[Closed] Building up a bike - in what order?

Off the top of my head....

1. Seatpost (then you can clamp it in your workstand)
2. Headset
3. Forks
4. BB
5. Chainset
6. Front mech
7. Rear mech
8. Stem
9. Bars
10. Shifters + cables (incl outers)
11. Wheels (with casette on rear and discs and tyres on both)
12. Brakes
13. Chain
14. Saddle
15. Grips
16. Sticker with forum name on the top tube

I always put wheels on first followed by grips then saddle

bb, hs cups, sp clamp, sp, c'set, forks stem hs, bars, brakes, controls, gears, cables, wheels, chain, tune-up, saddle, top-tube name sticker (optional for straight guys).

Add a sprinkle of gnar/rad on test ride and away you go.

Depends if you have a workstand or if the bike is freestanding.

My current build has so far gone like this- headset, forks, stem (to hold the forks in!), bars, brakes (except for rotors), bottom bracket. That's as far as I've got! (waiting on wheel delivery...)

Pretty much as ourman said, although i did the seatpost last and the stem and bars then brakes after the forks. The main reason being cutting the forks and bleeding brakes are best done when you are still "fresh", setting up gears and cables etc doesnt trouble me.
My brother in law once managed to cut the steerer on a brand new set of forks 1" too short.
Measure twice cut once!

OMITN presume you don't have a workstand?

bizarely, I think I build mine in exactly the same order as ourmaninthenorth.

Cheers all. I have a workstand. Any reason not to clamp to the down tube or top tube? My stand has a groove in the clamp for the cables to run down.

cynic-al - Member
OMITN presume you don't have a workstand

[i]Seatpost (then you can clamp it in your workstand)[/i] ?

Headset, BB, seatpost (to clamp to stand), forks, stem, bars, chainset, mechs, shifters, chain, wheels, brakes, grips

OMITN presume you don't have a workstand?

I do - a bench mounted clamp.

Any reason not to clamp to the down tube or top tube?

On an Alpine, probably not, but most top tubes can be pretty thin, and you wouldn't want to crush it in the clamp.

If I can't do seatpost, then I'll use the seat tube.

With Workstand

Seatclamp
Seatpost
Clamp frame on workstand by post
BB
Headset
Forks
Spacers
Stem
Bars
Shifters
Brakes
Crankset
Rear Mech
Front Mech
Gear Cables outers and inners
If building your own wheels put cassette and discs on the hubs and fit [b]hubs[/b] in frame now. If wheels are already built then put cassette and discs on and fit [b]wheels[/b] in frame
Setup brakes
Chain and adjust to correct length
Setup gears
Grips
Saddle
If building own wheels do so now.
Tubes if using and tyres
Take off workstand and set saddle angle, bar rotation and brake/shifter angle, suspension air pressure to your preferance
Test ride.

Without Workstand

If building your own wheels do so now.
Tubes and Tyres
Rotors and Cassette
Headset
Forks
Stem
Bars
Wheels
Seatclamp
Post with saddle already attached
BB
Crankset
Shifters
Brakes and setup
Rear mech
Front mech
Gear cables inner and outer
Chain
Setup gears
Grips
Set saddle angle, bar rotation and brake/shifter angle, suspension air pressure to your preferance
Test ride

Can I be the first to say that it doesn't really matter. It's not like putting the cranks on before the headset is going to cause catastrophic structural failure somewhere down the line. I kind of like doing the forks and headset first because then you can put the wheels in and it looks like a bike, but honestly, just busk it, enjoy watching the bike take shape in front of you and then go for a big, grinny, first ride when it's done 🙂

And can I also thank the folk who produced gurt big lists of components in order of building for brightening my morning exponentially. I bet you also avoid walking on cracks in the pavement... 😉

Any reason not to clamp to the down tube or top tube?

don't clamp to a top-tube... you could end up with a lovely dent, like this:

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Yeti ASR-sl (coke can thin tubing...), dent courtesy of my LBS I hasten to add, not me... so even 'professionals' get it wrong sometimes!

I'm currently building up a 456, but due to waiting on finishing kit (new front wheel, new gear cables, BB, skewers, clamp and post) I've gone Headset, forks, stem, bars, brakes. rest should be here tonight, so I'll then go, post, shifters, BB, cranks, mechs, wheels, fettle away all night!

On an Alpine, probably not, but most top tubes can be pretty thin, and you wouldn't want to crush it in the clamp.

the workstand is there to support the bike only, surely you shouldnt have to clamp it so tight as to dent / crush metal, and a decent clamp on a decent workstand should reasonably spread the load
What you doing to the frame whilst its clamped - swinging off it?
during a normal bike build, there shouldnt be anything that needs that much torque applied that the clamp has to be solidly tight

Oh and what if you have a carbon seatpost (or even a carbon frame) where would you clamp then?

Order of componants doesnt matter, personally I would do headset cups first bottom bracket second, but after that any old order
Obviously seat is easier to add to post before post in frame, and bar 'furniture' is easiest when bar is attached to bike etc but thats only common sense

Oh and what if you have a carbon seatpost (or even a carbon frame) where would you clamp then?

Put an old alloy post in and clamp that.

Oh and what if you have a carbon seatpost (or even a carbon frame) where would you clamp then?

The carbon seatpost

You are all forgetting a very important component to any bike build!

Add tea or beer into list at multiple postions!!

😀
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[img] [/img]

That looks very familiar 😉