Yeah, riding on a wheel you built yourself is a nice feeling.
The Sheldon Brown guide is about as good as anything.
I don’t want to be the Defender Of Alex Rims or anything, but a quick check of weight weenies shows the R400 as weighing 420g. A very respectable weight, in line with Open pros or Aeroheads.
A little more googling, and I find a wheelset with those rims to 105 hubs goes for $207 on Amazon, and is available through SBS distributors. Here’s where it gets weird: no one in their right mind will pay $200+ for a wheelset with Alex rims. I wouldn’t. When you can spend a little more and get Open Pros? pfsssh.
The problem as I see it is: it seems like they have little distributorship as rims here, and when you can buy them they’re the same price as similar Mavics or Velocitys. I’ve never heard of or read about anybody ‘building up a set of Alex’s.’ I think if their lighter weight options were commonly available, and they were sold at a price point similar to how Tektros are positioned against bigger name brand components, they would be perceived as a value not as clunky junk.
And to get back to the main thread point, if I moved to a new city and didn’t have any bike parts and was tight on money and bought an old frame that I was upgrading and saw a pair of generic hub/Alex wheels on craigslist that had 50 miles on them before the owner decided to put Zipps on his Trek 1000, and they were like $50 or $60 I’d buy 'em. $50 more on wheels doesn’t go that far, but if it’s the difference between a $20 pair of wire bead clinchers and a $70 pair of decent folders, the money is better spent on tires. Cos less flats/better ride.
If you’re super OCD about it, rebuild the wheels by hand. They’ll be stronger, if nothing else. And anecdotally, I was given a pair of bikesdirect wheels with ‘Motobecane’ branded hubs and aero spokes that kept breaking; re-built with straight gauger spokes in traditional cross patern, they were fine beater wheels.
I really like this thread.
+1
as much as i understand the merit of just saving up the money and buying a complete, i think the root of building up a bike is that u have a project. when i finished my FG (which i also built up) i was bored and found myself looking at useless parts for my bike just so i’d have something to do.
i am now on the quest to find a decent road frame to build up. Aside from the project aspect, I’d also be able to buy it in parts so I wouldn’t have to shell out a chunk of money i don’t have (and conceal cost from wife). I will also be able to hand pick every part so that its exactly the way i want it to be.
+1 again
i’m gonna say that, realistically, picking a frame you like is pretty important, independent from tubing or geo.
i mean, we’re all vain matchy matchy bastards, amirite? bianchi sells a million pistas only cuz shiny, amirite?
also- if you really want to build a bike from scratch, do it but don’t expect it to have a perfectly matching and modern group. you can scour around for deals, take your time, and have some pride in the end product.
then save up and spend $ on a complete/near-complete.
i’ve scrounged up most of a riser roadbike with a 9spd mixed 105/ultegra drivetrain for under 250. $25 frame, $25 wheels (though i guess both were far, far cheaper cuz 650c), free tires and tubes, $20 each for DT shifters/front and rear ders/cassette, $35 for a FSA crankset + octalink BB, brakes + seatpost + stem + bars + levers from parts bin.
yeah i have no qualms about mismatching groups . . . . . its liberating not to give a damn hahah
I built up my La Cruz for 1700 with full Sram Rival, American Classic wheelset, Thomson post, Fizik saddle etc. I took my time and found awesome deals. The complete is 100.00 less, not as nice, and doesn’t look nearly as cool. I mush prefer building up a frame with used parts.
There are a million good reasons to build up a road bike or any bike from parts. Cost ain’t one of 'em. The OP seemed to be concerned about cost based on the title of the thread. I built mine up from bits for many of the reasons antcave gave. It’s because I’m picky about things and I really enjoy the process.
YEAH! That is why I want to know what/how others prioritize when building on a budget and a limited amount of time. This will be the bike i use for my Team in Training triathlon. (a good cause and the perfect reason to justify another bike to the wife)