Building a Full-Suspension Mountain Bike on a Budget (With a Little Help from My Friends)
- Jace
- Feb 26
- 5 min read
After successfully turning a free piece of roadside trash into my custom gravel commuter, I was officially itching for another project. I had the gravel bike dialed in, and I already have a nice road bike. But then it hit me: Shoot, I don't actually have my own mountain bike. If you watch the videos, you’ve probably seen me riding a black 2013 Specialized Camber or an orange 2016 carbon Stumpjumper. Those are my dad's bikes. Between him, my buddy Nigel, and our friend Cris all getting brand new bikes recently, the FOMO was getting real. I needed my own rig.
So, I set out on a new mission: Could I build a really nice, full-suspension mountain bike from scratch, entirely on a budget?
Here is how it all came together.
The Ultimate Hookup: Parts from Laura & A Frame from Ed
This entire build kicked off because of a massive stroke of luck. Huge shoutout to my friend Laura, who texted me completely out of the blue saying she had just upgraded her mountain bike and had a bunch of really nice extra parts laying around. She asked if I wanted them, and that was the easiest "yes" of my life.
Now I had a massive pile of premium components, but no frame to put them on. I knew I wanted full-suspension, so I started hunting.
After emailing six different local bike shops, Ed over at Rock N' Road in Anaheim Hills replied. He told me he was actually looking to get rid of his old carbon mountain bike frame and offered it to me for a super good price. My dad and I immediately hopped in the truck to go check it out. Ed walked me through the frame and even threw in some extra parts to seal the deal. Just like that, I had a carbon frame and a high-end component group, all for an absolute steal.
Build Day (Or, Watch Nigel Do Everything)
With the frame and parts ready to go, we set up a massive build day in the garage. I had my dad, my brother, and Nigel all over to help piece this Frankenstein carbon bike together.
I’ll be honest: if you watch the footage, it looks like Nigel is doing 90% of the work. By default, I am the designated cameraman for the SoCal Biking crew. So, I would set up a cool camera angle, and by the time I was ready to wrench, Nigel had already taken over and installed the part. But I promise you, I did actually help build this bike!
We made a ton of progress, including a quick mid-build run to the local shop for some new grips, spacers, and shift cables. But eventually, we hit a wall. We were missing a specific spacer, a new disc brake, and a very specific hydraulic brake hose. We had to call it a day.
The Surprise Finish at the Bike Shop
Because I needed that special brake hose, I dropped the bike off with Ed at Rock N' Road. I told him I just needed the hose ordered because I really wanted to learn how to install it and bleed the hydraulic fluid myself.
A few days later, I went to the shop to pick up the bike and the parts so I could finish the build at home. Ed looked at me and said, "Oh, I hope you don't mind, but my technician just put it all together for you."
I was a little bummed because I genuinely wanted to learn how to bleed hydraulic brakes, but honestly? I couldn't be mad. It was incredibly nice of them, and it meant the bike was 100% finished and ready to ride. Looking at it fully assembled in the shop... it just looks like an absolute boss.
The First Ride: Tackling Weir Canyon Loop
We took the new rig straight to the Weir Canyon Loop to test it out. We're super comfortable with this trail, so I was feeling ambitious. The plan? Go around two times—something we don't normally do.
The crew was ready. My dad was ready. Donnie joined us on his e-bike (though he immediately had some app and battery issues, sorry Donnie).
The climb felt great. I noticed a little clicking in the gears, but the shop warned me the new shift cable would just need to stretch out a bit. More importantly, climbing was so much easier clipping in with my new Shimano shoes. I originally got them for wet weather riding, but they handled the dry SoCal dirt perfectly.
Hitting the downhill was a blast. With dirt flying in my face, I was dodging Nigel (who decided to stop in the absolute worst spot on the trail) and just flowing. I have never felt so confident on a trail until now. The premium parts help, but honestly, it's mainly the tires. They just eat everything up. I hit that last section with more confidence than I ever have.
But remember how I was all excited to do two laps?
Yeah... honestly, it was a Sunday morning, I slept a little too much, and I just wasn't feeling a second lap. We called it at one.
It was an incredibly successful first ride. In fact, it was so successful that I completely shocked the crew (and got some massive eye rolls) when I announced that just the night before, I had already decided to build another bike. Stay tuned for that.
Oh Yeah...We Have Merch Now!
We just dropped our very first piece of apparel: an Independent Trading Co. branded hoodie perfect for the winter riding season. It’s got the new logo on the front, a custom patch design on the arm, and a graphic on the back. I am incredibly proud of how these turned out. If you want to support the channel and rep the anti-elitist cycling community, you can grab yours on our new Etsy shop.
At the end of the day, building bikes is fun, but just hanging out in the garage with my dad and my friends is what it’s all about. I’m so glad I get to share these moments with all of you.
Have you ever built a bike from scratch, or do you prefer buying them ready to ride? Let me know in the comments below, and don't forget to grab your SoCal Biking hoodie before our next group ride!
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