Expenses of building a road bike?

Question

I'm thinking of buying an Specialized Allez Comp Frame with a carbon fork...thats all it comes with, how much would it cost putting the bike together? is it worth it if i already have a decent bike?

Answer 1

Are the brakes and gear system on your current bike any good? I wouldnt buy a nice fork and frame only to finish it with bellow par equipment. But if your current stuff is good its one way of saving some money.

Answer 2

if you have a bike with a good set of components to transfer, a frame can be a good way of saving money.  however, the moment you start paying full price for parts to hang on the frame it quickly becomes a losing thing.  for example, you can buy and ultegra equipped complete bike for 1100.00.  say you pay 350 for a frame and fork. go and shop wheels, bars, stems, saddle, seat post, crank and drivetrain and see how much it comes to. heck shifters alone are 300+. to build that same bike will run you over 2000.00.  frames are just not a smart option if you dont already have parts to build up the bike.

Answer 3

I've done it both ways, its better just to buy a complete bike than do a frame build up.   Unless you can find bike with good used components, buying a complete component set can be very expensive.   I built up a mountain bike from scratch, even built my own wheels, and after I added it up, it cost me 1.5X as much as if I would have just bought it complete.   My only solace was, I could say "I built that bike"

Answer 4

Bike manufacturers get components a heck of a lot cheaper than you can. Even if you have all the components from another bike, make sure that you have all the tools you need. You might end up buying specialized tools that you'd use once and never again. Include those costs when figuring out what to do.

HTH