£300 budget for SS newb = build bike and crash vs. buy complete secondhand?!

Hey all!

So pretty much as per the title equation really! I'm looking for a SS and have been perusing my second hand options - the occasional irrationally low Gumtree option which would no doubt see me walk away sans money, with a black eye and no bike; a few similar eBay options and a few more credible offerings up here. I haven't ruled out buying new and splashing a bit more dollar though HAVE got passed the initially brilliant seeming "Create" shaped hurdle.

Would it be ridiculous to consider building something, as a newb, or as a hands on Virgo should I still consider this?! Equally, please let me know if anyone's selling anything! I'm a fan of simple, clean looking bikes a la Globe Roll. No doubt I'll post in the classifieds too.

Oh, and I'm 6'5 so there's my biggest 2nd hand limitation. Fingers crossed anyone can throw me a bone! All I can offer in exchange is free entry to a bunch of London gigs as a promoter?! Yay?! Nay?!

Why not just buy a globe roll?

If you really cant afford it, you could buy a mongoose maurice then paint it a retro pastel colour and put some white tyres on it.

Yeah I am tempted to! I can't find too much info on them on here though - I think if I read everywhere how amazing they were, I would, though I can't seem to find many reviews. Any words on them?!

Would love to find one second hand, but again, not much joy.

If you decide to go down the build it your self method - it's really easy. I was shit at technology at school but managed to build my bike & it hasn't fallen apart yet - youtube tells you how to do it.

If you have the time, I say build your own. I knew nothing about bike building when I started, but there are tons of guides, information and advice both on here and on google, and ended up doing rather well (even if I say so myself). Plus I learnt a great deal, which saves dorrah in the long term because you can fix problems yourself. And think of the satisfaction of riding your own creation.

Admittedly, I spent nearly twice what you did, but then I could of spent much less if I had chosen to and bothered to search long and hard enough.

I am thinking of doing the same now the sunshine has started but stuck on choice of frame, especially when i discovered you could buy a set of Reynolds 531 stickers for less than a tenner, any advice?

Aha! this is really helpful! great to hear from people having done the same, in similar positions to me! and yeah izgard, i agree - riding your own creation must be great!

exciting times! so i guess, now i have to brush up on my knowledge of quality vs budget bike parts!? any additional advice on the most important areas to splash the cash vs components that can be bought on the cheap would be of much help!

I've built many a bike and have mostly spend about double what the bike is worth otp. Buy something complete then you can upgrade the dog parts as you please. That way the excitement of a new bike lasts longer.

Danny are you saying the new bike excitement is greater than look what I've just made excitement?!

I do all sorts of bike fixing on my own, and I love it. It's not hard, so long as you're methodical. If you have the time, go on, fill yer boots.

Hmm, Robot you made a good point. But money-saving-wise, buying a cheaper OTP then upgrading the parts you dont like is cheaper than a custom build. But then if you custom build you don't have to buy better parts. But then again, if you buy OTP there is excitement of a new bike, then excitement when you get a new part. But custom building is funner and there is a sense of achievement.

I enjoy going round in circles. Just do both.

I had a similar dilema when I wanted to go single gear and in asking a few questions on the C+ forum, someone popped up and offered to sell me theirs, so it kind of got sorted that way. In fact what I ended up with was a bike that was rideable, but needed a bit of work. Over the last six years or so I've changed quite a few parts (fixed to ss, hubs then wheels, bars, brakes, saddle, tyres x 4, chain x 2 (just to match up with sproket changes).

Doing it this way, I've always had a functioning bike on the road, but have been able to do a bit of fixing and servicing too. Luckily I haven't had a BB, stem or a headset go, which might be a bit more difficult to replace off the shelf, given the age of the frame and fork. (More experienced hands can correct me on this.)

I am going to put my bike up for sale next week (you should see my new one), but I'm not asking you to buy it, unless you want to.

I'd get round a few of the second hand listings (there's a very big fuji track on here at the moment) and see what you get for your money. Buying new and OTP will get you where you want to be quickly at a fair price, but I don't believe the only other option is to start with a box of bits.

Good luck!

Yeah I am tempted to! I can't find too much info on them on here though - I think if I read everywhere how amazing they were, I would, though I can't seem to find many reviews. Any words on them?!

Would love to find one second hand, but again, not much joy.

I have the Maurice and am really enjoying it. its the best new bike I could find for almost £300(£315 from evans using code SURVEY10 for 10% off)

And as a first entry into SS for me I'm happy with what I got, this way I can start to understand more about what I like and dont like so when I do build my own I will have had some solid SS experience.

Oh if you do get it on arrival remove the cheap ass rim tape and put some good high pressure rim tape in them wheels(I had 2 'punctures' due to the rim tape not being good enough quality)

hmmm i've just been through the same dilema. tracked nice racing bikes with horizontal drop bars on ebay for about a month. when you start to know what you want you can put a price on it. if you like retro bikes try to find a 70s reynolds frame with decent paint (as paint jobs are quite expensive!!), and decent wheels.

If not converted pay up to 150 depending on the bike; than convert it yourself.
If already converted than pay up to 200 ish, the extra 100 quid will be to change the saddle, handlebar, grips, tyres which will make your bike personal and therefore your baby.

P

P.S: the fact that you are tall actually helps, strangely enough i saw more big bikes (60cm frames) than medium size bikes, and because less people are tall, some were sold for way cheaper than if they were smaller!

good luck

http://www.gumtree.com/london/50/57347350.html
http://www.gumtree.com/london/82/56966782.html