Ken wrote:

chrisfreeman wrote in
news:MbtZd.20682$y%.15628 @fe07.lga:

Are there any significant savings to be had in building up a bike
versus purchasing a complete bike at the LBS?

No. Even if you troll EBay for bargains, you are not likely to find
new components for less than a complete bike package. The reason to
build a bike up from parts is that you get to choose exactly what
parts (brands, models, sizes, etc.) that you want. You may also have
parts from old bikes that you want to re-use (especially wheels).

I think this is true. As I said, you might find a bargain on a component group,
but the real bargains are in full bikes. I bought an Ultegra bike with less
than 500 miles on it for much less than the components would have cost, even
well used. It's not hard to find practically new bikes for less than half their
retail value. It's like new cars but worse, they depreciate like crazy the
minute they leave the dealer.

Matt O.