[Closed] Bike mechanic question

Hopefully half an hour and 20 quid.

Depends how busy they are? If it's just a tweak of the gears, then £10-15? If you've ridden it a lot in 4 months and you need a new cassette chain etc then much more.

Anything from £20 for a tune-up to £200 (rings, cassette, chain, cables, jockey wheels)...

And since its getting to the start of the 'season', next month.

No new parts required, literally just a tune up, not even a mention of new cables.

It really does depend, as the guys say above.

Quick tune to rectify a 'stretched' cable? Five mins - £10.

Re-cabling? Half an hour - £25-50 including parts, depending on quality of cables and outers (I use XTR = more expensive).

New cassette / chain / mechs / chainrings? - the sky is the limit.

2 weeks and £45?

Somebody showed me how to do this the other day........do it yourself in 10 mins at no cost. Various videos on youtube and Park tools website a good point of reference.

To answer your question I'm assuming you were shocked so I'l say £40 and two weeks? Should be about £15 and 20 mins.

Assuming you bought it from the LBS are you not entitled to free service after 4 months

SiB....tried all that in the past, i just can't "get" gear adjusting, hence i always end up at the lbs to get it done.

Not what i would say as shocked more surprised i guess.

in and out in a few hours and £10 (half a gear service at £20).

May of course be booked for a full gr service if they don't do 'halfs'.

Time scale is dependant on busy-ness. We tend to be booked solid about 5-7 days in advance at this time of year upping that to 12 ish in summer (extra mechanics are taken on now to combat this) your LBS will be different though so this is just one example to consider.

If they are not busy and you're a regular customer then...
Duration = 1 cup of coffee
Cost = Donation to the biscuit tin

I should also add I haven't been a professional mechanic for 15 years. 🙂

Ok, a number of differing opinions here so far.

So this is what i was told when booking in whilst looking at the bike in the flesh......

"Probably just stretched cables, i would be very surprised if it needs any parts etc". So it will be just a "Bronze Service" and hopefully be ready by saturday......cost £30.

Now i'm only surprised as last year they fitted a full Gore Ride On gear cable set bought from them plus £15 fitting setting.

Generally they are a good lbs, just surprised me today. I expected about £15 not £30 and a 5 day wait.

Tell them you don't want the 'bronze service' just want your gears indexed. If you're in Dundee I'll do it for beer

5 day wait is fair enough if they are that busy, would be unfair to push other people's bikes back to fit yours in.

Are you getting a full 'Bronze Service' for £30, what does it entail? Anything more than gear cable fetting?

As an example here is what by LBS advertise...

Services start for around £35 this will include wheel truing,hub adjustments,headset adjustments,fork and shock pressure adjustments,brake adjustments and any gear adjustments needed

We only charge accordingly so if it’s only a quick adjustment or something menial we have a special rate for this

Don't know what the Bronze Service is, it caught me on the backfoot to be honest and i just left after it was booked in. (just finished a nightshift so bit tired).

I replaced my gear cable and outer the other day in 20 mins so a 5 day wait for a quick fiddle with the cable is rather excessive.
did they mention what was included in the 'bronze' service? not that's really relevant considering you only want your indexing sorting! glad you didn't part with money!

I suggest you have a play with it your self you're never gonna learn if you don't get it wrong a few times and besides that you won't do any damage if you get it wrong

sorry highclimber, my bike is with them,got home and thought hang on a minute.............

Either get someone to show you how to index your gears, or have a look on the internet for a guide. It's probably the easiest thing you can do on a bike.

This: http://www.bikeradar.com/road/gear/article/workshop-how-to-set-up-the-gears-on-your-bike-23582/

The more you can reduce your reliance on bike shops the more money you'll save 🙂

That or you'll buy a shedload of tools, and end up penniless.

agree with most of the above, check out the park tools site and also youtube, loads of vids showing how to index gears and the satisfaction of getting it done yourself is priceless, im self tought and i now love working on bikes, just finished a full strip down and rebuild service for my mate inc headset fitting etc...good times

try get a coppy of this: [url= http://www.parktool.com/product/big-blue-book-of-bike-repair-second-edition-bbb-2 ]park tool big blue book[/url]

and use this as another resource: [url= http://www.parktool.com/blog/repair-help ]park tool tech help[/url]

put yourself some time aside at the weekend and go for it

if you're near reading...
price of a beer?

alpine bikes in fort bill did mine for nothing the other day... I had attempted to resolve an issue myself, got it aligned and working, I just hadn't put enough cable tension on...

I also was able to watch them do it so I know exactly what to do next time.

I obviously gave them the obligatory fiver for a couple of beers.

Here ,if you brought it in now.£25 and Monday.Unless you can convince me why you take priority over the 20 odd jobs booked in before you.

Rorschach....not complaining about the timescale too much i expected at least 2-3 days anyhow.

Anyway, spoke to them and the mech and we had become confused and deviated from the topic onto other bike bits whilst booking in. He booked me in wrong as a service, its been changed and now back to gears only at £15. Which is what i expected cost wise.

In reference to the above comments on doing my own stuff etc. Your right and i can do most things myself having built 2 bikes in the past, its just the gear fettling i seem to have mental issues with. Must say it is rewarding doing your own thing and nothing better than riding something you pretty much built yourself..........just not gears 😆

I used to feel like that until I realised its a mater of, aligning the mech (much easier on rear unless yo have bent hanger) setting high and low stops, setting cable tension... easy peasy.

I obviously gave them the obligatory fiver for a [s]couple of[/s] beer[s]s[/s].

FTFY. 🙂

I find it strange you have built a couple of bikes but can't sort gears out.
Did you have a go before you took it in.

Coming from someone who does everything to their bikes I'd hate to have to rely on a bike shop to do such a simple task.

To sort the gears is a five minute job so to pay someone else and wait 5 days would really pain me.

Follow the bikeradar link above and master the skill yourself. Once you can it you'll wonder how you coped before.

tinytimbo......yes i know its dead embarassing, had a go on last couple of bikes and fluffed it, got frustrated and couldn't be arsed to do it anymore £15 worth it for my sanity. Other stuff on bikes is just mechanical assembly its just the gear thing gets me everytime.