Wanted: Newbie - Buy or build?

Hi all,

cool to finally find a place where fixed gear and single-speed nuts hang out!

I've been a lazy-arse since coming to London, using public transport, but I'm so sick of the tube by now (and don't get me started on buses!) so I'm now very keen to get back on a bike.

Left my last bike back home, so need a new one.
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Might seem a stupid question, but waddya all reckon - buy or build my first bike?**

Buying would be easier, but ... I think building would be more satisfying - I've been keeping tabs on ebay, gumtree and loot for old bikes/frames etc. 53-55cm frame, as I'm 183 cm tall, 74 kg.

Rode mainly mountain bikes back home, heavy clunkers, lots of gears. A friend of mine suggested going for a single speed (he works in Soho and sees all the couriers everyday).

But I have no idea how to put together a bike. Or what specialist tools I'd need.

I'm fairly handy with a spanner, fixed plenty of punctures etc.

I've set myself a budget of £100 for my first bike - any idea if this is realistic?

Thanks! R

Most people would quote you a price of roughly £450 for a new bike.

Off the peg stuff is generally a bit cheaper than buying new parts from a shop and putting them together.

All the recently released trendy off the peg Singlespeed bikes, range from £350 (giant bowery, fuji track) to £600 for the fancier ones like, surly or rock mountain boroughs.

Charge plug is somewhere in between a firm favourite it seems.

So if you were looking for a NEW bike for £100, its pretty impossible unless your going on sterlingdirect

Thing more like £250 minimum for anything reliable.

Even secon hand, if your not an experienced hoarder/bike builder, putting together a reliable bike for £100 will be very hard unless you find a nice complete bike at a market/carboot etc.

But with everyone getting into bike commuting anything worthy is getting super rare.

It will probably be easier these days of your working off a mtb/hybrid as a base.

But you will still need either a new SS rear wheel OR a SS convertor for the cassette.

Probably a chain & chain ring too. ANd a bit of tidying up. Itll quickly add up, but if you are as much of a tight arse as me. Its do-able.