Building up a frame

Soooo I kinda want to hook myself up with a decent freeride or at least trailbike with decent travel, but I know I don't have the funds for the suggestions that are thrown around in here.

Right now I'm riding a fisher hardtail with Deore components. Would it be feasible for me to find a decent frame on ebay and transfer as much as possible over to the frame. Then hopefully I'll have a nice frame and I can upgrade as things break/money comes along.

What would I definately need to change out right away going from a tassajara? I know the Pilot XC fork won't have enough travel and will throw off the geometry.

Basically, is it worth it to look for frames and try this or will I just end up needing to throw in more money then I can afford. (I'm thinking in a month or 2 I can have $700 for a frame (w/ rear shock) and fork, hopefully build up a ridable bike from there)

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Originally Posted by XtrPickels

What would I definately need to change out right away going from a tassajara? I know the Pilot XC fork won't have enough travel and will throw off the geometry.

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Depends on what you buy.... But here's a few things.

Is the bottom bracket shell the same width (or does your bottom bracket let you go either 68 or 73mm)?

What kind of bar and stem do you have? Crappy stem can screw up even the best bike.

Do you have discs? My assumption is yes, but if you don't, you will want them if you're upgrading.

What size is the seatpost, what size does the new frame take? This is somewhat cheap to fix, but something to think about.

too many parts that might not fit right (like crash said)

also the F derailer can be differnt sizes, and top or bottom pull.

not worth parting things, just sell what you have and buy what you want. The PITA factor is way too high

if you want to really be happy with your end product, happy for a long time and not just happy in the moment of completion and posting of e-pics,

here's what I'd suggest.

- choose a frame based on what you know you ride and will be riding. while flights of fancy have many folks thinking they'll be Darren Berrecloth Jr if they get the right burly bike, most of those folks end up not riding their burly bike much because it pedals poorly, climbs slowly and painfully, and basically is too niche-bound. TRANSLATION: if you're talking about a burly FR rig, ratchet back a notch on the "burly" unless you plan to have two bikes.

- tried and true durable parts give more satisfaction in the riding of the bike than those chi-chi jewelry parts that makes the gomers go OOH AAAH JEALOUSY! for example, a Shimano LX crankset/BB works amazingly well and is very light and durable for its price, even though Joe Gnarcore is telling you you need Race Face Diabolus baby! same with FSA headsets vs Chris King Bling.

- platform damping has changed the landscape of full suspension bikes. previous poor performing singlepivots now are very rideable if the rear shock is tuned well. ignore the fools who say you have to get FSR or Horst Link, ignore the hype behind Giant "Maestro" and Santa Cruz "VPP" and just give their lower-priced lower-status brethren a try. you might be very surprised.

- don't get caught up in the bad nomenclature surrounding "Upgrading" because in 99% of the uses I've seen/heard, "upgrade" generally results in more money spent for NO REAL IMPROVEMENT IN PERFORMANCE.

on specific components, I have lots of suggestions coming from lots of experience trying things in FS and HT settings. the basic rules are what I've said above. for specifics, ask away!

before you start shuffling parts, see what you think you can sell your current built bike for on ebay. you may be able to put that money into something more effectively, since alot of the parts you have won't fit etc...

I'm always in favor of building up a bike on my own, rather than buying a pre-built bike. That said, some of your existing parts won't fit, as nearly everyone has pointed out. With a little homework, you should be able to identify the sizing of your current parts, and what sizes you will need for the build. Most, if not all, measurements are available somewhere online, you just need to look for them. If there are several different frames that you're looking at, and there isn't one you want more than another, you could do a comparison for which will be the cheapest build in the long run. I built a complete bike last year, and got nearly all of the parts off ebay. If you have a little patience, you can generally find parts there for a deal...all depends on how soon you want the bike. If you start now, you've got time to look for deals.