today i picked up my new wheelset from a bike shop .
I supplied all my parts - rims - hubs spokes nipples.
I honestly though that kind of service would cost 60 max , but apparently I was charged 105 (apparently they charged me for 3 hours of work at 35 per hour). is this price appropriate?
£80 for a pair of wheels if you supply all the bits where I work.
edit: did you not ask how much it would cost beforehand?
What did they tell you it was going to cost before you dropped the parts off?
And why "apparently"?
£20 per wheel at my LBS. proper job too
I supplied all my parts
Tourist rates then.
I honestly though that kind of service would cost 60 max
You could have honestly asked them how much first.
Tourist rates then.
+1
£105 for three hours doesn't sound hugely unreasonable. It's not quick, but then they might not build many wheels in that shop (I can build a pair in about 3 hours).
And every shop I've asked has always charged more for rims/spokes/hubs bought elsewhere. I think the cheapest was £25 + parts (from them). Because it takes them just as much effort to do the job as if you'd bought from them, but they've not made any money on it.
Similarly if I bought a Hope BB at RRP from an LBS I'd probably expect them to fit it, or charge me if I brought one in for CRC.
£60/pair here. over a ton sounds steep.
£25 per wheel including spokes (30 if you want black) for me
Tourist rates then
I'd think so, if you didn't give them the chance to make anything on selling the parts they won't want to be doing you any favours on the labour. 3 hours to build a pair of wheels ((if it was all-new parts) sounds a [u]little[/u] much but as above (several times), didn't you ask for a quote?
£45 per wheel at my LBS - thats me supplying hub and rim, they supply black Sapim db spokes, Sapim brass nipples.
I could have 10% off that too but don't bother.
was £60 a wheel at the shop I used to work at, maybe a bit less than £120 for a pair so seems about right to me.
And as no one has said it.
Learn to build your own, it's not complicated.
yes. its my fault being dumb not asking before and ultimately being lazy and lacking patience to build it myself ! but not anymore. next wheelset will be done by me! I do understand that bike shops need some support , but that is hardly acceptable. 70-80 is maximum i was prepared to pay really.
That's probably what you did pay, plus the price difference buying hubs/rims elsewhere :p70-80 is maximum i was prepared to pay really.
yeah, you saved £25 on the rims buying online compared to the shop so it is added to the labour 😉
wiggles.. stop trolling me. you are not funny. my wages wont allow me to pay full rrp so i have to buy from online shops to afford my hobby...
Your LBS staff have wages, too. Funnily enough, they're probably not very high. Especially for skilled mechanical work.
I did the DT Swiss wheel building course as part of my Cytec level 2 training, the final exam demanded that you built a wheel that was true and round to industry tolerances within an hour. Charging for 3 hours work is ott in my opinion, if it took longer than expected, provided you supplied the correct length spokes then the shop should suck it up.
I'm still left wondering why "apparently".
Cytec level 2 training,
That's provided free of charge. Apparently.
Seems expensive to me, but from the last LBS rip off prices thread it is evident that many will be ok with it. Same with the prices of most things I guess. The last time I took my own rims and hubs in for a wheelset build I was charged a lot less than that and that included spokes and nipples.
my wages wont allow me to pay full rrp so i have to buy from online shops to afford my hobby
Understandable, but all the more reason to get a quote first!
wiggles.. stop trolling me. you are not funny. my wages wont allow me to pay full rrp so i have to buy from online shops to afford my hobby...
Im not trolling, im saying you havent actually saved any money...
Go to a shop ask for a price for building wheels including parts they say £300 for parts £50 for labour, factoring the total margin they make.
people then go away and get the parts for £250 and are surprised that the shop charges them more than £50 to build the wheels, not saying this is what happened but just the fact that it isnt always cheaper.
Seems expensive to me, but from the last LBS rip off prices thread it is evident that many will be ok with it.
More allong the lines of
"Seems expensive, but from the last LBS rip off prices thread it is evident that people have to make a living doing semi-skilled work for which some people are prepared to pay for the convenience of someone else doing it or them not having to learn the required skill, and others accept that it's expensive and do it themselves."
I don't think many people thing £21 is a fair cost for fixing a gear cable, or £105 for building a wheel. But it is a fair cost to not have to learn to do either of those tasks or have to do it in a car park wile looking after kids.
Just like any other job.
3hrs wheelbuilding Vs £105 to the LBS
A weekend of DIY hell Vs £300 to a decorator.
I do my own now but I used to use Icycles in innerleithen, so the answer was "a completely random amount".
£105- more than I'd pay but not unreasonable either IMO. And agree with the comments about where you bought the parts- it's not that there's anything wrong with buying elsewhere per se, as long as your mechanic's happy with it, but it does affect the transaction.
alright folks . thanks for the interesting replies.
Next time i wont assume..
( as for the 'apparently' word - ignore that. that is my fault of misunderstanding the english language - never actually checked the correct meaning of it from a dictionary :D)
Any price for work needs to factor in the one time in ten that something goes wrong, such as damaging a hub or rim. If the shop supplies the materials then their margin can absorb that 10% overhead. If you supply, you pay.
We still charge £30 a wheel at work some wheels take much longer than an hour some don't
But if you did not ask first then suck it up
£15/wheel at my LBS today.
Apparently that's the standard build charge, though I was just getting a hub swapped over. I didn't argue anyway!
Even Evans are only £40 inc Silver DB spokes and presumably nipples.
I think you were done..... I've not built a wheel in maybe 18yrs, but I bet it still wouldn't take me 3hrs
What was the charge If you'd paid in cakes and biscuits?
My lbs charged me £140 for a pair but that included dtswiss competition spokes and alloy nipples.
The LBS I use for wheel building can supply be a built pair of wheels for cheaper than I can buy the bits for and build them myself.
Overspoke bikes in Bewdley BTW.
Cheers Mark. 😀
My lbs would be £60-70. If you lace them up yourself its £15 a wheel to get them tensioned and trued. £105 is expensive, not sure why people are saying its reasonable because its not. Golden rule make sure you ask first.
i suspect people saying its reasonable could very well bike a bike shop workers. ?
Nope, thats just your paranoia
£105 is a bit steep. My lbs charges so little to build it's kind of embarrassing that I like to build my own...
Still if there was some issue or maybe of they just want to charge enough to make an annoying labour only job worthwhile that's between you and them.
Shock? Bike shop prices were more than you wanted to pay? That applies to me practically anywhere I purchase something.
"8 bucks for a pie?"
"$3.50 for a can of coke? "A" can?"
"$140 for a bike tyre?
"$80 a month for unlimited ADSL2+ (at 2mb connection!!! hahaah)"
Does seem fairly high. If you are on a budget as suggested it would have been wise to have built them up yourself to a point where they just needed finishing off.
The whole job of building a wheel is a lot easier than many people think but the only part that is slightly difficult is the final truing/tensioning. If you lace them up and just tighten the nipples to the point where no thread is showing the bike shop can do the rest in under and hour for 2 wheels (£35)
At over a ton I'd be buying a stand and learning how to do it myself. I probably wouldn't be going back to that lbs ever again either.
f you lace them up and just tighten the nipples to the point where no thread is showing the bike shop can do the rest in under and hour for 2 wheels (£35)
not when you bring them in laced up the wrong way round and and some of them more tightened that others to you have to start over again to be able to do anything, effectively creating more work that just bringing in the parts...
But yes if you know a bit about what you are doing it can save time/money
I just don't understand why the OP didn't ask the cost beforehand, especially if money's tight.
Would've saved him money as us the squabbling. My LBS quotes £40 per wheel build. I guess if that's plus VAT it's not far off what the OP paid.
Look at it another way - you tied up a skilled mechanic for half a day. What do you think a reasonable day rate is for a skilled mechanic? A plasterer is around £250, a decorator around £240, a chippy around £200 (quick Google) - so £105 for a half day isn't all that bad.
But bike shops are terrible at actually charging decent labour prices (see above thread) which is why no-one makes much money in the bike industry 😉
It's expensive for a bike shop but it's not expensive in the real world, plumber out to look at something, that's fifty or sixty quid without even doing anything.
Wheelbase charge 40 per wheel which is very reasonable IMHO
Can you do "x" for me?
"Yes"
I can't believe there was no "how much will it cost?"
In my shop it's usually
"How much will it cost to do "x?"
not when you bring them in laced up the wrong way round and and some of them more tightened that others
Well if you are that ham-fisted better leave the whole job to a bike shop. My advice was based on being able to follow some very simple instructions contained in 1 or 2 paragraphs....
I understand that you were on a tight budget here, and yes, it does look a tad expensive.
Recently the LBS built me up a pair of wheels.
The only component that I was particular about was the hubs , DT 350 ratchet hubs, I took the advice of the shop for spokes and rims.
The most important part for me in a hand built pair of wheels is the build quality.
A standard spec wheelset hand built by someone who knows what they are doing, and is taking their time to ensure trouble free use is sort it.
A high spec wheel thrown together is worse than the option above, leading to the usual wheel fettling to eventually get it right.
Another bonus is that the lbs will always be interested in any future repairs or adjustment.
Olly at Skyline Cycles is a good wheelbuilder and well worth his advice and wheel building skills and time.
What hub, rim and spokes did you go for?
If your on a budget you have prob ended up with a very expensive wheelset where a factory built set may have worked out better value.
Places like CRC will build the wheels for free if you use their custom builders online.
f you are on a budget as suggested it would have been wise to have built them up yourself to a point where they just needed finishing off
Had that a lot over the years "how much for a true?" to be presented with 2 'laced' wheels.Always charged as a build (25 each).
£105/3 hours for 2 wheels is a bit steep/long.
. Yes but they have built 2 wheels not 1 . Almost everybody claims to be able to build wheels but when you are charging people then they have to be built to a high standard or you are just going to get grief further down the line . Don't forget that the price you paid will include VAT so the shop has charged less than £90 which is a bit more than you might expect but not excessive .Even Evans are only £40 inc Silver DB spokes and presumably nipples.I think you were done..... I've not built a wheel in maybe 18yrs, but I bet it still wouldn't take me 3hrs
Classic irritation for a busy LBS... "I bought this stuff cheap online because your prices are a rip off, but can you put it together for me cheap/free?"
So yeah, not only annoying, they have to fit it in with their own work, probably aren't specifically a wheel building service, and they're making very little money from it considering labour rate is paying the salaries and overheads.
As for the price, so long as it's stated up front, there's no reason to complain. If you didn't like the quote, go elsewhere. If price wasn't negotiated up front then you should have done so, or go somewhere else that will do so.
to dhrider
my 2 season old hope pro 2 hubs , sapim bladed aero spokes , dt pro lock brass nipples , flows mk3
Usually about £20/25 a wheel for build
Ah blades spokes.....worth a 30 quid add-on right there..... Plus the hubs are used so the builder has to match whatever previous lacing pattern used (whether trailing spokes are in board / out board etc....). Should have been 200 quid 😉
Look at it another way - you tied up a skilled mechanic for half a day. What do you think a reasonable day rate is for a skilled mechanic? A plasterer is around £250, a decorator around £240, a chippy around £200 (quick Google) - so £105 for a half day isn't all that bad.
Not sure where your getting these prices from, £500 a day for a plasterer, not around here unless your a chump 😆 And a "skilled" mechanic shouldn't take half a day to build two wheels with new parts !! It doesn't take me that long and I only build a few every year.
I used the WheelPro book to learn, but I did splash out on a Park tension gauge when I saw one cheap at Halfords as I drive the OH nuts pinging spokes while we are say in the living room. She plays along for so long telling me what is higher and what is lower but then gets irritated, especially if I take a wheel to bed... 😀
I learnt because my LBS wanted £90 a wheel to build + supply basic DB spokes and I had 4 wheels to build. I normally take my wheels there to get them trued for £10 pop (only very slight trues, not pringled or anything major) but I nearly fell over when they quoted £180 to build a pair of wheels.
Just on my 3rd set now and I really wish I had a wheel building jig. Must get round to buying/knocking one up.
Whoa, hold up! Come on op, you are skint but:
Hope hubs, flow rims and the cherry on top... SAPIM aero spokes. Cx or cx-ray... If the latter (and I can't find any cx for sale. Are they new out?) 2.50 a spoke.
No skint man is buying cx-rays 😆
£2.50 a spoke! sheesh. I use ACI Alpina for 38-40p per spoke (black, 2.0-1.7-2.0 DB) or if splashing out Sapim D-light for 75-90p per spoke. The d-lights only save something silly like 20-40g/wheel tbh. Currently rebuilding my SS wheels (needed a 20mm capable front hub) which are on sapim laser and they are noticeably more fragile than the ACI and D-lights.
Not sure where your getting these prices from, £500 a day for a plasterer
Not sure where you're getting £500 a day from, since I said the day rate was £250 😉
Anyhow, rebuilding a used hub with bladed spokes, done properly might well take an hour and a half per wheel.
'Lbs built my wheels for less than the cost of my spokes!' Doesn't garner the same level of shock and outrage though...