So took a ti frame, 44mm headtube, that will be fitted with truss forks to a LBS.

I explained I wanted the headcups pressed in and presented two hope headsets, new in the bags over, explained that it was two top headset to fit as it was a truss fork and needed a race down at top and bottom to work, sent the email from the owner/manufacturer explaining the setup, so need all the pieces back relating to the headset.

Got the call to collect and I was working so asked SO to collect, explained that I needed all the pieces back. She explained and was told everything was fitted.

Got home to find that the cups and bearings fitted but no race crowns X2 or spacers or top cover X 2, so asked what happened and SO explained what bike shop said, everything fitted.

Called in bike shop, spoke to the mechanic, who said everything was fitted and all parts returned. Explained again what was I was missing and how I needed the parts to fit the forks.

He opened his spares draw and produced a hope top cover, spacers and race crown, I asked if they were mine from the headset I brought in and he said yes. I asked when he was going to give them to me and he saidhe thought i did not need them. I explained my feelings and said I was missing the other pieces from them the other headset and he then proceeded to pass these over. I collected my parts spitting feathers and so on.

So should I feel aggrieve, upset and generally infuriated by this ‘ theft’? It seems trivial but,
The parts were mine and could have gone in my spares if I did not need them,on the rare occasions I use a Bike shop I get the parts back old and bits.
The attitude and refusal to hand over the parts seemed bizarre for something relatively minor.
Just the hassle for two people to try and get the parts adds to the aggreived feelings

I won’t use a LBS again, simples will buye a proper headset press rather than my well used homemade press.
Is it any wonder bike shops are closing?

How about just using a different lbs next time, or give them a second chance? I’ve several shops near me that ive found helpful and friendly, not all stores are the same

A bit weird taking your own parts to a shop.

Think of it as punishment for not doing it yourself. Negative man points incarnate.

It’s poor but you could have made things a lot easier by just handing over the 2 cups with the frame rather than 2 whole headsets.

not all stores are the same

Exactly, I wouldn’t use that one again though. They kept YOUR parts. His spares box must be full of peoples stuff!

A bit weird taking your own parts to a shop.

Think of it as punishment for not doing it yourself. Negative man points incarnate.

Rubbish, that’s what bike mechanics are for.

All the gear

Anything left over from jobs usually gets zip tied to the frame / bar at my lbs.

After the pompous shop prick tried belittling me in front of his roadie mates who’d just came in, I made a decision never to darken the doors of my local shop, in Lichfield. Utter, utter prat.

Op, do likewise.

Everything always goes back to customer.

Rubbish, that’s what bike mechanics are for.

Even thinking that causes a drop in testosterone levels.

This is the second chance took 6 weeks to resolve a bled and leak on hope brakes, in fairness they fitted a spare brake to the bike after 2 weeks.

My other option is a 28 mile round trip to a bike shop or if at work 70 mile round trip. Not all of us live near or in a metropolis.

They asked for all the parts so they had as much information on fitting correctly, as I did just hand them the headcups.

They were quite prepared to steal things off you even when you’d done everything to make their job as easy as possible. Even when you confronted them the bloke lied to your face multiple times until you got your bits back.

I don’t know why anyone would give them the benefit of the doubt. I’d name and shame them without a seconds thought, there is no excuse for that.

There’s so much bollocks about supporting your LBS. yes there are some that are a cut above, but many are just filled with grumpy feckers with zero people skills and a bizarre expectation that they can treat you poorly and demand your loyalty because its a bloody velominaty rule or something like that, or because the internet is bad.

Too many times I’ve had shoddy treatment, including damaged frames met with a shrug by an lbs owner because they don’t GAF about customer service and quality.

A decent mechanic will give you old parts back to prove the job is done. This goes double for fork and shock servicing

Basically that is stealing. Plain and simple.

I’ve personally not use an lbs in years. If I need anything done, I just buy the tool and do it myself. Works out expensive to start with (like a proper headset press or wheel building stand), but eventually they pay for themselves. Working on a bike definately isn’t hard.

Press fit bb definately reduce the payback time for the headset press.

The re-branded CycleWorld (now Giant, but still part of same chain) store on Thornhill Park Road fitted my carbon fat fork along with a new Hope headset last year, the old headset was put in a plastic bag attached to the old alloy fork.

I guess the question in the OP’s case is, is keeping bits to add to their spares box the shop’s standard practice, or something the mechanic was underhandedly doing themselves?

My other option is a 28 mile round trip to a bike shop or if at work 70 mile round trip. Not all of us live near or in a metropolis.

Meh, I live in the South East, but still have about a 25 mile round trip to the LBS.

Jonnyboi +100000

If it was any other shop you’d never darken their doors again – I’m surprised there are so few bike shops going out of business with the way a lot of them treat people.

That’s not on considering how clear you made it. I have had a similar experience years ago but not all shops are the same. For example, Sett Valley in New Mills and Bicycle Smithy in Hazel Grove could not have done any more to help me in the past and if I needed work doing wouldn’t hesitate to take it to either of them.

My advice for next time would be to take the fork in and get it fitted. That way you’ll have all the parts required. In my experience, if you buy the parts from the shop they’ll fit them for free. Probably work out the same as buying parts cheaper elsewhere and paying lbs to fit. Not saying you did this but if people were thinking this.

out of order. Personally I’d write to the shop explaining ( assuming the mechanic is not the owner) the issue and asking their opinion and only name and shame if the answer is unsatisfactory

The basic issue is folk are not prepared to pay enough for LBS mechanics services IMO

The basic issue is folk are not prepared to pay enough for LBS mechanics services IMO

How is that the case here? And in any similar cases? People who can’t do stuff on their own are happy to take bikes to shops to get things fitted but they too often treat you like crap, damage stuff and in this case try to steal from you. This is why a lot of people do the work themselves as they have learnt by experience that the shops can’t be trusted sometimes.

It was out of order. But I try and keep things simple for people so I don’t get disappointed so often. So very much this

[/quote]It’s poor but you could have made things a lot easier by just handing over the 2 cups with the frame rather than 2 whole headsets.

It’s poor but you could have made things a lot easier by just handing over the 2 cups with the frame rather than 2 whole headsets.

He offered to do that

Keeping stuff that belongs to a customer should be disciplinary at the very least. Sounds like a combination of a dodgy mechanic and the communication in the shop being poor.

After the pompous shop prick tried belittling me in front of his roadie mates who’d just came in, I made a decision never to darken the doors of my local shop, in Lichfield. Utter, utter prat.

I was going to take a guess at which one this is but to be honest all the shops are the same. We’re desperate for a good shop around here.

It’s poor but you could have made things a lot easier by just handing over the 2 cups with the frame rather than 2 whole headsets.

^^This^^

While “accidentally holding on to” bits isn’t acceptable, it would have made sense to just hand over the parts you needed fitting to avoid any potential confusion…

I knew a shop owner who regards any components that are replaced on a customers bike as the property of the bike shop.
I bought set of crank arms from a customer (outside of work), we had replaced his xtr 960s with a set of xt’s as it was cheaper than replacing the rings-if we could actually find some in stock.And the shop owner was adamant that I should have payed him for them not the customer 😯
After being accused of theft once for throwing away someones completely broken and unsalvageable component ,I always made a point of bagging every part that was replaced (cables and tyres too),bagging them and offering back to the customer.

Surely there shouldn’t be any confusion. He handed over some parts to be fitted. Surely it’s reasonable to assume he would get anything unused back. It wasn’t as though the parts they kept were worthless junk.

Now if I went to a lbs to have say a bb/headset fitted and they supplied it, It might be more acceptable to keep unused bits such as small spacers.

not handing the parts back is theft no matter if they were useless or not.

I have on occasion forgotten to return bits when customer first collects there bike and have had to get them
To come
Back in or post there bits to them.

But never on purpose that’s just not on

No excuse at all for the shop mechanic , if he’s not the owner then please tell the owner as he may be getting ripped off as well

Par for the course for a LBS IME.

No wonder so many are dying. Natural selection.

I took my frame to a lbs yesterday as I wanted two headset cups pressed in. Already had the headset bits from Superstar. I always feel a bit bad going into a lbs just to get such a simple (but requires a specialist tool) job, so I make it as quick and as easy as possible. Two cups ziptied to the frame which was stripped bare.

Job done in 10 mins, cost £5 and even chucked in a new gear cable outer for me as I wanted to buy one. Winner

Customers always get everything back including old parts with the exception of cables where it’s pretty clear the old rusty cable is now bright and shiny.

Mostly people look quite surprised and ask if we can dispose of them, which works well as we mainly deal in second hand bikes.

What the OP’s bike shop did is theft IMO. If one of my guys did that there would be repercussions as it’s too easy to loose a good reputation by this sort of thing.

Rubbish, that’s what bike mechanics are for.

Even thinking that causes a drop in testosterone levels.

Could you explain why?

Just to be clear

They asked for all the parts so they had as much information on fitting correctly, as I did just hand them the headcups

I am fed up with LBS generally, from the casual sexism when my daughter’s take things in, to the pistols poor service female friends get, to the belittling divots as mentioned above to the cost they charge, female friend quote £40 per hour on a job my daughter did from them free and explained how to mend the bike.

newrobdob – Member

The basic issue is folk are not prepared to pay enough for LBS mechanics services IMO

How is that the case here? And in any similar cases? People who can’t do stuff on their own are happy to take bikes to shops to get things fitted but they too often treat you like crap, damage stuff and in this case try to steal from you. This is why a lot of people do the work themselves as they have learnt by experience that the shops can’t be trusted sometimes. [/quote]

If we were prepared to pay proper professional wages we would get better service. Pay peanuts get monkeys

How much is the labour charge to repair a car? £50+ an hour at a main dealer with a minimum of an hour and a bit less at a back street repair shop. How much is the labour charge for a bike shop?

People on here whinge about repairs prices all the time when they are usually under £20 an hour

Fortunately in Edinburgh we have a lot of bike shops so competition forces standards up

£40 per hour on a job

That’s pretty much standard price, to boys or girls

I need to change employment…

Poor wages are part of the problem with finding good staff.
A shop mechanic would be lucky to get a 1/4 of the £40 and hour mentioned above.

£40 an hour? what LBS charges that?

How much is the labour charge to repair a car? £50+ an hour at a main dealer with a minimum of an hour and a bit less at a back street repair shop. How much is the labour charge for a bike shop?

I don’t think they are at all comparable. The costs to run a car garage, the tools and equipment required and training for the mechanics is far greater than that for a simple bike shop.

It’s like comparing your barbershop to your doctors surgery.