hmmm..
I can understand the minimum charge idea..

but £10..!!?

surely we’re still at a £5 price point on that sort of thing or has inflation escalated at a scale to match that of a small latin american dictatorship?

£10 is still a very lot of cash out here in the real world

£10 is still [/s]a very lot[/s] not a lot of cash out here in the real world

£10 is still a very lot of cash out here in the real world

Then fix it yourself.

I assume the shop had lights on, maybe some heating. They paid their staff and had all the tools on hand to do this. There was a patch involved – ok cheap but needs paying for. Time that could have been spent doing another job. Tools that were used.

10quid sounds reasonable as minimum these days.

The guy in question could have bought a tube and probably borrowed a pump for less but that’s his issue.

who cares? if you dont want to pay the price carry tubes with you. or a kit or even them nasty gas sticky things to get you home, in fact do one of them anyway besides the fact that its pointless paying, bike shops are not on every corner are thay?

watsontony –
gibberish

🙄

minimum wage, mortgage, coupla kids.. a tenner still means something in reality
IMO

we’re not all living with mum and dad/IT managers/cowboy builders

I assume the shop had lights on, maybe some heating. They paid their staff and had all the tools on hand to do this. There was a patch involved – ok cheap but needs paying for.

Yup.

All the Same things that the garage I used to fix my van tyre have to pay for.

Plus the garage had the few thousands of pounds worth of equipment needed repair a car tyre too.
And a huge workshop (compared to the corner of a bike shop)

YAAAWWWNN.
tightwads vs realists, who cares?

not I one jot.. 😀

especially as it’s no longer 2am

I surprised no new tube – this should be standard bike shop practice.

+1 for my old LBS, seems the right thing to do.

And for those who think it should be less/nowt – do you work for nothing, or just have no idea of what it costs to run a business?

Sounds fair to me. Basically, LBS charges 10€ but changes the tube. However, they have now started to apply a higher rate for internet bikes.

Plus it can be a real PITA if it’s an asda bike with bolt on skewers and a rear mech guard.

And for those who think it should be less/nowt – do you work for nothing, or just have no idea of what it costs to run a business?

LOL.. £10 for 10 minutes work..?

ossum job

Plus the garage had the few thousands of pounds worth of equipment needed repair a car tyre too.
And a huge workshop (compared to the corner of a bike shop)

I’ve got thousands of pounds worth of equipment too – not to change a tyre specifically, but it still needs paying for. Bike shop equipment is also less used – a car tyre machine that’s used 20 times a day will pay for itself far faster than an expensive cutting tool that’s only used once every 6 months.

The car place’s workshop is larger, but it’s not usually on a high street with expensive rent and rates.

LOL.. £10 for 10 minutes work..?

Works out a 60£ an hour rate. Not that different from what any car/motorcycle mechanics charges you is it?

That £10 includes:

VAT, PAYE Tax, Business costs (marketing, sick pay, holiday pay, etc), and many many other things.

You’d be lucky to get £1 out of that for yourself.

£10 seems like a reasonable price.

Too many people fail to realise that although the LBS may be run by like-minded friendly people, they are not there to be your mate, they’re there to make money.

Every service related business will have a minimum price and TBH its very rarely related to how complex the job is. Its the point below which its not worth doing the job.

look fellas, pointing out that 10 x 6 = 60 and making up vastly exaggerated running costs out of thin air is all well and good..

I’m aware of the overheads.. my wife and I run a small family business ourselves..

I think a tenspot for a ten minute job is a bit steep that’s all.. just my opinion like..

Make up your margins elsewhere where you’re not likely to cause offence and put customers off..
£10 might seem reasonable to a fairly affluent group of dedicated cycling enthusiasts, with disposable income for a stable of machinery to suit weather and mood..
I just imagine that average joe bloggs on a BSO might be less easily persuaded to part with a tenth of the cost of their bike to get a five minute job done.. yet another disenfranchised ex-cyclist with a rusting useless supermarket special in the shed..

maybe I’m just spouting piffle though and the bankers of little england have got you all sewn up like kippers..

My mates shop offers “magic” patches for 1 pound, a new tube for 5 or will fit it for 10… If a customer cannot find a price range to suit them from that they are probably just a timewaster looking for a freebie…

(N.B. This is in London so prices reflect accordingly)

For a start, £10 for a 10-minute job doesn’t equate to £60 per hour – there’s all the time inbetween talking to customers, stuff like that, which doesn’t pay.

But, fundamentally, why should a shop charge less? They might attract a few more customers, but not many people are going to shop around for a puncture repair, and they’ll only attract the kind of POS BSOs which are much more hassle to repair.

ok.. so they need the money, it’s a business blah blah blah
but they shouldn’t have to fix POS BSO’s..!!?

you make me laugh sunshine.. 😆

I shall withdraw from this nonsense by saying that at the current rate of inflation it will still be quite some time before I charge those sort of rates..

I go back to my earlier point and the concept of “Teach a man to fish…”

One of the early frustrations of mtb for me was the frequency and cost of repairs esp in relation to road biking. But you soon learn a lesson from this and become (slowly in my case) more proficient at DIY repairs and understanding bike mechanics. Changing a puncture is not only easy (removing nobby niks aside!), but also an important skill (sic) to have on the trails. If a £ tag is just on the cusp of “reasonability”, however defined, then it probably does a good job in encouraging people to such learn basic skills. And IMO that is probably not a bad thing!

Okay, one person in a workshop. Do they:

a: do three puncture repairs for £7.50 (say) in an hour, minus costs, making about £15.
b: do one full service, making about £50.

The only reason to charge less for repairs is if you’re sitting around twiddling your thumbs. Puncture repairs might be quick to do, but they’re also spur-of-the-moment, people often turn up and want them done there and then, meaning you have to drop what you’re doing, find a spare workstand, etc.

This is a silly argument, though.

juan – Member

LOL.. £10 for 10 minutes work..?

Works out a 60£ an hour rate. Not that different from what any car/motorcycle mechanics charges you is it?

An incomparable comparison imo.

FWIW it’s worth I think the shop has every right to charge what ever thy think the service is worth. TBH he had this particular customer “by the balls”.

I do think they should replace with a tube though. With the time it’ll save to patch the tube, they wouldn’t be worse off this way. He could then give punter back his punctured tube and even sell him a patch kit 💡

Or, keep the old tube with a “I’ll put this in the bin for you” line, patch it, and put it in the next bike that comes in for a repair 🙂

Funny last time I popped in yamaha dealer the rate for one hour of workshop was 54 €. I don’t know why you’d expect a cycling workshop to be cheaper than a motorbiking workshop. Plus AFAIK, every hour started is due.

bencooper – Member
Or, keep the old tube with a “I’ll put this in the bin for you” line, patch it, and put it in the next bike that comes in for a repair

An I thought I was tight
😆

To me £10 for fitting a new tube would seem fair
But just for fixxing one with a patch now that’s a little over the top

Then again maybe my boss needs to put up our prices

From the LBS point of view, it would surely be less time to put in a new tube than to repair one. I’m therefore a bit surprised at how this one was handled.

From the LBS point of view, it would surely be less time to put in a new tube than to repair one. I’m therefore a bit surprised at how this one was handled.

The repair kit will repair several punctures so more profitable to use that than a new tube each time. unless they charge £10 plus the cost of the tube.

Aye – but think of labour cost.

So for £10 the guy gets the tyre fixed properly (something he may not know how to do) and gets to keep his hands and clothes clean and not get stressed finding the hole out in the street? Seems perfectly fair to me.

A car tyre would take about the same amount of time tbh.

As for the patch – good. Cycling is supposed to be environmentally friendly. Fixing the puncture takes more time but this is off-set by greater environmental responsibility. I would question any shop that did the opposite.

😀 quality, I do love it when a debate is sparked over a bleeding tenner! Good work my friends!