Damn you winter!

iPete

Waves angry hand in the air!

Somewhat foolishly(?), I handed my bike into evans this morning to replace a gear cable, been riding single speed all week, made me want one but that's another matter!

What was an over priced job to begin (£35) has turned into a new rear cassette and chain that the winter has been eating at, arg! Now close to £90 of repairs that to be honest I should do myself!

Is this a reasonable amount of wear for a bike that's covered 2500 miles with regular cleaning?

Have I just found good reason to get a winter hack?

mudcovered

iPete wrote:

Waves angry hand in the air!

What was an over priced job to begin (£35) has turned into a new rear cassette and chain that the winter has been eating at, arg! Now close to £90 of repairs that to be honest I should do myself!

Is this a reasonable amount of wear for a bike that's covered 2500 miles with regular cleaning?

Have I just found good reason to get a winter hack?

Its a reasonable enough amount of wear. What's astonishing is that they changed the chain and cassette without asking you . If I take something into my LBS for a specific job I'd expect them to call me before doing any work that costs significantly extra. I've ridden bikes with massively worn drivetrains (12-14000 miles) and the shifting was just as crisp as when it was all new as long as the chain was clean.

Mind you £35 for a replaced gear cable seems like a lot as well. Just done that job myself (parts cost £6 from LBS workshop). Time taken 25mins including the check ride to make sure I'd got the indexing sorted right. So assuming I'm slower than an LBS mechanic and that the parts cost is identical they were charging you over £1 per minute for the job anyway. :shock:

While a chain may well be worn sufficiently at 2500 miles to have worn the cassette as well you can probably keep on using it (without any compromise in performance) for 1000's of additional miles. Once you have a chain worn to the point that its taken the cassette with it you might as well ride it until it breaks.

Mike

always_tyred

Hang on - £35 to replace a gear cable? WTF!!!!???

Its a 5 minute job, generously 10 and a £3 part. Bike mechanics are NOT chargeable at £200 an hour.

How much do they charge for inflating an inner tube? Or installing one.

lost_in_thought

That's insane, I can't believe Evans are charging you that much for a gear cable, let alone trying to fleece you for new drivetrain parts just because they've got your bike!

I had a cable changed in Normandy - €5.

EDIT: and they charge you £16 for replacing an inner tube, I think. Can't remember if that includes the cost of the tube or not... but they'll lend you the tools (and a hand if you ask nicely) for nothing.

iPete

Hey Mike,

I wasn't very clear, they did call me, I'm just a mug

All the bike shops I've been to recommend a new cassette with a new chain but I've never had any problems in the past with not doing so but I bit the bullet this time.

I do need to buy a decent book or something that can run me thought these simple jobs, I just hadn't a clue about dealing with Sora shifters.

Re: the cable, they put it down as a full gear service, wtf, note to self, get prices first then act! :oops: I'll have to question it on collection!

pastryboy

They charge £12.50 to put a bottle cage on which should tell you all you need to know.

http://www.evanscycles.com/servicing/wo ... price-list

rjsterry

Am dreading my next visit to the LBS. Given we have had the worst winter for a couple of decades, I don't think 2500 miles is too bad. I just got my heating bill the other day and :shock: so a new chain and cassette seems par for the course.

essex-commuter

Out of interest, a colleague told me today that he has just paid £530 (not a typo) for a service on his S Works Specialized Stumjumper. They did fit a new RD, chain and cassette, true the wheels and service the front and rear shock...but feck me, 530 big ones!!!!!

il_principe

Well you might want to leave changing cables until you are more confident with the easier stuff (albeit leave it to a proper LBS that will charge a reasonable sum), but installing a new cassette and chain is a piece of piss, you'll just need a Casette Tool (I have one of these which is Shimano and Campag compatible - handy!) and a Chain Whip, as well as a chain tool - which you may already have on a multitool somewhere.

mudcovered

iPete wrote:

Hey Mike,

I wasn't very clear, they did call me, I'm just a mug

That makes things slightly better but not much.

iPete wrote:

Re: the cable, they put it down as a full gear service, wtf, note to self, get prices first then act! :oops: I'll have to question it on collection!

I'd certainly ask for a cost breakdown. The £6 in my was for new inner and outer as I'd been using the same outers for far too long (internal corrosion after 2 winters). It would have been £3 if I was just replacing the inner. I'm pretty sure those are workshop prices as I got them from my LBS workshop (its separate from the selling bikes bit).
As others have said replacing the cable and reindexing should be a pretty quick job for an experienced mechanic.

Mike

suzyb

I managed to install a new gear cable onto my old BSO.

Wonder how hard it would be to open a LBS

DonDaddyD

Remember in the old days when you'd take a car to a mechanic, all you wanted was your engine revved and you'd leave with your pedal box, clutch, brakes and suspension replaced all for the healthy price of sleeping with your wife... Well that is what is happening at bike shops all over.

Bring your bike in for new brakes and suddenly your paying for a whole new drivetrain. The better your bike the more some try and rip you off I think.

£3 cables shouldn't cost £35 to replace.

mudcovered

essex-commuter wrote:

Out of interest, a colleague told me today that he has just paid £530 (not a typo) for a service on his S Works Specialized Stumjumper. They did fit a new RD, chain and cassette, true the wheels and service the front and rear shock...but feck me, 530 big ones!!!!!

:shock: Nice mark up. Fork and shock servicing isn't cheap but it doesn't cost that much it costs around £200-£250 for combined front a rear at TF Tuned although that's a collect/service/return job so I'd live with a little bit more for local convenience. That leaves £300 for chain/cassette and wheel truing. I'm in the wrong job.
Mike

Porgy

I've just had to shell out nearly £150 on my bike. All of it pretty reasonable to be honest - that total does include a new tyre and new brake blocks, back wheel straightened, new chain and wotsit, front wheel hub service.

I'd advise people to use a proper independent LBS if at all possible. IMO they do better work, are more accountable, and more competitive. Plus if you get on with the staff - you get all sorts of extra support and advice for free.

iPete

hmmm lesson learned, find a better LBS or do it myself!

What makes things worse is that I could have done the cassette myself, I've got all the tools for this at home, I just panicked on the phone, in the same way you panic when you try and cancel a gym membership only for a hot receptionist to try and convince you its a bad idea, only it was a greasy bike mechanic called chris

mudcovered

Porgy wrote:

I'd advise people to use a proper independent LBS if at all possible. IMO they do better work, are more accountable, and more competitive. Plus if you get on with the staff - you get all sorts of extra support and advice for free.

True. I've gotten an awful lot of advice out of my LBS workshop over the years. So much that I pretty much only ever buy parts from them these days. That's where the loyalty cuts the other way it would seem mean to buy my parts online (not that the price difference is large).

Mike

suzyb

Porgy wrote:

I've just had to shell out nearly £150 on my bike. All of it pretty reasonable to be honest - that total does include a new tyre and new brake blocks, back wheel straightened, new chain and wotsit, front wheel hub service.

I'd advise people to use a proper independent LBS if at all possible. IMO they do better work, are more accountable, and more competitive. Plus if you get on with the staff - you get all sorts of extra support and advice for free.

Unfortunately they're also more prone to closing down

Aguila

Evans are terrible for rip off prices, the workmanship is usually crap too. It was one of their services that prompted me to buy tool kit, work stand and book and learn to do stuff myself, it's really very easy. There's a good website called bicycle tutor that does video demo's of jobs like cable changes too.

surreyxc

all very nice to get the LBS or Evans to do the work, but seriously just do it yourself. For the money you paid you could have purchased a chain whip, cassette tool, and chain wear checker. The upside is you will learn how you bike works, be better able to spot the early onset of mechanical woes, no down time with bike in the shop. Plus tools are one of the rare bike items that really do last forever or a very long time. and no disrespect to LBS and pro mechanics but they base the work around making a profit or breaking even, the benefit of doing it yourself is you can be super anal, take as long as you like, so often end up with a better job.

Porgy

suzyb wrote:

Porgy wrote:

I've just had to shell out nearly £150 on my bike. All of it pretty reasonable to be honest - that total does include a new tyre and new brake blocks, back wheel straightened, new chain and wotsit, front wheel hub service.

I'd advise people to use a proper independent LBS if at all possible. IMO they do better work, are more accountable, and more competitive. Plus if you get on with the staff - you get all sorts of extra support and advice for free.

Unfortunately they're also more prone to closing down

all the more reason for supporting them while they're there.

Porgy

surreyxc wrote:

all very nice to get the LBS or Evans to do the work, but seriously just do it yourself. For the money you paid you could have purchased a chain whip, cassette tool, and chain wear checker. The upside is you will learn how you bike works, be better able to spot the early onset of mechanical woes, no down time with bike in the shop. Plus tools are one of the rare bike items that really do last forever or a very long time. and no disrespect to LBS and pro mechanics but they base the work around making a profit or breaking even, the benefit of doing it yourself is you can be super anal, take as long as you like, so often end up with a better job.

At the age of 43 I have finally accepted that I am cack handed and can botch any job big or small. Anyway - it's why I work, why I earn good money - so that I don't have to do these things myself - that and the fact that I never have any bleeding free time anyway.

Don;t get me wrong - I can do the basic stuff and the routine mainentence and that - just if I want a good job done on anything slightly tricky it's better to get a professional involved. :?

Gazzaputt

Did they have binoculars to their eyes as you walked in?

£35

iain_j

+lots for do-it-yourself.

Things you lose the bike for 3 days for while it's in the LBS become 5 minute dinnertime jobs. And you can tweak and fine-tune stuff without having to take it back to the shop each time. And you're not stranded if something breaks in the middle of nowhere. And you save a fortune.

Got my bike from Evans, took it back for its first checkup, free of charge, didn't bother with the "advisory" checkups after that based on the prices. £100 + parts. No thanks.

biondino

mudcovered wrote:

you might as well ride it until it breaks.

I rode a bike until the cassette broke. As did my elbow, my finger, my jeans and all the skin on my kneecap.

DonDaddyD

biondino wrote:

mudcovered wrote:

you might as well ride it until it breaks.

I rode a bike until the cassette broke. As did my elbow, my finger, my jeans and all the skin on my kneecap.

Jesus Christ, who shot you?

mudcovered

biondino wrote:

mudcovered wrote:

you might as well ride it until it breaks.

I rode a bike until the cassette broke. As did my elbow, my finger, my jeans and all the skin on my kneecap.

Fair comment.

I've had a few of snapped chains all have happened when I was going uphill at fairly low speed and I've managed to get a foot down in time so far. I guess I've just been lucky.

Given that I end up doing chain wipe/lube on an almost daily basis I have lots of opportunities to keep an eye on the wear now. I've been a lot more relaxed about things in the past (which led to the chain breaks). Once the rollers start to wobble around on the pins I tend to get a replacement. On the chains I have broken the rollers had worn away to nothing in some places. :shock:

Mike

Stuey01

mudcovered wrote:

essex-commuter wrote:

Out of interest, a colleague told me today that he has just paid £530 (not a typo) for a service on his S Works Specialized Stumjumper. They did fit a new RD, chain and cassette, true the wheels and service the front and rear shock...but feck me, 530 big ones!!!!!

:shock: Nice mark up. Fork and shock servicing isn't cheap but it doesn't cost that much it costs around £200-£250 for combined front a rear at TF Tuned although that's a collect/service/return job so I'd live with a little bit more for local convenience. That leaves £300 for chain/cassette and wheel truing. I'm in the wrong job.
Mike

But we are talking about an S-Works Stumpy here, so he is probably running XTR or X0 depending on his Shimano/SRAM preference.

Pricing up XTR:
Cassette: £111
Rear Derailleur: £150
Chain: £30
Total: £291

Add in your £200 for shock tuning and it doesn't look like such an unreasonable price anymore. And i'm using discounted online prices.

XT costs roughly half XTR, so if it was that fitted then it is a little steep.

My point is don't jump to conclusions, you have no idea from that post what the parts fitted were so you cannot possibly make a judgement about whether it was good, poor or great value.

Bottom line is that if you don't like the price, then either shop around or learn to do it yourself.

mudcovered

Stuey01 wrote:

Pricing up XTR:
Cassette: £111
Rear Derailleur: £150
Chain: £30
Total: £291

Add in your £200 for shock tuning and it doesn't look like such an unreasonable price anymore. And i'm using discounted online prices.

:shock: I'd forgotten about the robbery prices charged for XTR/X0.

Mike

tailwindhome

iPete wrote:

Have I just found good reason to get a winter hack?

NO

You've completely failed to grasp the concept.

The bike you already own becomes the winter hack.

You want a good bike now. To be known as the summer or dry bike.

This good bike then becomes the hack and the circle is complete

Tonymufc

iPete wrote:

Waves angry hand in the air!

Somewhat foolishly(?), I handed my bike into evans this morning to replace a gear cable, been riding single speed all week, made me want one but that's another matter!

What was an over priced job to begin(£35) has turned into a new rear cassette and chain that the winter has been eating at, arg! Now close to £90 of repairs that to be honest I should do myself!

Is this a reasonable amount of wear for a bike that's covered 2500 miles with regular cleaning?

Have I just found good reason to get a winter hack?

Eff me! Even Dick Turpin wore a mask. I asked in Evans how much it would cost to change the 105 standard chain rings 53/39 to a compact. £120 I was quoted. Pretty fair I thought at the time. Might be a bit more expensive now due to the crap pound.

Mountainboy2465

I generally do the work myself but with my commuter I get 4 free services a year for life from the LBS, that has got to be worth taking them up on.