.

Why not have a look in the 'Readers MTB's' forums and see if any catch your eye You can search for specific bikes if you want as well, that's what I did and tracked down one of my frames that wasn't advertised

Hope that helps a bit - loads of info and knowledge on here - have a good browse and good luck

cheers

 

[Owen]

I recently asked myself a similar question.. I was looking for a bike to get about on, some commuting, some off road, but nothing really extreme. I looked at some modern full builds, but I'm a bit of a bike snob so quickly I started looking at more and more expensive options. It was then I thought why not build another 'retro' project. I did my first one a few years back and really enjoyed reliving the old days during the build, but I was forced to sell that bike (something I really regret). So recently I picked up an Orange Clockwork frame from 93. I could have gone for something a little more exclusive but the Clockwork is a classic design and I remember being very envious of a mates one when I was a youth. I spent about a month sourcing all the parts to build her up, I had intended a very plain/utilitarian sort of build, but I got carried away and it ended up with full XT and dripping with old trick bits! :roll: The great thing is even though I got carried away it still only cost me around £350-£400! And she rides bloody lovely!

I would definitely recommend going down the retro build route. Just purely for the fun involved!