Summary anyone?

Man takes abused bike into bike shop, gives them blank cheque to fix it.

Man gets phonecall telling him how much it is to fix.

Man goes on Singletrack Forum to ask if he’s paying too much.

Man omits lots of details, leaving scope for lots of people with half baked ideas to argue with each other.

Some 200(ish) posts later, general consensus is that man could save himself a lot of money by learning to do some of the work himself, that he is paying a fair rate given the RRP on parts and shop labour prices, that lots of people are pretty sure he didn’t need new mechs/cranks which would have saved a good few quid too, and that nice and cheap as the likes of CRC/Merlin/Rosebikes are some people just can’t get over the fact that an LBS won’t be able to compete on price.

Oh, and Man clearly likes to stir the hotpot he created up quite a bit with a BIG wooden spoon every so often, only coming back to the thread to directly abuse one or two people or generally disagree with some things being said…

In other words, Classic STW! 🙄

I thought Gordon too as soon as I saw him. Google confirms the veracity of your assertion allyharp. I should go to bed now.

Soon Mrs Starship will be along to tell us he’s alright but we should all plug our bars.

its Gordon 🙂

May I?

Seems okay to me.
Forget Action De, Rose, CRC and the likes. As the bike is with a real shop selling at RRP.
Am I right in thinking that labour charges apply when the work is under way?
Prior to that there’s the inspection by an employee of the shop. And the bike is taking up valuable retail space in the meantime.

My own take on it is to buy the tools as and when needed, based on the assumption I’ll be needing them again in the future
Out of interest do the likes of Action.De, Rose and CRC actually service the bikes they sell. Surely they just don’t dump that job on the very shops they seem intent to destroy.

Surely they just don’t dump that job on the very shops they seem intent to destroy.

Surely it took someone with balls to invest his money and/or remortage their house to set up and build the business. When it gets/got to a certain size they’d need to reinvest again for new systems/improved storage etc.

Lets not forget just because its a web-portal they don’t employ staff to answer emails, goods in, pick, pack, put away, stock-count, deal with returns, faulty with manufacturers, accounts, water/utility/Business taxes…

Just because they don’t have a shop window doesn’t mean they aren’t incurring costs. Some of them even have a sales floor for customers in the business. So in essence no difference. They are just more successful.

Not every LBS is a poverty business either. Some make it work…..

Not every LBS is a poverty business either. Some make it work..

Indeed, I know this very well.

Yup, its Gordon – He got all impatient on the turn table because he was being all self important and went before it was ready and slid off down the embankment… where children laughed at him.

Ohmygodistillrememberthatafterlike25yrs…

The two children on the left, looks a bit ‘Brokeback Moutain’ 😯

Gordon’s ALIVE????

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFnmT82yGpk[/video]

Man takes abused bike into bike shop, gives them blank cheque to fix it.

Man gets phonecall telling him how much it is to fix.

Man goes on Singletrack Forum to ask if he’s paying too much.

Man omits lots of details, leaving scope for lots of people with half baked ideas to argue with each other.

That pretty much sums it up for me.

Why do businesses always get clattered for trying to run at a profit?

I had to do some ‘running repairs’ after a lap of Sherwood recently. In the car park with my tool box out and the crank off … 3 people asked me if I could fix their bikes!! “Sorry, but no – It’s my only day off, I bothered to come prepared & I want to ride”

Some people have the knowledge, skills and time to do it themselves – others have to pay LBS. If you’re not happy, shop around or learn but don’t bleat.

As for the five minute brake bleed …. please!! If you want a good job, it can take longer than that to make sure the callipers are centralised properly. (You’ll NEVER get a 100% bleed without removing them). I’d be terrified to ride some of the poster’s bikes quickly. 🙄

There is a fair price for these things and in my opinion a lot of overcharging goes on in the bike industry.

Some of the workshop charging looks more like the motor trade. The techs are often paid a pittance.

As a beginner I took my bike into my lbs to sort out shifting problems. Was a simple issue – rear gear cable change. Guess how much they charged? £80 because the technician struggled with routing the internal cable.

Six months later, I attempted to do it myself. Very little experience, no technical ability – it took me less than 30 minutes.

I’ve now bought the tools and do most things myself.

Some of the workshop charging looks more like the motor trade. The techs are often paid a pittance.

Which techs? Many car mechanics are paid a pittance as well. And fixing bikes is at least as hard as fixing cars – in fact often harder, fixing a bike quite often requires some real thought, with cars it’s often “remove duff part, bolt on new part”.

And fixing bikes is at least as hard as fixing cars – in fact often harder, fixing a bike quite often requires some real thought, with cars it’s often “remove duff part, bolt on new part”.

I beg to differ, name one comparable car job that’s harder on a bike?

To put it into perspective, I could have my Midgets gearbox rebuilt by the MGOC for half the price the OP paid for his drivetrain to be replaced! And looking at the fixed price repairs list in most bike shops, it’s actualy cheeper to have a car tyre repaired at quick fit than it is a bike tire at Evans!

There aren’t directly comparable jobs, that’s my point. By that logic, aircraft mechanics should be paid a lot more, and ship engineers should be millionaires.

And fixing bikes is at least as hard as fixing cars – in fact often harder

[quote]There aren’t directly comparable jobs[/quote]

OK, ignoring the ‘comparable’ bit even, which job on a bike is harder than any job on a car?

i tried hard to think of this and every job on a bike is easier

the only thing is that some brake pads are really easy and not at all fiddly on a car but it would still be more “hassle” to do on a car. No tmuch in that tbh.

Bearing change on a frame about the same say? both perhpas needing blind bearing puller etc

which job on a bike is harder than any job on a car?

fitting a sunroof?

its all mechanics — you can either do it or you cant ime.

train a donkey itll be a fast donkey but you cannot make it into a race horse.

you can train anyone to be a part fitter but to properly fix something requires a mindset rather than a skill imo.

another part of the issue is – how many cycle mechanic apprenticeships do you see. too many shops are employing bums on seats and making bike builders and part fitters rather than mechanics.

Wheel building can be a challenge!

Still not that hard though!

Seriously?

And fixing bikes is at least as hard as fixing cars – in fact often harder, fixing a bike quite often requires some real thought, with cars it’s often “remove duff part, bolt on new part”.

Would love to hear what car mechanics would have to say on this!!!

There is a fair price for these most things and in my opinion a lot of overcharging goes on in the bike industry general.

There, that’s better.

Would love to hear what car mechanics would have to say on this!!!

I was half teasing – though I fix my car and it’s almost always been easier than some bike repair jobs. With a car, you can usually just set about it with a hammer – with a bike, you need a bit of finesse.

Teasing again 🙂

Really, what I object to is the idea that bikes are easier to repair than cars – smaller yes, and requiring different skills, but not any easier.