… best value for money regardless of cost, what bits would you choose?

I suspect I’d just buy a Canyon, Carrera or Boardman tbh. Assuming new parts, anyway.

Hope for the rebuildability meaning they would have a long life. Steel frame for infinite fatigue life and repairability. wheels would have to use conventional spokes, marzocchi open bath forks for longevity

LX

rohloff

Steel frame for infinite fatigue life

how does that work?

I would have thought you would have known brant. 🙂

My understanding when a piece of steel is stressed / flexed below a certain limit it does not get metal fatigue. So a steel bike frame can have a infinite fatigue life unlike aluminium alloy ones that will fatigue.

correct me if I am wrong

My understanding when a piece of steel is stressed / flexed below a certain limit it does not get metal fatigue. So a steel bike frame will have a infinite fatigue life unlike aluminium alloy ones that will fatigue.

correct me if I am wrong

Depends how close to the “limit” you are. If a steel frame is made so it will not fatique it could be argued it is over engineeered. It is possible to build an aluminium frame that will not fatique.

I was under the admittedly amateur impression that steel as used in bicycle manufacture will rust?

The whole thing would be constructed from titanium, everyone knows titanium is for life. Expensive initial outlay, but it would be well worth it.

Plus, the magical “feel” of a titanium frame means that you could use solid tyres (which last for ages!) rather than pneumatic ones.

My understanding when a piece of steel is stressed / flexed below a certain limit it does not get metal fatigue. So a steel bike frame can have a infinite fatigue life unlike aluminium alloy ones that will fatigue.

correct me if I am wrong

You’re absolutely correct in both those statements.

But I hate to think how heavy the frame would have to be – how much steel it would have to be used, such that the steel in the structure wasn’t exceeding its fatigue limit.

Of course the OP just says he wants to “put together” one. Not ride it.
So on that basis, there should be no issue with fatigue limit even with a frame made of jam and cream crackers.

Unless the mice eat it of course.

come on brant, you’re a man in the know, how about some constructive input

I’m unsure how you can have “value for money regardless of cost”

value for money is a weird spec.

might end up with DH forks but XC wheels etc.

inbred frame though. 🙂

EDIT: would have to be 26″ as 29″ kit is a **** rip off most of the time.

brant – Member

I’m unsure how you can have “value for money regardless of cost”
miles ridden per pound spent. So a component that costs twice as much but lasts 3 times as long would be good value for money

so it’s entirely based on cost, then? 😉

miles ridden per pound spent. So a component that costs twice as much but lasts 3 times as long would be good value for money

Based on that criteria we should all be riding £100 applo’s, they move, can be fixed/maintained to be ‘useable’ for a very long time and replacement parts cost peanuts. Of course it depends what you want to do on it.

would they tho stato?

I took the brief to mean performance vs outlay, rather than longevity. So, Rockshox forks, for instance.

Comparing the RRP of my 1999 Sunn Urge XC plus the cost of non essential upgrades with its present value, ie over a grand less (!) you could obviously buy 10+ of the aforementioned Apollos. Cannibalising them for spares rather than binning the whole bike when something broke, youd have more than one left over, Shirley?! 😉

Whether you’d actually ride it/them is another matter, the cost per mile then makes them poor vfm!

I think an off the peg bike from a big manufacturer would be the best value for money. I can’t imagine you’d beat something like a Spesh Pitch by building from scratch.

miles ridden per pound spent

So by that token, something like a Supertacky tyre would be very bad value?

As it wears out quickly?

Indeed.

dunno really what the OP had in mind but thats how I interpreted it.

Always wanted to put together a build based on good serviceable kit, nothing too bling, but kit that should last well & is easy to service.. Thinking a SS based on…

Inbred, MX Comps, 717’s on XC’s, old XT HT1’s with a UN53 BB, & some Mono Minis, Thomson bits, S3 headset.

Most reliable FS frame? Orange 5 perhaps, as long as you don’t break it – reliable bearings. If you wanted FS, it could come into the value for money category despite high initial cost.

TandemJeremy – Member

miles ridden per pound spent.

Nah, that’s not a good way to judge it at all, you can’t just leave out performance. My ’91 Carrera would be pretty unbeatable value by that chalk despite having been fairly rotten even then.

Edited – to let you all make up your own mind what I meant. I was expecting a deore or slx kitted rock lobster with some merlin built wheels and rock shox forks.

Steel frame for infinite fatigue life and repairability niche appeal

FTFY

correct me if I am wrong

People do… Constantly! You still argue you’re right though every time! 😉

In seriousness though, as Brant says to make any frame have an infinite fatigue life, it would have to be as good as solid. Steel is more resistant to fatigue than aluminium is, and a steel frame can be made strong enough not to fail (under normal use) whilst still having some inherent flex that it can deal with without failing, giving it the “steel feel” which is desirable to many. Of course there is then titanium, which is inherently stronger and more resistant to fatigue again, and you can build a nice light frame out of it that is also strong and resistant to failure. But of course there is the cost issue to consider also, and in that respect Ti loses out because it doesn’t represent a 5 fold performance increase compared to a similar steel or alloy frame.

Anyway, to answer the OP’s question… When I consider VFM, I also consider the potential resale value of an item in used condition also, as say a Thomson seatpost at £50 is significantly better value than most seatposts half it’s purchase price, as not only is it strong enough to last a long long time and will still be worth £30 in many years time. So… Spec as follows…

Steel Frame, just basic cromo, pr

Steel Frame, just basic cromo, probably an On One Inbred or the like. Nothing fancy, but functional, cheap and long lasting.
Full SLX 10spd drivetrain cheap from actionsports. Under £200 for a full groupset is amazing, but though Deore could probably be had even cheaper, SLX is a massive step up in performance for not much more money.
SLX brakes, for the same reason as the drivetrain, and they outperform anything for the price.
Magura Comp hubs (£40 a pair on eBay right now), significantly better engineered than Hope, and though a bit weighty, they last ages and work brilliantly. Built onto Mavic rims with ACI comp spokes. Mavic still offer the best performance per pound I think, and ACI spokes are just as good as DT but much cheaper.
Thomson post, for reasons outlined above. Would rather spend £50 on something that lasts than £20 on something that doesn’t!
Raceface Ride stem and bars cheap from Merlin. No real reason other than they’re pretty good and nice and cheap currently.
Oh, and Rockshox forks. Home user serviceability (to an extent) makes them a cheaper ownership prospect than Fox or most others (well, rigid excepted, but my wrists are limp!), and you can always find a much better deal on Rockshox than any others too.

So it probably wouldn’t be all that cheap compared to say many off the shelf bikes, but I’d be confident of it lasting well. I’d worry about some of the components on something like a Carrera or a Boardman myself (or lots of others to be fair), as there’s always a couple of weak components on many off the shelf bikes to hit a price point.

EDIT: damned iOS 5, my iPhone 4 just can’t keep up and I keep hitting things accidentally and it posts things before I’m finished!

don’t get the vfm regardless of cost.vfm is all about cost.
had you said,weight/blingness/tuffness/longevity regardless of cost.
well,kettles of fish and all that.

rohloff

VFM: Alfine 8 speed
Steel frame
Genesis ioid looks pretty close but I’d want 853 for weight

Hope for the rebuildability meaning they would have a long life. Steel frame for infinite fatigue life and repairability. wheels would have to use conventional spokes, marzocchi open bath forks for longevity

That is/was my winter SS untill last month!

Sanderosn life frame
Marzocchi MX Pro forks
Hope mono mini brakes (+ tiny rotors to aid pad life)
Race face deus cranks/deore BB
SS
Shimano hubs

Went 18months without even changeing a brake pad!

Now sold the brakes and put some old shimano ones on as I needed some money, and swaped to some on-one rigids as I could do with selling the MX’s.

Just wait for an On-One sale.