1. Choosing the Parts
This is so important. And I can’t stress this enough…
CHOOSE WISLEY. If you are going to build up the bike of
your dreams, you need to be patient and get exactly what
you want. With that being said, you need to have a rough
idea of what you want.
Color
Even before I had the money to buy a full complete bike,
I’d play with part customizers and try different colors.
It’s cool to see what your bike would look like with tiny
changes. This part is pretty hard because certain parts are only
available in certain colors. Nothing is more frustrating
than having gloss black as your theme and then only being
able to find a flat black part.
Weight
A lot of bmx riders aim for less than 25 lbs when building
a complete bike. The completes that you buy come close to
25 or 26. So building one for less is fully achievable.
Please don’t just buy the lightest parts and throw it together.
Unless you have a lot of money to test and replace.
Instead, find parts that are the specs that you want and then
compare quality and weight. I did this with my first complete.
I just bought the lightest parts…. and let me tell you.
I broke 2 frames in 4 months. Granted they were light. Just not cheap.
At the bottom of the page, I will leave a download link for
a spreadsheet that lets you fill out the parts, cost, and weight.
This will give you a rough estimate of how much it weighs and
how much it will cost.
Weight Tips
Stay away from hollow
usually hollow = light. But it snaps a lot easier. Just read up on
reviews when looking at a hollow part. People will usually say if
it’s any good or not.
Titanium is good It’s so expensive but it is really good. I ride a
lot of titanium and haven’t had many problems. Check the Tires
Surprisingly, tires can consume a lot of weight. So double-check
your tire weight and see if there is a cheaper and better option.
Specs
To me, this is the most important part when building a bike.
If you plan to spend thousands of dollars, you should get a
bike perfectly tailored to you. It’s like buying a suit that
doesn’t fit. Who would do that?
A complete bmx bike has so many different specs and it took
me over 5 years to actually understand what each thing means.
What is upsweep? What does chain stay mean?
Do I need a 48mm stem or a 52?
The truth is, it is impossible to answer all of these questions
without knowing your height, riding style, and preferences.
2. Buying the Parts
Now the easy part. Once you have picked out the parts you want,
ORDER THEM. Wanna know how I saved $250 when buying my complete?
I waited until rocketcitybmx had a 15% coupon. Patience will always win.
I’m not sure if they still do coupons. They used to even do 20% once
a year or so. Here’s the secret though. When you are spending this
much money, the bike shops love it. Most will do a 10% discount or
so on custom purchases. Just call and say something like
“Hey! I’m looking at spending $1500 on a custom complete.
I know what parts I want and I was just wondering what kind
of discount I could have if I bought them all from you?”
Chances are they will help you out just for supporting their shop.
Maybe money is tight and they can’t afford to help you out.
I’m sure they would be able to get you some gear and stickers for free.
If they won’t work with you, keep trying to find a shop that will.
Remember, you are making them a lot of money.
Remember: Check multiple stores and find the one that has the parts
for the best price! Usually, the prices are pretty consistent around all shops.
But you never know
3. Building the Bike
The final step is putting that bad boy together.
This is such a fun process because everything will come in a huge box.
Each opened box will contain more boxes.
After everything is open you need to put it all together.
This really is a job for an experienced rider.