Are you an experienced mountain biker who has a difficult time finding the right bike? Have you ever wanted to just give up altogether and simply build your own? As it turns out, that is both easier and more complicated than ever. Easier in that there are now so many components available that you can definitely construct your own ride right down to any specification that you set. On the other hand, it is more challenging because there are so many parts and pieces to sort through, it can become extremely difficult to decide which ones are right for you. Thankfully, we have Gear Junkie on the case, with a recent article that explains exactly how to build your best mountain bike.
Written by adventure racer, endurance athlete, rider, and all-around badass Chelsey Magness, this guide provides some really handy tips for assembling your own bike. Chelsey elected to do just that when she found it challenging to find one that fit her small 5'1″ (155 cm) frame. Being a woman and finding just the right bike is difficult enough, but finding one when you're short can be really challenge, particularly when you don't want to go shopping in the kids section. With a little encouragement from her racing partner and husband, Chelsey set off to build her own bike from scratch, learning quite a lot along the wya.
In the article you'll discover that not all the tips are about which frame to buy or component set to attach to it. Quite the contrary, as the author recommends things like doing your homework first to learn as much as you can about the parts you want to use. She also recommends developing constraints, otherwise you'll have a really hard time sorting through all of the possible options that are available. By this, she means put together the criteria that you want out of your bike and build to that specification, rather than just going with the trial and error method. All that said, Chelsey says to expect plenty of swapping out components along the way, as you'll be doing a lot of testing to see what works and what doesn't. And if you're not a great bike mechanic yourself, be sure to find someone who is.
The latter half of the article includes the breakdown of the components that made up Chelsey's bike once it was eventually built. That includes the frame she went with, as well as the wheels and tires, component set, dropper post, and so much more. These are items that worked for her however, so we'll all need to find our own should we embark on a similar project.
All in all, a very interesting read for mountain bikers who like to tinker and may be thinking of building their own next bike.
