Building up or buying stock.. pro's and con's

[jontyaspinall]

Ok,

Open for discussion is the question. What is better; building from scratch or buying from a store.

The main point I want to no about is cost. Is it cheaper to build up with stuff off the net or do pre built bikes have a slight reduction on parts

Pro: You can tweak your bike out with parts that suit your riding style

peace ;)

[shnizza]

if you buy a complete bike u only pay wholesale price on the items (which is heaps cheaper) if you build a bike u have to pay a lot more for each individual part

[willipa]

If you can find a bike with roughly the parts you want, and can find the money from somewhere, it is definitely worth it and far cheaper than building up your own in the long run. I have built up a jump bike and with the end cost it would have been a fair bit cheaper to buy a better stock one.

Pro: You can tweak your bike out with parts that suit your riding style

True, but you can also buy whole bikes to suit your riding style (dh/fr/dj ect)

[3viltoast3r]

buy a stock bike and change the parts you want, before using them! If you can do it through your LBS but if you cant sell them as new on this site. If you want a good sale sell it for a bit less the the RRP :D

[crash bandicoot]

I disagree.
In 2007 I purchased a full sus xc bike cost $3900.
Three weeks ago I bought a brand new 2008 frame (same brand, same frame) and built it up from new bits from online and ebay stores using 2008 running gear, cost $2600, only thing not new was the saddle.
And it has better running gear than 2007 bike, eg: 2008 xt brakes, 2008 xt shadow rear derailleur, 2008 rock shox reba race fork.
To buy the same bike retail now $4050.

[Viv92]

Depends what brand. It would be hard to build a bike to the same spec as a stock Giant for the same money. Generally whole bike is cheaper as well.

If you wait for deals and shop around you can build up stuff pretty cheap though.

[bikesarefun]

Build from the ground up. You'll only end up buying parts you know and trust, and you'll know how it all went together so you can trust the build.

Yeah, it might end up costing a bit more overall. But you can get a good deal on a lot of the parts if you shop around online (sorry to my LBS), and that can make a big difference.

[Ivan]

Building up can take along time, especially if your picky about your parts and keeping the price low.

I have "built up" my last 4 bikes, and am really looking forward to just buying a complete bike next time and not going through all the time of hunting for "cheap" parts.