I have never had to do this before myself, but my Dad asked me to get him a quote today to have his bike serviced (he lives to far away for me to sort for him) and what I had back was this…..

Gears and brakes checked lubricated & adjusted.
Chain and drivetrain checked for wear.
Chain lubricated.
Tyres checked for wear, damage and inflated to pressure.
Wheels checked for alignment.
Steering checked for safety and adjusted if required.
Bearings – checked for wear
Bottom Bracket (and crank) removed, greased and refitted.
Seat post removed, greased and refitted.
Bearings re-greased (Excluding Sealed Bearing Units)
Gear cables replaced.
Adjust gears F&R
Brake Bleed Front & Rear (Hydraulic brakes only)
Gear hanger checked and tracked.
Advice given on any future issues

Grand total of £75 to have this done? Now not having had a quote before I have NO IDEA whether this is good or not???

I wouldn’t know, but that seems fair to me.

Agreed.’fair for the workload involved.

Probably about going rate nowadays, but its probably no more than an hour’s work (two hours max?) plus a tenner’s worth of parts for the cables?

Thats pretty good.A ‘standard’ service does’nt usually include bleeding brakes and replacing cables.
That would be £145 in Evan’s.

but its probably no more than an hour’s work

😆 You sound like my ex-boss

Ditto, my mum was talking about fixing up her retro 5 speed roadbike till I told her how much I would charge her-and it was the same amount.
If you could find a cheap return courier you could do it for him for cheaper…

Standard service that, and at a standard price.

Like I said

two hours max

and that includes coffee break 😉

Something similar the bike shop in Berwick last week – fifty quid including replacing a couple of seized chainring bolts and swapping forks. Nice job and chat with the mechanic as I picked up the bike. Come to Berwick!

Bleeding disc brakes is typically £12 an end where I live. Not sure about the rest of it, though, as usually I’m capable of doing the other bits.

Two hours max? £15 for consumables
£30 per hour for the wrenching.

Its not bad, but I only pay that for work on my car and van.

Looks like a good price to me….If you have no idea how to, or the desire to learn how to service a bike, I would say it is a good way to go.

I would also say that everything on that list isn’t that hard to do yourself. But I think it depends on how into maintaining bikes you are. Personally I got fed up with taking it to the LBS everytime something went wrong so i gradually learnt how to do these things with the help of Google,STW, Mates and Youtube vids etc. You have to buy the odd tool or bleed kit but I think it’s worth it in the long run.

Having said that your dad might not have the time etc so in that case £75 quid for the service is good.

Sorry for the rambling answer!

Should car servicing cost more than bike servicing per hour?Fixing computers is just pressing keys with no tools so that should be cheaper than either….but its not.What gives?

Should car servicing cost more than bike servicing per hour?Fixing computers is just pressing keys with no tools so that should be cheaper than either….but its not.What gives?

A typical car mechanic will need more tools and have undergone a longer training programme than your average bike mechanic. The level of competence may be similar, but the costs are higher.

And yeah, fixing computers is just pressing keys and should be cheaper – no skillz required there 😀

If you can’t do the job, you’ve got to pay someone to do it.

That seems like a fair price for the work involved. My LBS charges £15 per brake bleed alone.

Depending on the condition and quality of bike, that ‘basic stuff’ as listed above can turn into a right pain in the arse. Most peoples bikes are nothing like the quality owned by most of the STW regulars, nor are they looked after as well.

Pretty good value IF you have hydraulic brakes.

2 hours si pretty standard for an overhaul, when I was last doing them we charged £64 for e labour, which was cheap, so it looks fair to me.

Bear in mind you may not need all of that work done.

Gears and brakes checked lubricated & adjusted.
Chain and drivetrain checked for wear.
Chain lubricated.
Tyres checked for wear, damage and inflated to pressure.
Wheels checked for alignment.
Steering checked for safety and adjusted if required.
Bearings – checked for wear
Bottom Bracket (and crank) removed, greased and refitted.
Seat post removed, greased and refitted.
Bearings re-greased (Excluding Sealed Bearing Units)
Gear cables replaced.
Adjust gears F&R
Brake Bleed Front & Rear (Hydraulic brakes only)
Gear hanger checked and tracked.
Advice given on any future issues

To be fair, half of that is a load of old tosh and doesn’t need to be done/requires no skill. Actually, scrap that. Nothing on that list requires any skill, just some knowledge. If you pay for service, you are a chump. The knowledge is so readily available on the net these days there’s no excuse.

Gear hanger checked and tracked. LOL. Tracked indeed.

Actually, the longer I look at that list, the more BS I see and the angrier I get. Now I remember why I gave up with bikeshops and order online.

If you’re going to accurately check chain wear,and remove and replace bottom bracket and cranks,you’d ned to spend about £30 or more on tools,wouldn’t you?

standard service at my LBS is £45, full mega uber service is £80.

Why would they remove cranks or a sealed BB unless it needed replacing? And as for replacing a chain at 1%, I have the tool, but really it’s just a way to justify replacing a drive train isn’t it.

Apart from the changing of the cables and the bleeding of the brakes it’s all just pulling on parts and closing one eye to see if things are straight.

Still time is money and there are overheads to consider.

You didn’t say what sort of bike. For an older hybrid with unsealed bearings, then I’d say it’s fair. As mentioned, the list is somewhat padded. But crank removal, BB greasing, regreasing and adjustment of wheel bearings and headset, change of cables and possible new transmission due to worn chain would be 2hrs work. If the bike has hydraulic brakes, most bearings will be sealed, and service should be faster.

neilsonwheels – Member
Apart from the changing of the cables and the bleeding of the brakes it’s all just pulling on parts and closing one eye to see if things are straight.

LOL, everyone can do mechanics!

I despair 😐

Depends where in the country you are.
Doesn’t seem too OTT.

None of it is particularly difficult – IF you know what you’re doing and you have some decent tools.

Might take a shop mechanic a couple of hours and if you, as shop owner have to pay him a decent wage, have shop space, buy tools and pay yourself it’s fair enough in my book.

I use my LBS on occasion as I don’t always have the time to do stuff – they usually do a pretty good job and I find it’s worth it.

LOL,I agree with Al….again!!!!

I despair 😕

That’s pretty much a complete strip and rebuild. On a modern bike you wouldn’t touch the hubs (sealed bearings) but on an older bike you’d strip and rebuild them with new bearings.

Time, cost of the tools, mechanics wages, overheads, £75 is a pretty fair price for that lot. Problem is with describing it like that, most people assume it’s just looking at it and going “yep, that’s straight”

Wheel alignment means take off tyre/tube, put wheel in jig, true to within 0.2mm using all your acquired skill and experience and a very expensive wheel jig/dishing tool, tension spokes correctly, replace tyre and tube.
Whereas most people seem to assume it means glancing at it going round. Not worked in a bike shop have you?

c’mon guys “not that difficult” – for sure – if you know what you are doing, most punters don’t though, that’s why they pay for it 🙄

Time, cost of the tools, mechanics wages, overheads, £75 is a pretty fair price for that lot. Problem is with describing it like that, most people assume it’s just looking at it and going “yep, that’s straight”

Wheel alignment means take off tyre/tube, put wheel in jig, true to within 0.2mm using all your acquired skill and experience and a very expensive wheel jig/dishing tool, tension spokes correctly, replace tyre and tube.
Whereas most people seem to assume it means glancing at it going round. Not worked in a bike shop have you?

^^All of this^^

Of course, there are those who seem to think a bike shop should be a charity for their own benefit.

No changing of cable mentioned, only checking and lubing
Re-greasing of bearings – this would only be of benefit if you have C&C wheels, AFAIK nothing else would be done.
BB greased – 90% will be sealed units

Apart from where it says “Gear cables replaced” ?

No changing of cable mentioned, only checking and lubing

Gears and brakes checked lubricated & adjusted.
Chain and drivetrain checked for wear.
Chain lubricated.
Tyres checked for wear, damage and inflated to pressure.
Wheels checked for alignment.
Steering checked for safety and adjusted if required.
Bearings – checked for wear
Bottom Bracket (and crank) removed, greased and refitted.
Seat post removed, greased and refitted.
Bearings re-greased (Excluding Sealed Bearing Units)
Gear cables replaced.
Adjust gears F&R
Brake Bleed Front & Rear (Hydraulic brakes only)
Gear hanger checked and tracked.
Advice given on any future issues

Try reading before typing…

BB greased – 90% will be sealed units

Yes but taking it out of the frame, checking the threads and re-greasing those can help prevent a BB seizing in the frame which has the potential to wreck a frame. That’s what it means.

My brother bought a 2nd hand chainset, he took it to the LBS to be fitted.

The guy fitted it, adjusted the chain length, front mech, replaced gear cables (front and rear), straightened out his brake lever (it was on wonky) adjusted the brakes and checked the wheels for buckles. Cost about £35 I think, bargain.

Of course, there are those who seem to think a bike shop should be a charity for their own benefit.

And some who question why they are paying more for a semi-skilled service than for trained motor mechanics.

semi-skilled service

Oh right. So bike mechanics are “semi-skilled” are they?

😐

A couple of considerations for you;
Wages
Training costs
Utility bills
Tool costs
Tool replacement costs
Rent/Building overheads
Insurance liability cover
Making a bit of a profit

Of course, if you’re so supermadskilled then fix everything yourself. Not everyone is. Bike shops are there to fill that need, and for the most part they do so with very well trained and skilled mechanics. Those with “semi-skilled” mechanics tend to fail.

It’s a good job ‘we’ don’t take customers too seriously 🙄

Amazing how folk will lash out £200+ for a main-dealer to change some fluids & stamp a service book, but when it comes to a bike shop…

Whoa there Flashy

All I’m questioning is the costs compared to work on cars. Vehicle mechanics have all those costs and more, yet seem to charge a similar amount.

My LBS doesn’t charge high prices.

Oh and semi-skilled is probably about right in the grand scheme of things.

There’s a reason people suggest paying them with Jaffa cakes.

Cos they like the smashing orangey bit in the middle?