My comment was just to highlight whether people thought it was “stingy” to charge for a 3 minute job
i think it just highlights the fact that you were too stingy to pay [8O]

That was a usefull comment Willyboy! We all learn’t a lot from that one ;)

need to spend a minimum of £10 to use your card!

was this due to the Credit Card companies charging too much to the LBS for transactions?

Shops will recognise their best customers and treat you accordingly, sometimes even with a cup of coffee while you wait for your “2 minute job”.

I agree Foxie but maybe they should treat everyone as a potential long-term customer and maybe they would def come back again to buy something more – little gestures go a long way. I feel stongly about good customer servce as well Foxie – We can all discuss things in a civil way without getting angry ;)

you don’t get service from a faceless mailorder company.

I have got some great service from mail order companies actually and some not good services from a mixture of bike shops, local or otherwise. I think thats unfair about mail order companies mate sorry.

I can’t believe that you think it’s out of order to charge labour for fittings Stuff! Workshop – tools- Labour-rates- electric -water -Public indemnity insurance so you can walk in the shop, the list is endless, and they undercut CRC on the price of the cassete which means that the shop has bought bought that cassete at the old price ( before the massive price hikes this year) and rather than make extra margin on it as the prices have gone up, they’ve kept the old price and sold it you fairly- And your not happy?

To answer your question – Yes I was happy but went away with a question (given above)

The above is the same for all businesses. Do you support all your local businesses or do you buy stuff online coz they are cheaper or go to a supermarket as its cheaper and more convenient – surely a LBS is the same? or not?

I do not think its out of order to charge but I have to agree with the majority of people posting here its a bit of give and take mainly the issue of the time it takes and its complexity. Please do not judge me or my post without knowing all the facts.

Some people here are pretty judgemental and rather abusive – like some riders I encounter on some rides/enduros etc – give a little respect. My comment was just to highlight whether people thought it was “stingy” to charge for a 3 minute job and to open the topic up for conversation rather than a slanging match. Please don’t post here if you have an axe to grind.

AJ – if you dont have anything constructive to say then kep a lid on it mate!

Fine – its really fine – I’m just going to buy all my stuff online – leave the LBS to the peole who can’t fit their own stuff etc. If you look at my original post I was asking a retorical question not starting a fit or asking to be insulted ;)

Well I thought £55 quit is enough to spend – only £5 cheaper and they made thge same profit or more compared with CRC, wiggle etc. I am really commenting on gaining good relationships with your customers to make them come back and spend more money rather than go to an online retailer. I am certainly not LAZY having just built the whole bike up myself and 3 other friends bikes – also having been in the shop several times recently to buy stuff he might recognise me but there you go I am obviously unmemorable.

BTW I only got it cheaper than CRC as it was old stock – its going up when they get their new stock in – so what advantage is it for me to got to my LBS then – tell me?

Usually charge a couple of quid or so for fitting a cassette.

I don’t work for free, do you?

Go to a garage and see if they fit a bulb to your car for free.

Actually I do work for free for my mates, I do all my own mechanics as almost all of my LBS’s are useless and cocked things up or forgotten to do something – a 3 minute job – any if LBS’s want to keep their buisnesses going in competition with the big chains then they should have an advantage – I can understand if it would take them 30mins to 1hr to do but really. Don’t call me an ASS – I guess you are an LBS owner or a friend of one.

They do get the profit from the item they sell – blimey – right I’m sticking with CRC etc if thats you mentality – would like to give my LBS’s the trade but I have never found one that really gives a rats arse!

I guess no one buys stuff from their LBS anymore then ;)

Could we brake (pun intended ;)) the STW posting record with this one ;)

yup that’s what I thought – these little things make you come back ;)

I like the steps just after the prehistoric village (Grimspound)

Blimey and I thought I’d been riding for a while ;) Sorry I didn’t promise a prize. You reward is sharing your stories and photos – Cheezy eh ;)

No but not sure about whether you can as its second hand – did you register it? If not could probably do it yourself as you can get the bearing sets online depending on model?

these are blasts from the past – name from History – nice to see the roots of the sport ;)

ooooh – satirical ;)

Neh Worries Christowkid – sounds pretty soggy up there ;) Did haytor up then over to Lyon and to manaton Sunday and that was pretty firm under tyre.

Yeh sorry – the worst bit on the moor are up high and they can get pretty soggy – never been up there when its as bad as Christowkid reports though. errrr

Jammy – agree with you there pretty much ;)

Just got a 18″ and I am 6ft – seems good to me. Climbing seems great – I have an inline but stem maybe needs to be 80mm rather than the old one I have at 100mm

I prefer the Xen – Fitted my head better and the lines are smoother and look nice to me – looks a bit more bling than the Hex ;)

I personally not a big fan of Haldon – I don’t think in this weather its up to much but I am sure a lot of people will disagree with me ;) – Try the MBR Killer loop – I wrote a full detailed ride guide here:

http://www.embc.uk.net/riding_dartmoor.php

Sorry the google map is not working at the mo as they changed something but you can download the route card and gps data.

No I don’t work for Channel Five but Hmmmm…..

2 second job on the front, isn’t it?

Well yes but thought I’d stick with what I know and thought I’d spend enough on it already ;)

I am 6ft andylux and it was a Medium 07 frame ;)

yes its exactly 3Kg :) I weigh all my frames before assembly as its too much hastle to dismantle ;)

I think I give it a couple of months then I’ll have something to compare it to – take me a while to figure these things out ;)

Do you ever do any work Neil :) unlike me who save lives every 5-10 minutes ;)

I got 160mm rotors on them – I find the breaking fine at the mo – i’ll see how they go depending wether I kill myself on at the kielder avalanche ;) How’s your bike reconstruction going? ;)

Sunset bikes were great and sorted out delivery as I was away abroad the week it arrived. They talked to Orange direct about the matt finish as they said the decals looked a bit dodgy so went for the Disco Blak – no regrets.

I didn’t get the maxle back end or 15mm front end as I didn’t want to have to try and convert my pro II hubs (wheels which I built myself ;) ) otherwise I may have gone for the maxle TBH.

OK will prob try my mates shorter stem and try it out – cheers ;)

But I do like it to climb well ;)

Cheers Matey – yeh bring it along next weekend and I can have a play if its not required for a bit?

I could prob go with larger rotors with avid rotor convertors? Got to pay off the frame first ;)

Yes it Black gloss with a few metalic flakes in it – sparkley.

Darrell – I’ve only just built it and tranfered all my marin parts over so have not had a chance to get used to it completely – It may got to 80mm but I’ll give it a few months first. The seatpost is also a bit crappy but getting my mates inline Thomson nearly new for it ;)

Yes I bought it frame only – got it from Sunset MTB in Wales which were very helpful! I bought it for a little £25 shy of the RRP and + £100 for the Disco Black powder coat ;)

yeh but rift zone is same frame but painted different (I agree nicer colour) but it does have an rp3 so maybe £350-£400?

Just got it for my birthday – seems a good summary of all the dedicated trail centres in the UK (Wales, England and Scotland sections) and some not dedicated, with maps and some nice photos and their website you can download all of the POI’s if you have a sat nav / GPS unit so can assis you in getting there in the car – not read it all yet but seems comprehensive.