Over the years, I’ve tested thousands of off-the-peg bikes, and while some have come close to perfection (I’m talking about you, Giant Defy Advanced SL 0), there’s always something – even if it’s the smallest element – that’s not quite right.
By building your own bike, you'll get exactly what you want, and every element of it will be right for you. Plus it can work out significantly cheaper if you go DIY rather than buying an off-the-peg bike.
That's particularly tempting when you consider that top-end road bikes and gravel bikes from the major players now comfortably command five-figure price tags.
I could build (and have built) full-on superbikes for much less than that figure. Nothing is stopping you, either – whatever your budget, you can get exactly the bike you want and make savings too.
Looking around my admittedly overstocked garage, all of my favourite bikes – my Giant TCR, Cannondale Topstone, Mosaic RT 1TR and Parlee Z-Zero – have one thing in common.
All of those bikes started life as framesets and were built up with the parts I wanted. Yes, of course, any bike can be upgraded along the way to get it to where you want it. However, with the escalation in bike prices over the last decade, it’s now a better time than ever to shop around and build your own.
The simple economics of selling complete bikes means savvy product managers have to look for places where they can save a dollar or two to make them competitive. That means you’ll often see incomplete groupsets, usually stepping down a level on the cassette or chain.
A basic set of bottom bracket bearings or a base model headset will work, but they won’t outlast a premium model – and that’s a false economy in the long run if you’re forking out for replacements every annual service. Not to mention the increased labour time and parts when dealing with integrated systems.
Building your own bike can future-proof it against increased service costs, too.
It’s also about personal choice. For example, modern road bike saddles are in the main very good, but we all have a preference. It's surely much better to get it right from the off and not be lumped with an OE (original equipment) saddle that’s got a limited resale market and therefore value. Would you fit a Cannondale saddle to a Trek bike for instance?
A lot of off-the-peg bikes aren’t exactly generous with bar tape – even when the tape on a bike is good-quality, it tends to be stretched out, meaning it loses a lot of the comfort benefit. Cheap alloy bars are also somewhere brands will look to save money.
Plus, if you want a bar outside the usual norms, you're bang out of luck on a complete bike. Once again, you’ll have an OE bar of negligible resale value.
You’ll most likely replace the tape (sooner than necessary) in an attempt to get this vital contact point right. Old bar tape goes to landfill, and it's such a waste if it’s not worn out, just unwanted.
I get that a lot of us aren’t confident in building a bike from scratch, but it’s not as difficult as it once was. Wireless drivetrains with simpler setups, integrated headsets and carbon frames have all made it a lot less of a mysterious art than it used to be.
Plus, we’ve all got a mate who's a dab hand with a workstand and toolkit. Just be nice and buy them lunch, a six-pack, a nice Bordeaux or whatever floats their boat.
Even if you go to a professional bike builder, it’s just not as expensive compared to complete bikes as it used to be. My recent experiences with the Bike Tailor proved that.
Like many other custom builders, the Bike Tailor offers bespoke bikes from £5,000. That’s with your choice of all the contact points and using quality headsets and corrosion-resistant bottom brackets as standard.
A bike shop will build your bike too, especially if you can buy a few of the parts required from them.
My own most recent custom project admittedly got out of hand, and to that end, I fully admit my own failings.
However, since my Mosaic custom has been finished, the test set of Partington wheels have been returned, to be replaced with the still premium but much cheaper Zipp 353 NSWs, which can now be found online for £1,475. That takes £3,025 off the complete price, bringing it to £12,475 – remembering that the rest of the components chosen for that bike were at full retail price.
If I’d been able to shop around, it would have cost considerably less.
Take, for example, one of the best of the current crop of race bikes, Specialized’s Tarmac SL8. The frameset in its S-Works guise can be found online from a reputable dealer for £3,250 – that’s a huge £1,750 under its RRP.
Add in an Ultegra Di2 groupset, currently on offer with massive savings for £1,119, a set of lightweight carbon wheels such as Zipp’s 303 Firecrest – which can be had for £1,200 – an S-Works handlebar for £149 (27 per cent off), a Tarmac stem for £103.50 (31% off) and a set of the best road tyres, such as Continental’s GP5000S TRs £45.99 each (RRP £80).
Finish things off with a high-grade tough BB such as an Enduro (£174.99), Kogel (£260) or Chris King (£250) and you have the basis of a fantastic superbike for £6,088.47. Throw in your favourite saddle, bar tape and tubeless sealant, and you’ll be adding at most £400 to that price.
So, for less than £6,500, you'd have a stunning bike costing £1,750 less than the non-S-Works Tarmac SL8 Pro.
If you really wanted to go to town and go full-Dura Ace Di2 or SRAM Red AXS, you can find the groupsets on offer for £2,300 and £2,640 (with Hammerhead Karoo included) respectively. That’s £7,269.47 for Di2 or £7,609.47 for RED – a huge £4,730.53 or £4,390.53 less than the off-the-peg S-Works Tarmac complete builds.
At the other end of the scale, a great frame such as Kinesis’ excellent Gravel Race can be had for £695. Add a SRAM Apex AXS XPLR 1x 12 groupset, which can be found for £899 and a set of Hunt’s ever-dependable Gravel Race wheels, on offer for £509.15. Prime’s excellent Orra gravel bar is only £25 at Sports Direct, a Deda stem £19.99 and a matching post £36.99.
Pirelli's Cinturato Adventure tyres will set you back £24.99 each (£40 RRP), with £200 for bar tape, a saddle, sealants and sundries. That would give you a super-capable gravel machine with quality wheels and a wireless groupset for £2,210.
If you want 1x 12 Shimano GRX, that price drops to £2,085.11 (I found a new 1x 12 GRX group for £549). That’s less than both Specialized’s Diverge Comp E5 (alloy with mechanical SRAM Apex) and Trek’s Checkpoint ALR5 (alloy, mechanical SRAM Apex).
So, my conclusion is next time you’re shopping for a new bike, take the plunge and build your own – the bike will suit you better and it'll save you some cash to boot.
