Recently, a good friend came to me with a question:

Dude, we went to the bike shops in ftw and it totally made me want another bike. I love this fixed gear Trek I saw but I’m not thrilled about Trek and really unsure about no gears. I kinda want to build one, too, but I’ve never done that so it makes me nervous, too. what do you think?

The ratio of Cost, Time, Overall Quality

Overall when trying to choose between building or buying a bike, it depends on how much you want to spend, how nice of a bike you want, how long you want to work on it, and if you want it to be new or used.

When buying a new bike that is complete and built in the shop you are essentially paying for the components (wheels, derailleurs, shifters, brakes, cranks, etc.) and getting the frame for free. Its really the best value. Building your own from new parts of the same group set will always cost more. On top of the cost of the frame and parts, you would have to buy tools (unless you have a community bike shop with tools free for everyone to use like yellow bike here in austin). If you take your time and buy used parts off of craigslist, waiting for that next part you need to pop up for a good price, you can build up a bike fairly cheaply, but it really takes some time.

Building

For new frames to build a bike on, I would choose either the Surly Crosscheck, the Masi CXR (nice black color), or the Surly Travelers Check (my dream bike).

Being able to build and work on your bike is really handy for obvious reasons. You can find all you need to know about building, maintaining, and repairing your bike at the Park Tool website.

My commuter bike came about as follows:

A friend heard of a bianchi that some guy was trying to get rid of. It needed some work and was no ride-able. I met with the guy, checked the bike out to make sure it fit me, and paid $60 for the frame, fork, wheels, seatpost, seat, front ultegra derailleur, handbars, brakes and levers, and crankset. It was missing the rear cassette, rear derailleur, and chain. I went home and put on a singlespeed tensioner i had lying around, a cog, chain, and suddenly, I had a working bike and road it to the bar that night. Over time, I found replacement parts for it, such as a new crankset and handlebars, but when my roommate found 9 speed ultegra “brifters” for $80 (they are usually 3x that amount) I knew the bike was going to gears. We soon found an old xt rear derailleur and i bought a 9 speed mountain cassette to make a great commuter bike.

It took 2 years to get to that point, though. A really long time.

In the meantime, though, I had a other bikes to ride, like my 2001 Bianchi Veloce that I bought off of Craiglist for $500 and a fixed gear I put together with a frame i found for $40. Both of these bikes came about over a long period of time as well. I had to keep a really close eye on craigslist everyday until I found the right size bike at the right price.

Building a fixed gear or single speed is how I got into this whole bike building thing in the first place. Its cheaper and easier than building a geared bike, so, if you really just want to build a bike, starting singlespeed / fixed is a good way to introduce yourself to the process. Gears and being able to coast are great things, although I love my fixed gear and used it solely for a while, I am glad that I have other bikes to choose from. It really depends on how you want to use the bike. If you want a geared bike and want to build it, its really not that much harder, but it will end up costing you more if you use new parts because groupsets are pretty expensive.

For example, the Bianchi D2 Crono Tri Alum / Ultegra costs $3199. If we were to build it from scratch with the same parts it would look like this:

Bianchi 2009 Crono Alu Frameset – $2300

Shimano Ultegra SL 6600-G Groupset – $1095

Mavic Cosmic Elite Wheelset 09 – $499

The above parts already cost $695 more than the complete bike and that is without the cables, tires, tubes, seat post, seat, handlebars, bar tape, and headset that one would need to complete it.

Buy

Here are a few bikes I would suggest to someone that is looking for that one do everything bike that would be ridden everyday (and can also be ridden across the country):

• Masi Speciale CX – $1150
• Surly Crosscheck – $1050
• Bianchi Axis – $13xx

These are all cyclo-cross bikes that can be ridden on road and on some mountain bike trails. They have rack mounts so you could attach panniers if you so desired and have space for fenders if you are riding through the rain.

If you are going to buy a complete bike, you need to test ride them at least a mile. Test ride a bunch of them including bikes that are out of your price range so you can feel the differences and have better feel for value. Figure out what size you need, and test ride some more. oh, and remember, you can always get a new seat, so don’t let that ruin an otherwise great bike.

Good luck! If you have any questions or suggestions, feel free to get a hold of me.

without comments

In the spirit of the Great Move of ’09 and my plan to commute by bike in the big city, I have been looking about online for bike locking tips and, as can happen during intensive internet usage, I began to get a little freaked out and, well, obsessive.

This Hal fellow drills the idea of two locks into your head, so, it seems that, since he’s in NYC and I’m going to be in NYC, I should take his advice.

Two and a half bikes have been stolen from me in two different cities over the past five years (.5 bikes per year average… which might be really good considering how much I use my bike to get around). These bikes were only stolen when left in the same place for a considerable amount of time, so, after getting a new bike and lock in 2003, I began change up my bike locking locations and keep my bike indoors when possible. So far, this has been working, but I’ve been living in Austin and Fort Worth. I’m moving to New York City, a place whose name is used to market some really expensive and really heavy bike locks.

I have a Kryptonite New York Fahgettaboutit (which I picked up because of this article) that weighs 6 pounds and considered getting a Kryptonite New York Fahgettaboudit Chain with Disc Lock to as my second lock. Then I found this at bikeforums.net:

Now if your going to go the DIY route, look for the following chains:

Medium Security: Grade 70, 3/8″ link, yellow dichromate coated transport chain.

http://www.bareco.com.au/pics/genrlpic/g37a.jpg

High security: Grade 70, 1/2″ or 5/8″ link, yellow dichromate coated transport chain

Extreme high security: Grade 100 proof tested , 5/8″ links overhead lifting chain ,25% stronger than grade 80, and extremely difficult to get a bolt cutter head around the links.

if i can carry around 4 feet of 1/2″ chain, with a 3lb shrouded padlock, anyone can carry the standard 3/8″ link chain around….

Hmm… Do it myself? I had already spent $90 on a nice Kryptonite New York Lock, so did I really need to spend $120 more to supplement it? If no bike lock is theft proof and the two locks are really just a deterrent and some people suggest using a cable lock then maybe if I just made my own and used it with the Fahgettaboudit mini u-lock it would be just as good, if not better, than a measly cable? I hit the hardware store, spent $38, and got this:

Its 4 feet of super thick chain graded for towing wrapped in an old mountain bike tube and a solid steel Master Lock. It seems that some people on the bike forums think that square or hexagonal links are harder to cut. The chain cutter guy at the store had to cut the chain link twice to get it apart, so this chain seemed sufficiently difficult to break.. that is until I found this video of people stealing bikes in London that shows a guy with HUGE bolt cutters breaking a Kryptonite New York Fahgettaboudit Chain:

and this Bike biz article concerning above video.

However, ITV London showed how, with big cutting tools, pro thieves can cut almost any lock.

And then there is this video showing guys stealing bikes in the middle of busy NYC without anyone caring. The guy even plugs in a grinder and dons protective gear to tear through a chain and no one seems to notice:

Since my bike will probably get stolen no matter what I do, i’ve already found a replacement lock: the Mul-T-Lock 4′ Security Chain and C10 Padlock with Protector. After perusing the Mul-T-Lock website I am beginning to think this is the best chain with lock combo on the market, although I have no idea how heavy it is.

Update: The chain used above rusted like mad crazy, so I replaced it with a nickel plated chain of the same gauge.

The 2 locks I had on my bike, a long thick gauge nickel-plated chain with a solid steel Master Lock and a Kryptonite Fahgettaboudit, protected my wheels and frame, but my handlebars (Cinelli) and cranks (Campy) could easily be stolen with an Allen wrench. I saw bikes without handlebars and other various parts sitting locked to poles and fences all over the city.

In order to keep my fancy parts, I super-glued a BB into each of the Allen bolt heads to keep the wrench from getting into the bolts. As far as I know, they BB can later be removed with acetone (nail polish remover), but, when my roommate removed all of the components from the bike, cleaned them, and put it all back together (as a Christmas gift) he used a blow torch and a nail. I didn’t really ask him about it because I think he just wanted an excuse to use the blow torch.

Oh, I kept the bike outside sans pedals. I have a set that bolt on easily with an Allen wrench, so I’d walk downstairs, unlock the bike, flip it over and put on the pedals, pocket the wrench and ride away. I must sound really paranoid, but I lived in the Lower East Side; bikes get stolen there all the time.

without comments