Built Not Bought | Is A DIY MTB A TERRIBLE Idea!?

Built Vs Bought is the age-old question but can you really build a hardcore hardtail at home? Blake Samson did just that and the Crab was born. Join him out in the Forest of Dean as he compares a brand spanking new Hardcore Nukeproof Scout hardtail to his very own DIY Mountain Bike build to see which one he prefers!
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[@rusty2222]

Everyone should build a bike at least once. It's the best way to understand your bike.

[@itsbigwolf6452]

True that

[@jamiestevens9814]

Agreed.

[@jackcampbell6779]

Meaning just build it up from the frame right?

[@itsbigwolf6452]

@@jackcampbell6779 it depends. It's ur bike, u can build the whole thing or just maybe get a frame and get ur own parts ye. Sounds fun ye🤙

[@alexanderkyte4675]

“Everyone should weld” is a big ask

[@hampadyakertikyoski]

More hatdtail videos please! Blake, you are the Jedi of hardtails! 🤘🤘🤘

[@gmbn]

You got it! Blake is always up for a hardtail vid!

[@matt_acton-varian]

Great to see The Crab back! I reckon if the frame wasn't off-centre you would be pushing it a bit harder with more confidence. And looking at the surface rust I think that Crabbie needs a paint job to protect it. Steel can ride pretty plush so I am not surprised it did better than you expected.

[@gmbn]

Yeah, it's a little sketchy sending it on a homemade bike. 😂 The Crab goes well though! 🔥🤘

[@elmomos]

Rusty "rat rod" look is nice! There's some specific clear paints to stop the corrosion and mantain this look

[@WolfAs243]

You can feel how much Blake enjoys riding and having fun with his bikes! Great vid GMBN !! A fan from DRC...

[@gmbn]

Thanks for watching! We're stoked you enjoyed this one! 🤘

[@j.albertogratacos2076]

Aside from which is better, building has taught me so much. The process is full of decisions which you need to gain expertise on every step of the way.

[@scruf153]

yet it is more fun than decorating a house or room

[@vadecoriffs2327]

Man Blake just puts a smile on your face, even if you've had a bad day. Cheers mate, you guys are the best!😎🤘🏻

[@keithancedricd.manabat7479]

You should call Sam Pilgrim for the job

[@jameswilson2815]

Blake, you are an amazing human being. What can't you ride? I ride a Scout and it's because of your stoke. And absolutely loving it. Anytime you're in Hawaii, look me up. Mahalo and Aloha

[@Seppster58]

Love this comparison. And how did I miss that previous build video and epic bike packing on "The Krab". Went and watched it and is was "astonishing"!! LOL. Love the Blake vids!!

[@gmbn]

Glad you enjoyed it, Steve! 🤘

[@deanohit]

I love any hardtail videos. Maybe a vid idea would be to take the Crab back into the shed and see if you can correct the alignment, a Crab 2.0. Cause we want to see it bought out so much more! 😁

[@joshuadaggerhomeaccount6224]

ive never built a bike before i just dont think i have enough mechanic skills to build on from frame up love the content blake

[@nukedathlonman]

It's not that bad really - it's nearly like lego only you get to ride it after. 🙂

[@yengsabio5315]

In my case, I will acquire the assistance of a bike mechanic for my future build. For now, I'm okay with my bought bike.

[@gmbn]

Hey Joshua! It's such an awesome thing to do. It's a relatively simple process, but if you get stuck, you can always take it to a bike shop. We have a tonne of videos you could use to help you out.

[@johnpaulgetongo735]

Built my own bike. Xc frame with a rigid fork. At first I bought bontrager se5 tires for it with little to almost no more clearance on the frame 😅 I really love the look of downhill bikes with those small drivetrains and big burly tires

[@scudy4]

I'd like to see Blake have another go at building one, now he's had a bit more practice after all the fab in the van! I love how "I'm not gonna push it that hard" and continues to go down a trail that looks rough as a**holes lol

[@chiefsilverback]

I'm sure someone could lend him a jig and proper tube bending tools this time.

[@stewartjackson1821]

I built up an sworks enduro year's ago and spent more buying part's than if I had bought a built bike, but I did learn loads about how to fix and maintain a bike, so all my bikes have been bought since 🙌

[@sentry_rider2573]

Love the fact you stitched the two trails Wormhole and corkscrew together. I recently brought a hardtail frame as a trial to see how I would do. And I have to say coming from a full sus to my now beast of a bike is amazing. So different. Oh also uploaded to bike vault 😂😂

[@johnnysilverhandisliterallyme]

Was having a bad day, saw how energetic blake is to explain the difference Days good now. But honestly I'd say it's always a better idea to buy a frame and build the bike from the ground up, it always helps to choose components right down to my needs

[@linusnilsson2734]

Would be cool with a episode where you fix the crabbing and give it a paint job :)

[@KPOPIVESTEVE]

Having brought countless bikes over the years. Last year I built my own Nukeproof scout 290 2022. I would say that a built one is far better as you know its tailored to me. Sram RSC Codes brakes front and rear. 225 front, rear 180mm. Cant get that kind of quality on a brought bike. So Built is better. Good video GMBN.

[@GrafRamolo]

Crab is the best!!!! I would love to build one for myself since I own cnc shop but I will choose titanium.

[@davidadamus177]

Built vs bought, thought this was going to be a cost/benefits analysis of which is better. Dude welds his own frame!

[@evilkeithnevil]

How much of that enjoyment is down to the self built factor and having something that not many people could do? I built a front frame for a myst before the mullet version came out, and the buzz from riding that and having everyone ask about it was more than any bought bike I've owned. Sadly, it didn't survive as i made some school boy errors. But that's the fun of prototyping and mk2 is on it's way. Blake, if it breaks, see what you can learn from it and make it better. There's no better feeling than riding your own creation. But looking at what it can handle already, i think you're on a winner there.

[@junka1975]

Blake's crab might not inspire the confidence of the Nukeproof but you can tell how chuffed he is that he built it and so far it's holding up well.

[@jonathananderson1728]

I wouldn't worry about your welds breaking, if aluminum can withstand rock gardens so can your welds

[@boblazar1976]

OK GMBN getting back to earth, its been all rich boy stuff since like forever.....now talking building, some budget stuff would be humbling for them.

[@PersonGamma]

You should get NDT carried out on the built bike to see how it’s holding up. You should be able to see any stress cracks and then tailor it

[@metalmuchkin1342]

Where did you get the red callipers from? I like them alot

[@goldenmath4091]

Building my own electric/folder/BMX/MTB style bike, as in making. jigs, cutting tube designing.. can't beat it if you make it yourself, I can't get what I want, so I wanna make it..else, I'd buy it Blake makes any bike look fun tbh!

[@nickmassey9104]

Blake you gotta get 'the crab' to a frame builders to let it be tweeked straight ./ aligned head tube reinforce gusset then reeeeeeeeaaaly let it rip 🙏

[@dicksplatts007]

Blake just a thought but why don't you weld a gusset between the top type and down tube on the head tube join and a little gusset under the down tube? Adding triangle gussets will greatly improve the strength and reduce the chance of the head tube saying goodbye

[@rgd1977]

I wanted to build my own hardtail but then I saw CRC had the Scout Elite 275 for £1600 reduced from £2500. That’s cheaper than the sum of its parts plus I get a warranty, so I bought that instead.

[@nikoheinonen7815]

Nice to see Crab again. You could fix it too?

[@danielmueller3928]

Love seeing the samson shredding dem hardtails 💥💥💥 the rat is pure on point beauty 🔥🔥🔥🔥

[@dvs620]

Wonder if Blake has thought about version 2.0 that’s straight this time. Get with a bike builder to correct his mistakes and let him give it a go again.

[@Fatgunner]

I love the Crab it’s the fact you hand built it yourself and still use it.

[@wenschobert]

I had a Nukeproof Mega cracking several times on me. the thing with bought bikes is: you have to cut costs at some points. and with aluminium there's three grades - the difference: how closely the material is inspected. You can have the cheapest material and might still be lucky, that it holds up okay - you can be mid tier and crack your frame on several occasions... And if we are talking Carbon Fibre - well many frames have "weak points", where the companies tried to shave off a bit too much, just for weight savings sake. My BMC Road bike had both chainstays broken - repaired it, built new chainstays... now it's the strongest and stiffest bmc in the world (but 70g heavier than all of it's siblings... let me just have a loo before starting the ride)

[@JoshAllenberg]

Steel is easy. Just do a couple test welds on some tubing cutoffs As long as you have penetration to the other side and little undercut, you're good. The only time welding mild steel gets difficult is when you're trying to bond to other metals

[@bildo99ify]

Given only a small dataset, and incomplete distribution, I can postulate that the chance of a weld failing on the Crab is: 0.00734565 : 1050. With a sigma of 1.2, of course. 🧑‍🔬

[@chiefsilverback]

A lot of people are commenting on building bikes i.e. buying a frame and components and putting them all together yourself, they are missing that Blake actually built the frame from raw metal tubes. Maybe adding "frame" the to title would help - "Is a DIY MTB FRAME A TERRIBLE idea"...

[@Mo.Jo.MTB_101]

Well Blake did Mega on a Mega and on a Scout... Time for the crab to go to Alp d'Huez... ;-) ;-P

[@Vultite]

Flow trails with a hardtail is the way to have fun!

[@willblundell2250]

Built my own full sus for 400 when I was 14 no way I could’ve got smt that good that cheap and got the same experience

[@DirtbikeGoon]

I am 14 rn and I am welding up a steel full suspension frame I'm basing the frame off a yeti sb150 but I am making a few changes

[@DirtbikeGoon]

I making it out of mild steel like Blake did but I know how to weld really well have been doing it for years and I know for a fact that I can trust my welds

[@jerryspeedbumps512]

I was able to build a better bike for less from scratch. There was a lot of shopping around. Many pieces came from international sellers. The bike is way better than what if have gotten for the same price and I have more of a connection with it! 1x11 for savings! You can still get your 50t granny gear!

[@jerryspeedbumps512]

@GIobalmountainbikenetwork. I just need to telegram right?

[@marc007]

Hello Blake i love your videos I wanted to ask what handlebar width you ride? a nice day Greetings Marc

[@ryancampbell5246]

He did a video a couple of years ago saying he rides 750 and 760. Might have changed though

[@bobothericefarmer1878]

Bought is more affordable but being able to build ur bike just gives u a sense of victory and it’s up to ur standards

[@Happy_Biker]

@Blake any thoughts on steel vs. aluminium

[@beauharvey8138]

Now you should build a full suspension DIY (haha)

[@lolandypanda]

Let's go on bike packing trip all around the entire island :)

[@Titot182]

Is that a Dean Forest Cycles sticker I see on the seat tube? Wormhole DOES look pretty jokes on a hardtail

[@joshuamyers4690]

I would love to see someone from GMBN build a bamboo bike frame. It would be cool to show alternative bike frame materials.

[@alexescobedo5687]

What is mounted on the stem?

[@qualm43]

I'd love to one day build a steel hardtail in the garage.

[@anitalandkroon]

Great video 😃 maybe give a nice color to your self built bike 😎I suggest Pink 😎

[@gmbn]

Cheers! Pink would POP so nicely! 🔥

[@charles_1523]

I need more German Blake in my life

[@psiakrew8367]

What I'm actually doing is to build a bike on a store bought frame, and I'm riding a hardtail

[@dummkompf]

I think the whole reason that the bike industry convinces us to keep adopting new standards is to make it uneconomical for people to build a new bike from their old upgraded components

[@HaywardFamilybuilding]

Nuke proof scout HardTail vs. Santa Cruz Chameleon?

[@ianmangham4570]

Its too easy to build bikes today with disc brakes ready to go ,you can get a local shop to fit any cups /shells /bearings then the rest is easy for d.i.y man unless he struggles with derailleur cable but shop will help 🤟🤠💯👍

[@kaltonian]

I'm a bit meticulous to say the least & have pretty much always built my own, the last bike i ordered really suprised me on how well it had been assembled, so my experience was good.

[@kevkerryrennie2247]

I reckon Blake should let Sam Pilgrim experience the Crab.

[@_mgiles]

Build another !

[@markyp1965]

Chatted to Blake when he was filming this and I can confirm that the Crab weighs a ton.

[@mtb717]

Nice handmade bike! Do you have video with building this bike? In Ukraine there is a man who built enduro full suspension frame

[@timcooke6062]

There was a Blake builds a hard tail video or few videos if you have a search on gmbn channel you should see it

[@mtb717]

@@timcooke6062 thank you

[@OverMotoren]

So if it's only the weld quality that sets these two apart, Built does come out pretty damn good!

[@stevenconnor4221]

Two great bikes, its because you made and welded you have insecurities about it, keep riding it and pushing it. Jeez I remember having a Peugeot anaconda hardtail MTB back in the day that was brazed together. (That did have a hairline crack at the bottom of the downtube, which incidentally was replaced and upgraded to the latest frame from Peugeot for nothing - thanks Peugeot. Good video

[@superchickensoup]

Well there is a difference between bough and built. The build standard of most bought bikes are shocking, high end bikes from high end bike shops will mostly be ok, but your 0-3k bought bike will often be crap, lifted out of a box and quick PDI, hose lengths to long, no frame alignment checks, like head tube facing, BB facing, brake mount facing ect ect, lots of BB's and brake mounts on frames have paint on them 🤦‍♂️ big no no. You will find your machine built wheels spokes will come lose and likely won't be that true. The sad thing is most people dont realise this and just hand over their hard earned cash.

[@LordBelakor]

Hardtail god Blake on it again

[@gmbn]

🤘

[@pitronezitrone]

yes

[@MrKOenigma]

4:36 Hallo, mein Fahrrad heißt Butterblume?

[@newday89]

First off .. I respect this guy! Former pro.. great guy , etc.. I am certified welder. I loved his bike build series! I love the fact he made this doing a comparison… however, I think he needs to stop! Reweld the bike before continuing… I would hate for this guy to get hurt.

[@stuartm4339]

After about 3 years the last Keurig stopped working kzbin.infoUgkxBrV-RbF5Nk0Rlt9i15aao-YMzqzTG8Vf initially was able to unblock, however eventually we couldn't fix. That one was a replacement unit sent by the manufacturer after we had problems with our very first Keurig. This works fine (lol, at least for now) however I didn't realize the water reservoir was so much smaller than our prior unit. With 2 people having one or two cups of coffee each morning, it seems like I'm refilling it daily. Otherwise just happy to have the convenience of pod coffee vs. making a morning pot.

[@scruf153]

I am building a gravel bike my first bike build just tired of buying poorly built bikes

[@Alex2OC]

Raymonds Tubeing? Decently CroMo

[@DrDalen]

Lots of mic noise on this, like clothes rubbing against mic when you´re moving. First time I have reacted to bad sound on any GMBN-video! (Ok! I am a sound engineer by profession…)

[@enduro-carlos]

Butterblume 😍

[@paulbernard2397]

Was a little confused about the premise of this video initially, not watching everything you put out. The only thing that comes through it is that maybe you should have taken more care if you got the chance to make a frame. Maybe make another one with the experience you gained and learn from your mistakes and then you could actually make a video that was comparing apples for apples. A more fair test would be the bike you made against a piece of crap bike you bought and aren't sure of?

[@mellissanash7517]

Maybe have the bike you built checked out by a local bike builder to rate your work?

[@reddotmoto5607]

Why not use a Tig welder, im an apprentice as a welder and my dream is to mane my own aluminium frame some day.

[@simonm1447]

Tig welding is not that simple. Of course it's the right choice for a bike if the welder is used by a professional, but a DIYer probably won't be really successful with it. A Mag welder is relatively simple to use in comparison. But just go on and make your own proper frame one day with a Tig welder, such projects are awesome.

[@MTBLabb]

Blake there is too much rust on your built bike you need to clean it off and clear coat the whole bike or it will fall apart within the year especially in outdoor weather

[@nukedathlonman]

Naw - it can't be heavy: it's just got more ground gripping mass. LOL 😀

[@srstrand01]

Obviously the choice is "bought." It was likely provided by a sponsor. They might not approve if you chose "Built."

[@thedford]

more built!!!

[@00networker]

Id build my bike with my kit all day long

[@Tobywan83]

I'd guess that the built one can be repaired in the same garage where it was build. Whereas the bought one can't.

[@simonm1447]

As long as it's not a mid drive E bike you can repair everything in your garage. With E bikes it can become difficult if you need diagnosis computers or don't get electronic spare parts that simple. Assembling a bike don't even needs that much tools, it's mainly skills

[@leogoughmtbs]

👍

[@dasanoneia4730]

blake ur quiet amazing

[@stx333]

Like you and your vids a lot, this time however it’s only fair if you admit you were not comparing apples to apples at all.

[@albertorobinson7611]

Hard core

[@tbtb7517]

Hardtail gang

[@ShannonSouthAfrica]

I wouldn't ride a bike that I built....

[@bikedude019]

Terrible analysis… you can’t compared two different bike frames based on custom built versus store bought. You missed the point.

[@kevchard5214]

Come on Blake you are comparing a $100 steel bike to a $6000 carbon bike. Not a fair comparison.

[@simonm1447]

Steel is real, and carbon is plastic

[@MrFuckinlogin]

mezzer :)

[@erickverdera4221]

I think that mezzer needs some propper tuning..

[@raivkka4313]

Sorry to hear Blake build a piece of crap because a handbuilt bike specifically for your leg, torso and arm length make specifically for you needs should always be better than a generic build. Get better a welding Blake.

[@eltanoreatrevido7244]

BUILT.

[@Youngsoldier93]

1st

[@gmbn]

🥇🤘

[@implodingbaby]

2st

[@gmbn]

🥈👊

[@perramadreful]

Nukeproof is confidence, hook me up pls fam