There are some riders who’ll tell you that you’re not a proper cyclist until you’ve built your own bike. 

That’s utter nonsense, of course, as plenty of excellent riders barely ever even pick up a wrench, but there is a certain level of gravitas that comes from riding around on a bike that started life in pieces on your garage floor.

Plus there are practical reasons to put a bike together yourself. If you want a particular spec, fancy an outlandish paint job or custom built frame or simply want to know how the parts go together so you can look after it properly, these are all very good reasons to start from scratch. Regular readers will know we enjoy putting together a bike build from time-to-time, whether it’s an alloy race bike, cyclo-cross bike or winter bike.

So if you’re thinking of building your own bike, rather than simply walking into a shop and picking a machine or clicking ‘buy’, but are in need of another reason to get you over the line, read on…