Bike Build · Field Manual
Skim-sized guides for each job, written to read while you do other things — so the build feels familiar before a single spanner is turned, and so you know what to buy.
Roughly ordered easiest → hardest. The real difficulty isn’t the spanner work — it’s buying parts that match. These guides do that matching for you.
The pedal bearings. Screw two greased cups in — but the drive side is reverse‑threaded.
02 · Easy (cut) / shop (press)Un‑scaring the “press” thing: cutting = a saw, pressing = a one‑time shop job.
03 · Medium / fiddlyGetting the single chain dead‑straight and drum‑tight on the horizontal dropout.
04 · MediumCable, cassette joint, and lining up the yellow marks so the gears actually shift.
05 · Medium / safety‑criticalDeath by a thousand small adjustments — and it’s your stopping power, so get it right.
06 · Medium / one‑time / nervyGently spreading the steel rear end 132.5 → 135 mm to fit the Alfine, kept aligned.
07 · Hard / the craftHub + rim + spokes + nipples, laced and tensioned true. The real mountain — and the most satisfying skill to own.
Guides reflect the build as of June 2026 — verify torque specs and exact part numbers against the actual components when they arrive.