Than building up your own bike?

Bought a really nice Soul frame off here and am currently mid build. Just waiting for a few bits to arrive with the postie to finish off ( why is it always a seat clamp?)

Was just reflecting on all of the bike builds I’ve done over the years and how really very satisfying it is to go from a pile of bits to something that not only do I get tons of pleasure from riding, but I also know intimately how it all went together.

So does anyone else get this pleasure too?

I’ve built up my last three bikes myself and am damn proud of the results. It’s especially nice if you’ve laced together your own wheels…all I need now is to learn how to weld stuff 🙂

Very much so. And even more satisfying was supervising my 15 yr old lad as he put one together for himself. Funnily enough that was a Soul, and the last bit was the seatclamp…. who’d have thought it was a 30mm one…

Building your own wheels, to put on the bike adds to the pleasure.

My last build (including wheels):

Wheel building is the only bit I haven’t learned to do yet, but want to put some new wheels on this bike at some point , so now looks like a great time to learn!

IIRC a post coitus fag is pretty satisfying!

I love it… Takes me forever mind, I like to savour it.

I would enjoy it more if I didn’t often do it the night before a biking trip… where failure and not having the right parts is not an option!

Northwind – Member

I love it… Takes me forever mind, I like to savour it.

Coitus or the fag?

I’ve got too many jokes to respond to that, can’t decide which one to use. Just imagine I said the funniest possible thing.

Currently building one now, it’s the wrong frame but its all I had to work with. Can’t wait for the brakes to arrive tomorrow, then I’m off out for a ride.

Building bikes is incredibly rewarding. Building my own wheels felt like an unbelievable achievement

Even though other than the social inadequate’s people on this site, when you proudly announce either of these things, people will just shrug then look at you with a mystified and bemused expression.

Best stick with telling them you’ve just had a really big poo

I think I’m up to 7 now. Bolting together bits doesn’t really rate for me.

Building bike lights back when LEDs were a new thing, with all the machining and messing about with electronics… that was satisfying.

Yeah, love it. Kind of wish I liked building cheaper things though.

a morning poo

Walking out (well, hobbling if I’m honest) of A&E yesterday evening after spending about 8 hours flat on my back wearing a neck brace following a pretty big OTB stack that morning. Being told (after x-rays and finally a CT scan) my neck / back wasn’t broken or dislocated was pretty satisfying. Aching like a bitch today mind you!

+1 on the build it yourself thing – yet to put a set of wheels together, but it’s on the to do list.

ChunkyMTB, Sorry to track you down in a random post, do you have that Lefty adapter still, by the looks of your Cotic pic, it’s the type I need so would be up for buying.

cheers.

with the postie to finish off

I didn’t realise sexual favors were accepted currency by the Royal Mail.

I’ve built several bikes now, but as others have said, building a wheel was very rewarding, as was learning how to dismantle and service forks. I created this tapered 20mm maxle Revelation from two forks, one of which was originally white, and built the wheel to stick on it. Very satisfying.

I love building stuff. I’ve done bikes, lights and wheels and would love to build a frame one day. Currently working on bags for bikepacking.

Yip
Midway through one at the moment. Really love the bargain hunting and getting home to see what postie has delivered more than bolting it all together. Enjoy the wheel building though as I can do that inside in front of the TV. To be honest I tend to buy wheels whole as its cheaper – then replace rims when they wear out. This time had no choice though as using an alfine 8 and wanted a chunky rim for my full suss build.

Learning to build wheels is ace as now i’m totally independent of the bike shop for maintenance.

Absolutely agree. On to my second build at the moment. Just waiting for spokes to arrive so I can build the wheels. Only built one wheel before when I built my Five from scratch, so this would be my first 100% self build.

My first self built bike:

Having never done that, am I missing out?

Clearly I’d need to take up smoking first.

Really love the bargain hunting

this.

The On One up there ^ had all new hubs, rims and spokes, the rest was from classifieds and ebay.

Yes – I tend to go a bit further. I like to get new rims, BB, headset, chain-rings, chain, cassette. Most other parts have a long life and/or can be serviced easily to bring them up to scratch.

Especially bars, stem, cranks, seatpost, QR – why on earth would you get new!!