NetworkMan wrote:mikeymo wrote:I've got a nice frame and forks (Ridgeback Panorama Deluxe). Reynolds 853 tourer type thing. Disc brakes.
I'd like to build it up. But am rapidly realising that building it up from new parts will cost about as much as buying something similar already made.
I actually gave you the parts list I used and that showed that I got something similar a Spa Steel Tourer for about £200 less and the Spa is already a very good value bike. What's more I got to choose what parts I got rather than have someone choose for me. You do have to be prepared to hunt around to find what you want at the right price but unless something has changed I'd have thought you could do something similar. If you go for a doner bike you'll just get a load of parts someone else chose and what's more they'll be old ones. Why not just buy a secondhand bike?
Yes, I saw the list, thanks very much. As a matter of fact, I was wrong when I said "that building it up from new parts will cost about as much as buying something similar already made". In this case it wouldn't. I think that even using Ridgeback's original spec for the Panorama Deluxe, the frame plus parts cost would be ca. £1100 (and maybe less if I wait for clearance bargains) for a bike which RRP'd at £1700. However, it was also discounted to £1000 when Ridgeback stopped selling it. Hence my hesitation to proceed. Maybe better to return the frame and wait till the sales in autumn.
And of course you're right about being able to choose my own components.