[Closed] £38...

Do you have some stupid ultra faffy internal routing?

Seems a reasonable fine for being lazy. 😉

You could have bought the instruction book (Park Tool blue Book) and the tools to do the job for that (bar a bike stand although they're pretty cheap on ebay for the 'get the back wheel off the ground' ones)

Some people are just happy getting someone else to do the job and not having to worry about it though...

Just learn how to do it. Pretty handy skill to learn and when you twist rear mech cages as often as I seem to.

Also, out of interest, how much more would the chain and derailleur have cost if you bought them from said shop? (If you didn't in the first place).

sounds reasonable to me for (roughly) an hours worth of labour + shop overheads.

(never mind all the other little stuff that the OCD mechanic did/checked for free)

I need to learn how to set up gears, but my LBS are awesome so dont ever bother. But as long as you have a chain tool, its a five minute job for anyone, irrespective of their mechanical ability to put a new chain on after going big big plus 2 links (youtube it).

And likewise, putting the cable on itself is easy, just the adjusting of gears which seems difficult. If you do that and its just the indexing, sure it wont be £38.

As Mrs B's dad always says:

"Stick to what your good at. Pay somebody else to do the rest"

Does the £38 include new cable and outers?

Maybe its time to go Alfine..

I'd expect that to take 20 minutes. I know that's how long it'd take me to do, including setting up and tidying away again afterwards.

BUT it's one of the easiest jobs you could do on a bike, so you only have yourself to blame! No specialist tools required other than a chain tool, wire cutter and allen key. Bike shop cables cost them around £3 for inner and outer. Bike upsidedown to set up the gears.

You've not been ripped off, just paid a high workshop price. Was it a brand new mech you gave them?

No. But the time has come for me to learn to do it myself. Been riding bikes for nearly all of my 42 years and its the one job that scares me.

Utterly reasonable, it's a minimum 30 minute job from picking your bike out of the rack to putting it back. If it includes cables then you've done well.

It's easy though, good job to learn yourself, there's a few things to get right but once you've got the knack then you'll be saving

I don't mean to be rude but cant you just look at it, and say "hmm that's where the cable clamps on, I'll need an allen key for that". "That twisty thing must be for fine adjustment cos the cable moves in and out as I turn it". "Those 2 little screws I have no idea but lets give them a twiddle and see what happens...."

Before you know it you will have acquired the 'skill' of setting up gears.

"its not rocket science" is an overused phrase, but seriously!

and you will struggle to break anything. Have a look at the internet how to's and have a go. If you can't do it, take it to a shop.

I really don't understand how people who ride bikes a lot don't know how to do fundamental things. It takes longer to take the thing to a shop than to actually do it.

Apologies if that sounds rude, it's not meant to be.

were the chain and mech new?
was the new mech the same as the old one?
whats the shops hourly rate?

sounds like you paid for an hour, it would take me an hour....
boil kettle, make coffee, take to shed, pop the heater on, tune the radio to something suitable, rag clean old parts, remove old parts, coffee and smoke break, new mech, adjust t&b screws, attach cable, run chain, break and join, check mech action, index, oil chain, coffee and smoke, put tools back, find something else i should have done.....

^ is when it goes well

Whilst this should be a simple task, in my bike shop days I witnessed an incredible variety of innovative and imaginative ways for people to royally cock it up.

Also, the time taken varies wildly from bike to bike depending on its design and condition, removing seized in cable ends from a carbon frame without damaging it is truly a fine art and internal cable routing is a law unto itself.

So in short, yes, £38 could be a thoroughly reasonable price, but without sitting there looking over the mechanics's shoulder whilst he/she did it and seeing what Gremlins they encountered, it's hard to say.

There's also the matter that workshops are expected to give a service 'menu' with flat prices (i.e. £10 per end to set gears up) and they have to factor in the fact that for some bikes this will involve turning an adjuster barrel 3 clicks, and for others an hour of sweat, blood and expletives. So in order to keep pricing simple for everyone and to be able to stick to quoted prices the easy jobs have to subsidize the awkward squad.

£15 for a mech fit and £9 for a chain fit in my shop but I would only charge the higher fit price of £15 as they were both being done together. Learn to spanner.

Gears are OK.

Bottom brackets and headsets scare me.

And Hope wheel bearings.
I just can't hit something so beautiful so hard.

seems a little high
tbh usual gear setup is £15 plus extra bit for removing/fitting parts (esp if not purchased at same time) probably £25 ish depending if new outter/inner needs doing at same time

also bare in mind all the times you need them to be there for a quick "bit of air" or a " borrow of an allen key"

Pay it...trickle down and all that! 😉

I thought the price was reasonable for the time. That said, it is a nice job to do assuming

1) your rear hanger is not bent
2) your internal cable routing is OK

chain tool, wire cutter and allen key

And a screwdriver to set the screws on the rear derailleur. When you get your eye in, you can set the indexing before you put the chain on. In fact it is easier this way.

Sounds about right IMO. I'd be happy paying that along as it was a quality job. I suppose factors like location/reputation/general type of LBS it was would have a affect on workshop prices also?

Although talking of the rear derailleur, being the same "being scared of it". Recently took the time to understand how it works... it really is a piece of piss and I'm stoopid.

TiRED's comment above about being able to index before the chain on helped me with the high/low screws.

Just be aware and utilise the notch on the hanger...??.

When you get your eye in, you can set the indexing before you put the chain on. In fact it is easier this way.

That sounds like a slow and unreliable way of doing it to me.

 

Fit chain and pull up and down the block slowly without cable attatches to check stops as more important at first than indexing
throw it in the backwheel its a whole world of hassle

Why not check the stops with the cable attached ? You could index the gears at the same time .

Fit the mech and chain yourself, it takes about 20 seconds for each.

Tuning the mech involves a bit of trial and error and some Internet guides but nothing too scarey. Scarey to look at but when you brake the job down.. Setting the screws it's fairly simple, the biggest hurdle is understanding what the H, L, and B screws do, and getting your head around what chain rings and sprocket combination the chain needs to be on when setting them.
Turning the screws hoping for the best will just end up with frustration.. I've been there!

If the cables are a faff.. Internal routing etc.. Then fair enough get someone to do that for you.

My LBS* is doing a four part basic mechanics course for £25. First week was tyres and punctures, last one was setting up gears, brakes this week and I can't remember what week 4 is going to be.

I understand how to set up gears now. But it took me 30 minutes to do what Dave did in 30 seconds ......

*Big on Bikes in Little Eaton, if anyone is Derby way.

Stops and tension from the shifter will be relied on insted of actual stop screws
iv seen it happen allot when cable streches it dropes between cassette and frame and rips frame apart

I'll wipe your arse for £25.

binners - Member
As Mrs B's dad always says:

"Stick to what your good at. Pay somebody else to do the rest"

No wonder you're broke.

This is correct, though;

sounds reasonable to me for (roughly) an hours worth of labour + shop overheads.

(never mind all the other little stuff that the OCD mechanic did/checked for free)

I'll wipe your arse for £25.

I'm on my way..

In one way it sounds a good price to get something done well, on the other hand it sounds expensive just to bolt a bit of metal to a frame and stick a chain through it.

In answer to a comment above, "all you need are" wire cutters, allen keys, screwdrivers, chain tool............ if you haven't done it before then consider the cost of purchasing these versus handing it over to an expert.

I think people fail to consider the fact that everyones brain is wired differently and where one person see's first time the direction that chain runs through the mech, there will be others, like me, who stare at it for a long time waiting for inspiration. I can do the job, don't get me wrong, but i have friends who can do it in 5 mins versus my 30 mins to an hour.

I am also unable to accept anything other than perfection with regards to set up, that coupled with being a mechanical div, generally means asking for help!

I will sign off on a positive note and say that there is a feeling of immense satisfaction when you do it right yourself!