Building your own Touring Bike

COST OF BUILDING A TOURING BIKE?

BY 

KAREN

 – FEBRUARY 9, 2011POSTED IN: BIKE BUILDING, FEATURED

Well at least what it cost us.

At first, the idea to build our own touring bikes was both exciting and daunting. We researched for days (ok, weeks) to find out what would work for us. We found lists compiled on other tourers’ sites to be a valuable resource along with their reviews of various parts. We gathered all the information we could to pick and choose the components that have worked well for others while building a bike that suited our demands of our touring transportation.

So now we have our own list to add, detailing all the parts we used, specific specs. and the price we paid (including tax and shipping where applicable). We hope that the information and cost breakdown provided below can provide some insight for other aspiring tourists.

There are also a few points to keep in mind to help explain why we chose what we chose:

• The goal of our bikes is to have the ability to not only function as a fully loaded touring bike, but also as one that was still fly down a wicked single track when the opportunity presents itself and as low maintenance as possible;
• We chose to build our own bikes because we are both bike geeks, wanted the challenge, and wanted to learn how to piece a bike together;
• No we are not rich, but felt it was worth spending a little more upfront on really good parts that in theory should last us longer;
• We are fortunate to have a good friend of ours who is a skilled bike mechanic to help us;
• We were able to get many of our parts at cost rather than at retail to make this process more affordable; and
• Yes, you can build your own, high quality touring bike for a lot less (see GoingSlowly’s Gear Page), just have to keep in mind what you personally want out of your bike.

Keeping the above points in mind, some key investments we have chosen include the following:

• Rohloff Speedhub: this internal hub allows one to shift on the fly (yes, even when stopped, ideal for when you forget to downshift at a light in traffic), also very low maintenance and eliminates the need front and rear derailleur and cassette.
• Fox Vanilla Front Suspension Fork: to absorb the bumps of the road and trails rather than being relayed to our bodies and wrists. This model is a higher end coil fork versus an air shock which requires less maintenance and has lock-out capabilities.
• Chris King Headset: are hands down one of the best headsets available on the market and the company believes this as well by offering a 10-Year Warranty.
• Brooks Saddles: I honestly can not find a bad review of these saddles from anyone who has given them an honest chance, since we are on these bikes all day, a good saddle is essential. Interested in a giggle, check out this review.

If we were to pick a touring bike on the market right now that is similar to the ones we built it would have to be the Thorn Sterling (actually if we lived in the UK, we’d likely have purchased this bike). The Sterling retails for £2,999 which converts to $4,635 CAD  (and doesn’t include shipping across the pond). We built our bikes for roughly $4,575 each which includes a few extra parts, and hand built wheels. Our total is around $10,830 which includes tools, racks, panniers and a few spare parts.

Category	Item	Brand	Part Description	#	Review	Total (CAD)
Frame		Kona	Explosif 18”	2		$1,050
Steering	Fork	Fox	32 Vanilla RLC	2		$1,330
	Headset	Chris King	1 1/8” Threadless	2		$386
	Stem	Race Face	Evolve XC	2		$42
	Handlebar	Evo	Double butted riser bar	M		$19
		Truvativ	Stylo World Cup Riser Bar	K		$36
	Grips	Ergon	GC3 *	2		$158
	Bike Labour	-	Installation of headset	2		$108
Drive Train	Pedals	Evo	Alloy MTB (SPD Clipless)	K		$10
		Time	Allroad Gripper (Clipless)	M		$68
	Chain Ring	Race Face	40 tooth DH Chainring	2		$50
	Speedhub	Rohloff	500/14 SpeedHub Threaded Spindle	2		$3,202
	Cranks	Shimano	SLX 104/64 mm	2		$315
	Chain	SRAM	PC 890 Speed Chain with Power Link	2		$46
	Bike Labour	-	Installation of Rohloff	2		$0 (donated)
Seat/Saddle	Seat Post	Race Face	Evolve	M		$23
			Deus XC	K		$80
	Saddle	Brooks	B17 S Imperial	K		$152
			B17 Standard	M		$143
			Proof Ride Wax	2		$39
Brakes	Brakes	Avid	Disk Brake BB7	2		$220
	Brake Levers		Speed Dial SL Brake Levers	2		$84
	Brake Pads		Avid BB7 Brake Pads	8		$105
	Brake Rotors	Rohloff	160mm 4 Bolt (Avid/Hayeys Compatible)	3		$294
Wheels	Wheel Part	DT Swiss	Centre Lock Adapter	2		$49
	Rims		X455	4		$152
	Front Hub	Shimano	Deore XT 32H Centre Lock	M		$35
			SLX	K		$27
	Tires	Maxxis	Mountain Bike Tire: Ignitor Tire, Foldable	4		$131
		Schwable	Marathon Kevlarguard Tire	2		$50
			Marathon Plus Smartguard Tire	4		$147
	Bike Labour	-	Wheel Build (incl. spokes, rim tape…)	4		$584
	Tube	Kenda	Presta 26×1.5/1.70	4		$9
Sub-total						$9,145
Tools	Tools	Rohloff	Tool – Cog Removal	1		$58
			Tool to Indicate Sprocket Wear	1		$40
	Multi-Tool	Topeak	ALiEN II (26 tools)	1		$0 (gift)
	Pump	Lezyne	Micro Floor Drive HGV	1		$29
Panniers	Rear	Ortlieb	Back Roller Plus	K		$273
			Bike Packer Plus	M		$274
	Front		Front Roller Plus	2		$333
	Handlebar Bag		Ultimate5 Plus (M)	K		$133
	Map Case		Map Case (M)	K		$24
	Camera Insert		Camera Insert (M)	K		$33
Racks		Old Man Mountain	Rear – Red Rock	2		$219
			Front – Sherpa	2		$269
Total						$10,830
M = Item for Mike’s Bike | K = Item for Karen’s Bike

* Note regarding Ergon: We found out that only the large size of these grips are distributed in North America (no thanks to the horrible customer service we received from their North American Marketing and Sales rep.) so we ordered them from an on-line bike store based out of Europe (Chain Reaction Cycle) to get the smaller size.

More photos can be viewed here.

Original website:- http://twowheeledwanderers.