A fully custom BMX bike is every riders dream. I remember how happy I was when I dropped $1500 on a fat list of parts from danscomp.com
. I’m going to write out a post helping you get through the process. It’s not cheap and finding parts in the right color can be hard. I can help!
1. Choosing the Parts
This is sooo 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.
Color Testing Tools
I wrote a post about 3 BMX Color Apps that you NEED to use.
This is amazing. Literally has everything you need to make a sick looking bike.
https://www.kunstform.org/en/bmx_configurator_v2.php
I like the quality of this one a lot. However, the colors are a little more limited.
Finding the Colors you want
Most websites will have a little option on the sidebar that allows you to sort by color. So you can sort through the colors you want. I recommend building a bike based on specs and let color and weight be secondary.
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.
Learn about BMX specs with my E-book!
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 Danscomp 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?”
1000’s of parts on sourcebmx.com
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.
If you have no idea what you’re doing and have never build a custom bike. Reach out to me on Instagram @bmxdouglaslaird and I can chat with you and help you with the really hard parts. Like putting in a bottom bracket or putting together cranks with the right spacers. I’m happy to help.
You don’t have to reach out because youtube has an unlimited supply of how-to videos and I’m sure you will be able to get it put together from there.
The last option is to reach out to your local bike shop or a homie. The bike shop will probably charge you a little bit, and it’s kinda disrespectful… I’d only recommend doing this if you bought the parts through them.
