Got a new set of forks and need them cutting down and a starnut installing headset race needs fitting to.
Have cut down forks myself but always ended up very intidy.
So what the average price in the North west,im thinking £15 max

My LBS has done it for a fiver each time, last few times for me Rich. But then I’ve known them for a while, and they know I send plenty of business their way too, so they charge me naff all for any little jobs that need doing.

minimum charge + how much of a **** you’ve made with the hacksaw.

naff all here but i turn up with cakes/cheek on a regular basis

We’d do it for nowt if we liked ya 😉

Forks arrived ok Rich?

So, Man who can’t do a (simple) job and expects the Man that can do the (simple) job to do it for near nothing…

Mine were done by my friendly northwest LBS for nowt while we chatted about road bikes. It meant they got £1200 out of me as I bought a road bike a few weeks later….good business practice if you ask me!

Cheers Matt arrived this morning do you need the headset race that was fitted on them?

Br it is a simple job with the right tools hence why I am prepared to part with £15 of my hard earned money 🙂

LBS are Evans,Wheelbase and Askews but have had a spat with them 🙄

bit of masking or electrical tape wrapped around the steerer and a hacksaw… if you can’t use a saw you are not a man.

or get a pipe cutter. or cut with saw and then tidy with a file…

Put an old stem on the steerer at the point you want to cut and use as a guide. I’ve got a star nut installer, where are you?

Lol if you bought the fork, headset & starfangled nut from there probably free.

However prob min charge of 15-30 depending on who they are, how much you spend and what cake you bring.

Try Aragon in Penrith seeing as you appear to have alienated those nearest you ❗ 💡
Given that a motor mech, electrician, plumber,joiner etc can command double or even treble your estimate of £15 to do what you want why do you think a “qualified” bike mech should do the job for anything less ❓

Jubilee clip is better than tape, then half round file. Star dangled nut can be bashed in with a socket. Bit hit or miss tho 😀

just set to it with a hacksaw. it doesnt matter if the cut’s a little wonky because the top cap presses on the flat surface of a spacer/stem anyway.

Cutting steerer – clamp stem on 5mm below where you want to cut, put a 5mm spacer next to it and cut against that (careful you don’t slip with hacksaw). Bingo straight cut
Installing crown race – I Have a cut of length of metal curtain pole that fits over steerer and is right size to fit on the lip of the race, them it’s a gentle tap with a hammer, although found these days they tend to either be split races or a looser fit

I find Jaffa cakes work for me when it comes to the LBS…

I find Jaffa cakes work for me when it comes to the LBS…

Do the LBS pay their overheads with said jaffa cakes……..

Brucies bikes?

Whenever anyone brings me biscuits or cakes, I feel infantalised and patronised. Not wishing to seem ungrateful, but I need money same as any other worker who needs to be paid. Bribery fails.
It’s no wonder that over the years I’ve seen so many talented people leave the cycle trade to work in something more lucrative; those people have taken their hard earned experience and knowledge with them, lost forever to the cycle shops of Britain. Seems people moan a lot about bike shops and mechanics in-particular, but don’t want to pay a fair rate.

Seems people moan a lot about bike shops and mechanics in-particular, but don’t want to pay a fair rate.

This is singletrack, everyone else is overcharging and the only underpaid person is the poster.

I drop cake round as a thankyou when I get a helped out of trouble (and pay too)

I tend to pay my local and then thank them with beer/cakes/biscuits as well. Because over the years they’ve given me discounts, fixed things short notice on a Friday afternoon and generally gone out of their way to keep me on the road/trails. That’s why I always buy stuff of them. I only resort to the Internet if it’s something they can’t get in for me or it’s a crazy price. But I always try them first.
I think some people forget that with a LBS you might pay a bit more but you get after sales service rather than dealing with a faceless Internet store.

£10-£15 sounds fair to me.

I’ve never got the cake or beer thing, most bike shop spanners I’ve met would need instructions with either to ensure they could ingest them without injury. F1 mechanic’s they ain’t.

I’m always happy to pay my LBS to do jobs for me. They know that I will tackle stuff I understand myself and are happy to let me see how the things I’ve taken to them are done, knowing I’ll probably d-i-m next time.
That said, I also know I pay more for parts from them than internet shops, but they know I’ll pay their price without argument as stuff broken on a thursday night ride, needs replacing for the weekend. They also know that if someone needs an LBS for bits or bikes, that’s where I’ll send ’em.
The LBS isn’t the local authority library. It’s a business. Most of them are reasonable folk. Who don’t take the pee, but need to pay for that stock, those guys who get us out of the mire and the light and heat and………………………..

bruneep – Member
I find Jaffa cakes work for me when it comes to the LBS…
Do the LBS pay their overheads with said jaffa cakes……..

Possibly…? I obviously meant silly little things like knocking a star fangled nut in and shortening the steerer…not heres 4 packs of jaffa’s I’ll take that Carbon Nomad.

Let it be clear I am willing to pay cash for the above mentioned work and would say its about 30 mins work max.
No hacksaw blades and no starnut and no headset race fitting tool so will pop into town and see what they can do.
No cakes will be involved in the transaction think thats a bit of a myth!

Oh and I am in no rush 😉

Hmm myth…? are you calling me a liar sir!? I to am willing to pay and the jaffa’s etc.. are usually just a pre-thankyou for the work they do. just sometimes i don’t get charged last thing they didn’t charge me for was replacing a worn bush in my RP2.

Jaffa Cakes a myth? I’ve sent stuff to other bike shops, and received a pack in the post by return!

Saddest day of my life was when the off-license next door closed…

I was quoted £15 by one so you’re not far off with your thinking.

My advise would to buy a pipe-cutter and do it yourself.

Screwfix do em for about £3 with a spare cutting wheel.

I swear jaffa cakes ain’t what they used to be.