Congrats on the Appaloosa. You got this! I have to say that I'm sorry for the prices you're seeing, $150 to put these few elements together out of a shipping box wherein another professional mechanic completed the build and then partially disassembled the bike for packing strikes me as unfair.
+1 on bike stand, check your local craigslist and Marketplace. A cheap and less-than-ideal unit will be hugely beneficial. You can upgrade later if you want. This will be hugely helpful for future maintenance work and might encourage your confidence for swapping components in the future. My first bike stand was a funky platform I built that clamped to a 6' step ladder. +10000 on the Park Tool YouTube and Calvin's how-to vids, they can help with every component If in the future you're starting with a bare frame, look at tons of pics of other builds to get an idea about how everything fits. One common problem I see with people new to builds is running housing too short! The Rivendell page at Blue Lug has lots of great references for all types of bars and shifter combos. https://bluelug.com/bike-catalog/model/rivendell-bicycle-works/ I realize you already have housing and the chain installed from Riv but on the same note of housing, keep in mind that Appaloosas are looong bikes. You'll need extra long rear shifter cables and extra lengths of chain if starting from scratch :0) Get it all roughed in, if you have any friends who you trust to wrench see if they can help out or check the bike over. No shame in having a shop look it over for peace of mind as far as safe installation. Make sure those quick releases are properly clamped on the wheels, too! Cheers, Eric On Wednesday, October 23, 2024 at 2:33:08 PM UTC-4 Benjamin Kelley wrote: > Another +1 for doing it yourself. > Checkout the Park Tools youtube channel. All of those items will be > covered there. > https://www.youtube.com/parktool > > --ben in KC > > On Wed, Oct 23, 2024 at 1:28 PM Edwin W <[email protected]> wrote: > >> Dan, >> >> You should DEFINITELY do it yourself... but not to save money! You will >> learn a great deal, but of course "tuition comes in many forms." You will >> pay dearly with long hours, buying new tools, taking forever to do simple >> steps, etc... and at the end you will have your very own bike that you put >> together and all of the fame and fortune that will be showered on to you by >> admiring fans. OK, no fame or fortune, but you will learn a lot for ongoing >> maintenance and if you are all like me, you will walk taller and be proud >> of what you have accomplished! >> >> Good luck and let us know how it turns out, >> >> Edwin >> >> On Wednesday, October 23, 2024 at 1:00:45 PM UTC-5 [email protected] >> wrote: >> >>> >>> I’ve been doing all my bike building for 40+ years. I taught myself a >>> fair bit from books, but learned more hanging out in a friend’s bike shop. >>> There’s a lot that’s not intuitive, but we have the advantage of YouTube >>> videos now. A few tips: >>> >>> Rule 1: Grease all close fitting or threaded metal-to-metal contact, >>> especially steel to aluminum contact. Pedal threads, seat posts, and >>> handlebar stems are particularly critical points. If you don’t grease >>> these, at some point electrolytic corrosion will make them seize up >>> permanently. Get a tube of bicycle grease or waterproof marine grease. >>> >>> A bike stand makes this a LOT easier. I did my first bikes by standing >>> them upside down. I’ve got two bike stands today. >>> >>> Pedals are easy- you need a 15mm wrench, and you should know that the >>> left side pedal has a left-hand thread. >>> >>> Handlebar stems: You need a 6mm Allen wrench, aka hex key. >>> Brakes and shifters: Generally a 5mm allen wrench >>> >>> You’ll need a proper cable cutter and some crimp-on cable ends for the >>> brake and derailleur cables. Don’t try to cut them with ordinary side >>> cutters. >>> >>> On Wednesday, October 23, 2024 at 1:37:54 PM UTC-4 Dan wrote: >>> >>>> So my beautiful Appaloosa has arrived. I am practically foaming at the >>>> mouth as I type. As I am sure most of you are aware, Rivendell sends >>>> complete bikes mostly built with the exception of the stem, seat tube >>>> saddle and pedals. I originally planned on bring my bike to a shop to have >>>> them complete the build for me but after some shopping around, the shops >>>> will charge a full build fee which averages around $150. That is far too >>>> much for such little work in my opinion. >>>> >>>> I am no bike mechanic. I have always enjoyed tinkering though so I have >>>> half a mind to attempt to put the rest together myself and then bring it >>>> to >>>> a shop to be tuned, which would cost much less than a "full build". >>>> >>>> Should I go ahead and give it a shot? I have access to the proper >>>> tools, I just do not know where to start and obviously do not want to >>>> damage anything in the process. >>>> >>> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "RBW Owners Bunch" group. >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >> email to [email protected]. >> To view this discussion visit >> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/8ca037c9-f689-4c4d-b824-34581d93e8e3n%40googlegroups.com >> >> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/8ca037c9-f689-4c4d-b824-34581d93e8e3n%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> >> . >> > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. 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