The cost of commuting-repairs

DonDaddyD

So I need to get Donovan (Giant SCR3) dialled up nice for the winter commute, this means new chain, cassette, gears reindexed and brake pads.

Too lazy to go to Cyclopolis in Balham (great guys and one of the few bike shops open Mon- Fri until 8am-8pm) I went into Action Cycles (Wimbledon). A chain cost £17.50, cassette £25 and the whole job came to a grand total of £110inc VAT and Labour :shock: This before he even mentioned the replacement chain ring for (potentially) £30 and before I got a chance to mention replacing the brake pads.

So, out of the shop I went to contemplate how to do the job myself.

Is it me or are repairs at bike shops getting more expensive?

The bike only cost £350 originally.

8 speed Sora drivetrain are these the right parts?
Chain
Cassette

Any links to how to do the job would be great!

greg66_tri_v2.0

Chain and cassette are easy to change with the right tools. The tools will probably set you back £30-£40 quid though.

There must be a download available on Shimano's site that tells you how to re-index your rear mech.

If not, change to Campy. It's easy with Campy. 8)

rich_e

There's a great maintence book you can pickup in the magazine section of Whsmiths at the moment for about a tenner.

It's got a full work up of how to repair and mantain both road and mtbs for different makes do, such as Campg and Shimano.

itboffin

Park tools blue book

UndercoverElephant

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Road-Bike-Maint ... 675&sr=8-1

Very highly recommended.

pastryboy

I'm a complete beginner at bike maintenance but I've tried changing chain/taking off cassette and it's very, very easy.

You just need:

chain tool
chain whip
adjustable spanner
cassette tool

Probably best off getting a tool set rather than buying the bits one at a time.

Can't tell you about indexing as I've only dabbled with that a little.

Plenty of helpful videos floating around on youtube - I always go there if there's something I'm not sure of as books don't always make things clear enough.

monkeycowboy

itboffin wrote:

Park tools blue book

Even cheaper, park tools website :

http://www.parktool.com/repair/

STEFANOS4784

Got stung today for 90 quid. New ultegra casette(fitted) gears set up perfectly, free inner cable for rear brake and seat clamp sorted.

Johns bikes in Bath, can't recommend them enough

STEFANOS4784

P.s i attempted the fix myself, covered in cuts cos i'm useless and kept stabbing myself with the cables, got to my wits end. Guy in the shop told me i had brake outers on my gear cables :oops: (also sorted now courtesy of John's) 8)

zanes

STEFANOS4784 wrote:

Johns bikes in Bath, can't recommend them enough

+1. Superb.

R_T_A

I've got the Blue Book, but this is also very handy:

http://bicycletutor.com/

shoulder_of_orion

Before I got my most recent bike, I was using Condor in Grays Inn Road for all my servicing. It cost roughly £45 per quarter plus parts, you know chain every six months, brake pads every quarter, cassette every year, headset/bb every two-ish years etc. I realised servicing my bike was costing me more than servicing my car. Seriously. Ok the car wasn't a Ferrari.

I was forking out roughly £250 per year on labour alone, so I decided to do it all myself with this bike and so far it has all been fine apart from losing my frigging powerlink.

I have found this to be quite useful:

http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/workshops

As the others say, Parktools rock.

pastryboy

I do what I can but headset/bottom bracket seem to be the more complex areas where you need special/more expensive tools can potentially get things wrong.

desweller

I stumbled across this webby when I was working out how to do it the first time:

http://www.bikemagic.com/defaultKnow_How.asp?sp=&v=4

A basic workstand is worth investing in IMO. Not having to prop your bike up whilst working on it is worth £50!

greg66_tri_v2.0

DesWeller wrote:

A basic workstand is worth investing in IMO.

Good call. Tacx T3075 is what I went for. Very stable, and like the best exercise equipment, it folds away for easy storage. Not bank-breaking either.

Christophe3967

Just get a FGSS for commuting duties if you really want to save money. My annual running costs are now the occasional pair of brake pads (£8) and so far a new cog (£16). With my old commuiting bike it would be c£150 every time it went in for a service ( 2-3 times a year). My Pearson will pay for itself in three years...

desweller

Greg66 wrote:

DesWeller wrote:

A basic workstand is worth investing in IMO.

Good call. Tacx T3075 is what I went for. Very stable, and like the best exercise equipment, it folds away for easy storage. Not bank-breaking either.

Do you always have to take the front wheel off if you're using one of those?

Bargain though, especially compared to the (massively overpriced) Park Tools offering!

greg66_tri_v2.0

DesWeller wrote:

Bargain though, especially compared to the (massively overpriced) Park Tools offering!

You have to take one of the wheels off. You can set the clamps and lock them, so that whichever wheel you take off, the qr for the empty dropout is in the right place.

crankycrank

Just get your basic tool kit;
Cone spanners,
Chain Tool,
Chain Whip,
Allen wrenches,
Pedal Spanner,
Cable Cutter,
Small Phillips and Flat Blade screwdrivers,
Crank Extractor (only if you still have a square taper BB though.),
Spoke Wrench.
You should be able to do most anything on your bike with these tools and they'll last a lifetime. Of course you also have to invest in those facking BB and Cassette tools that Shimano and Campag like to make obsolete every few years (and probably SRAM will get into the act as well) but they usually are not too expensive and will pay for themselves with the first time used. I don't think I've had to buy any new tools, except for the facking Shimano and Campag tools mentioned, in the last 20yrs.

Flasheart

Draper Cycle toolkit. I have one myself
http://www.justoffbase.co.uk/Bicycle-Tool-Kit-87942-Draper-BK-TK3
and Park Tools Blue book too as recommended above (got that too)
http://www.parktool.com/products/detail.asp?cat=19&item=BBB-2

moonio

There is currently a shortage of bike mechanics in London which could be contributing to the high cost of repairs etc.

It may be worth considering as a small business if you have the right skills

roger_merriman

I find the smaller shops rather than the chains tend to be cheaper, the one I use is very local, and is more of a fixit up shop than selling bikes.

get your self to park tools and get a book (from them or otherwise) get some simple tools like a proper chain splitter, ones on multy tools tend to be made from cheese.

DonDaddyD

I actually in fact have the tools, way back when I bought a Lidl Tool kit for £20. So will pick up the book you recommended I buy - Thanks!

In the end I took the bike to Cyclopolis in Balham on Saturday (open 8am - 8pm on weekdays, hard workers). They had the bike ready 2pm Sunday and they were visibly busy.

Chain and rear cassette plus £20 labour for a total of £60 (Action cycles quoted £110). So I got them to replace a cable and brake pads for another tenner. Polish work ethic, can't beat it.

Good shop.

They even re-bolted my front mech which is on its way out and told me what potential work may be needed on my bottom bracket during/after this winter.