Major bike service - How much?

Wrath Rob

Its that time of year again, the Boardman was feeling a little sorry for itself so I decided a full service was in order. I've had it 2.5 years, done about 7,000 miles on it and its only had a general service in that time (new chain, rear cassette + service). It had been making some creaking sounds down below, the brakes have been better and both wheels need trueing.

So, guess how much its costing? I'll give you some clues. Its bieng serviced by Cycle Surgery (closest to work, I never get to my LBS at the weekend so its this or nothing) who are charging £99 for a full service where its completely disassembled and re-built. Most of the drive train needs replacing.

The guy phoned me up with a quote that nearly knocked me off my chair (I'll let you guess), turns out he was trying to sell my all Ultegra stuff! Got that sorted but still, guess the price time! Beer for the winner at the next social I can make (Morpeth probably)

Aidy

Hmm, depends how much stuff he deemed needed replacing.

I'll start the ball rolling at £500.

spasypaddy

£250 on the nail, including the service. so £150 on parts and stuff

5milestogo

£285 should do it with chainrings / bb / chain / cables etc. CS have told me they are happy to work with parts supplied to them so you can save some wonga and go to CR to Fatbirds. I saved buckets on the big service a few weeks back.

gabriel959

£100 for a full service is about ok.

I reckon if you need to replace the full drivetrain you are looking at about an extra £300.

So £400 all in!

zanes

£Enough to reaffirm my belief that everyone should home-service their bikes.

Wrath Rob

zanes wrote:

£Enough to reaffirm my belief that everyone should home-service their bikes.

LOL. I'm happy enough to do a minor service, change pads, cable outers, adjust gears etc. Stripping down a headset and BB? Replacing all cables? Rebuilding it so that it works? I'm happy to pay someone else to do that for me so that I have a guaranteed result in a sensible time frame. Otherwise I'll have to spend more cash on tools and it will take me more hours than I want to spend doing it, especially with a family I'd rather be with. Plus I'll probably break it and still have to take it to a pro to fix

zanes

Wrath Rob wrote:

zanes wrote:

£Enough to reaffirm my belief that everyone should home-service their bikes.

LOL. I'm happy enough to do a minor service, change pads, cable outers, adjust gears etc. Stripping down a headset and BB? Replacing all cables? Rebuilding it so that it works? I'm happy to pay someone else to do that for me so that I have a guaranteed result in a sensible time frame. Otherwise I'll have to spend more cash on tools and it will take me more hours than I want to spend doing it, especially with a family I'd rather be with. Plus I'll probably break it and still have to take it to a pro to fix

Aside from the headset work (never tried it) everything there is pretty easy with the right tools and some time/patience* IMHO. My general rule is if I can buy tools for <(2x the LBS price) myself I will buy the tooling and give it a go. That being said, wheel work is an illogical phobia of mine.

The other point, as you've sort of learnt is that LBS's will tend to inflate the work/price of parts required. I can see why they do this (salary/insurance/rental/maintenance/tooling etc) but I know if I do the work myself it's A. done to my standards and B. I can make a judgement call on when to replace things, what to replace them with etc. Sort of like £25 MOTs I guess.......

However, when the LBS comes in useful for me is when tooling is very expensive (BB facing comes to mind, although never needed it done).

*As a sort of student I have a fair amount of this, but I recognise other people may not necessarily have it for whatever reason. I'm also an eng'ing student, so I love stuff like this.

Edit: Sorry if my first post came across a little rude.

MonkeyMonster

Wrath Rob wrote:

zanes wrote:

£Enough to reaffirm my belief that everyone should home-service their bikes.

LOL. I'm happy enough to do a minor service, change pads, cable outers, adjust gears etc. Stripping down a headset and BB? Replacing all cables? Rebuilding it so that it works? I'm happy to pay someone else to do that for me so that I have a guaranteed result in a sensible time frame. Otherwise I'll have to spend more cash on tools and it will take me more hours than I want to spend doing it, especially with a family I'd rather be with. Plus I'll probably break it and still have to take it to a pro to fix

I got cyclesurgery to do a full service and put all my new parts on too - don't forget they price match to anywhere online for same bit of kit - even if in sale. Just print out what you've found if lower priced and take in. I'm going with 485 all in if you're upping a reasonable level...

Mark Elvin

It all pretty basic really, I've built all bar one of my bikes from componant form, it's not rocket science.

neiltb

zanes,

couldn't agree more, my lbs wanted $20 to replace a cassette, bought a chain whip and remover for $25, if I do another in my lifetime I'm up $15. It took me 5 minutes.

BB and headset pressing are all I have not yet done.

supersonic

100 quid is about average. I used to charge 65 for this in 1998.

Many shops will reduce this if you buy parts as well.

CiB

I say £370. That's what I paid a couple of years ago for mine to have a big service. Most of the work I could have done myself but these days the idea of spending a few evenings in a cold garage in January with the bike in bits doesn't appeal, esp when I know that some bits were better off being done in a well equipped work shop. And anyway, there's a recession on dontcha know. How on earth do we get out of a recession if everyone stops spending money? Everyone on here bangs on about supporting their LBS, but you have to put your money where your mouth is occasionally and do it with a pile of readies.

So - supply & fit new BB, new wheel bearings front & rear, new headset bearings, new front brake assy, complete new drive train + spare chain, all cables, extract seat post [fused into seat tube], true wheels and a few other bits & bobs and that's what it cost. I was happy with that - bike like new, me not cold + covered in oily marks for a week or so, LBS still in business for another week, govt receives healthy dose of VAT.

dhope

zanes wrote:

Wrath Rob wrote:

zanes wrote:

£Enough to reaffirm my belief that everyone should home-service their bikes.

LOL. I'm happy enough to do a minor service, change pads, cable outers, adjust gears etc. Stripping down a headset and BB? Replacing all cables? Rebuilding it so that it works? I'm happy to pay someone else to do that for me so that I have a guaranteed result in a sensible time frame. Otherwise I'll have to spend more cash on tools and it will take me more hours than I want to spend doing it, especially with a family I'd rather be with. Plus I'll probably break it and still have to take it to a pro to fix

Aside from the headset work (never tried it) everything there is pretty easy with the right tools and some time/patience* IMHO. My general rule is if I can buy tools for <(2x the LBS price) myself I will buy the tooling and give it a go. That being said, wheel work is an illogical phobia of mine.

The other point, as you've sort of learnt is that LBS's will tend to inflate the work/price of parts required. I can see why they do this (salary/insurance/rental/maintenance/tooling etc) but I know if I do the work myself it's A. done to my standards and B. I can make a judgement call on when to replace things, what to replace them with etc. Sort of like £25 MOTs I guess.......

However, when the LBS comes in useful for me is when tooling is very expensive (BB facing comes to mind, although never needed it done).

*As a sort of student I have a fair amount of this, but I recognise other people may not necessarily have it for whatever reason. I'm also an eng'ing student, so I love stuff like this.

Edit: Sorry if my first post came across a little rude.

Same with most things I imagine, I know sod all about cycle maintenance but as a bit of a geek it surprises me how places like PC World can get away with charging the amount they do for the most mundane repairs/upgrades... Fitting a new hard drive/cpu/memory/whatever. Takes 2 minutes with a screwdriver. Building a PC from scratch takes 30 minutes, but only because I'm not intimidated by the idea of it. Building a bike... wouldn't know where to start. Guess it's time to learn.

The Rookie

I have built 4 bikes from a bare frame up using nothing but my (car work) socket set and the lidl bike tools and a pair of plier and some side cutters. Its really not that hard, of course its easier when its not time critical! In fact I built up my first bike after returning to cycling after 2o years off, much had changed!

Full drive overhaul, (chainwheels, BB, chain, casette - cranks should be fine), pads, cables, truing boths wheels (most LBS charge about £20 to build a wheel, so £10 to true I've allowed) plus the £99 strip/build cost, I would say £355 all in tops of which £120 is labour, any more is too much, add another £20 if the wheel hubs need stripping and rebuilding for the bearings.

Simon

supersonic

Building a bike with new parts can be pretty easy.

Repairing one, after stripping, well, that can be harder. If the wheels need rebuilding, and all the bearings are stripped, cleaned, replaced, adjusted, it can take a long time.

Wrath Rob

Zanes, no need to apologise. I would normally side with you but I simply don't have the time for a major service.

Looks like I need to clarify a few points. I'm not upgrading components, I don't see the point for the commuter as its a work horse not a race horse. So its 105/Tiagra all round. For the drive train, the front and rear deraileur (sp?) is fine as are the cranks and the small 'ring as I never use it. Wheels are fine as they're less than 6 months old.

Being replaced are front ring, cassette, chain, pads, cables, BB. Labour is included in the service (£99)

supersonic

Ask how much it would be just to fit those parts. Should be cheaper

If that cures the problems you have, then no point having the full service. or if you know of a problem, ask how much for that specific one.

If they are replacing the cables, pads and drivetrain, then they will set them up anyway And maybe even true the the wheels to get them to work perfect.

You can swing some stuff sometimes.

wgwarburton

dhope wrote:

.... Building a PC from scratch takes 30 minutes, but only because I'm not intimidated by the idea of it. Building a bike... wouldn't know where to start. Guess it's time to learn.

Building a PC may take 30 minutes but acquiring a set of parts that fit together, work reliably and are all mutually compatible requires knowledge that takes a fair bit of time to acquire.

Same with bikes- I know my way around a bike and could wander into a recyclers and collect a complete kit of parts to build one... but I couldn't do the same with a PC (I'd get connectors that didn't, old parts that would bottleneck the performance and some weird mismatch that would ensure the thing crashed every couple of hours)... I expect the same would apply to most cyclists who havn't already done a fair bit of maintenence...

Cheers,
W.

zanes

dhope wrote:

Guess it's time to learn.

This. Look up park tools website when things go wrong, buy required tools off CRC/wiggle and have a go. The *worst* that can happen is that you have to get the LBS to have a look at it (and watch them whilst they do it to learn!)

Most things on a bike (day-to-day stuff) require basic tools (decent set of allen keys, couple of small screwdrivers and an adjustable spanner etc) that a) will be used again and again on the bike and b) will be excellent for other little jobs about the house.

I know that LBS's have to survive (hell, we've got an excellent one in bath with a grand workshop- hence why i buy kit from them (student discount FTW)) but some things you do your self a disservice (!) by not knowing how to do.

On a student budget with decent (not expensive or thorough by any stretch of the imagination) I've had to go to the LBS twice in three years for work, once when a 4 week old wheel almost fell apart and the second time for a wheel true on both wheels. It's when I see mobile workshops calling at Uni who have listed prices for "repair puncture" and "adjust gears" that get me.

Again, YMMV and I am a student with plenty of time and relatively few commitments/responsibilities.

Apologies for dragging this OT.

rjsterry

Wrath Rob wrote:

Zanes, no need to apologise. I would normally side with you but I simply don't have the time for a major service.

Looks like I need to clarify a few points. I'm not upgrading components, I don't see the point for the commuter as its a work horse not a race horse. So its 105/Tiagra all round. For the drive train, the front and rear deraileur (sp?) is fine as are the cranks and the small 'ring as I never use it. Wheels are fine as they're less than 6 months old.

Being replaced are front ring, cassette, chain, pads, cables, BB. Labour is included in the service (£99)

The last-but-one big service I had done was pretty much identical, but probably with slightly lower spec kit and that came to about £170 IIRC. +1 for the time thing as well. Will have to train the littl'un to fettle - is 12 months old too early?

davis

zanes wrote:

This. Look up park tools website when things go wrong, buy required tools off CRC/wiggle and have a go. The *worst* that can happen is that you have to get the LBS to have a look at it (and watch them whilst they do it to learn!)

Make sure you buy the correct tools though. I bought a crank puller because I was planning deep cleaning on the commuter. When it came to detaching the cranks I realised that I only needed to use a 5mm allen key.

That, and buy the best quality tools that you can't quite afford.

dhope

zanes wrote:

dhope wrote:

Guess it's time to learn.

This. Look up park tools website when things go wrong, buy required tools off CRC/wiggle and have a go. The *worst* that can happen is that you have to get the LBS to have a look at it (and watch them whilst they do it to learn!)

Most things on a bike (day-to-day stuff) require basic tools (decent set of allen keys, couple of small screwdrivers and an adjustable spanner etc) that a) will be used again and again on the bike and b) will be excellent for other little jobs about the house.

I know that LBS's have to survive (hell, we've got an excellent one in bath with a grand workshop- hence why i buy kit from them (student discount FTW)) but some things you do your self a disservice (!) by not knowing how to do.

On a student budget with decent (not expensive or thorough by any stretch of the imagination) I've had to go to the LBS twice in three years for work, once when a 4 week old wheel almost fell apart and the second time for a wheel true on both wheels. It's when I see mobile workshops calling at Uni who have listed prices for "repair puncture" and "adjust gears" that get me.

Again, YMMV and I am a student with plenty of time and relatively few commitments/responsibilities.

Apologies for dragging this OT.

Intention is there. Picked up a basic toolkit, pricematched, for £30
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/ice ... s-ec006795

And Zinn Road bike maintenance book

Figure having splurged a grand through C2W on a decent bike and starting to commute to work the least I should do is know how to change the rubber tube wotsits that go on the circly bits that touch the ground or those magic levers that make me stop.

All the gear, possibly some idea in coming months.

cee

Most shops in Edinburgh are £85 for a full stripdown, oily rag treatment and rebuild including new bearings, + cost of other parts (these carry no fitting charge.)

zanes

Dhope, my last post wasn't aimed at you, but I appreciate it may have read a little like that :oops:

davis

cee wrote:

Most shops in Edinburgh are £85 for a full stripdown, oily rag treatment and rebuild including new bearings, + cost of other parts (these carry no fitting charge.)

Do they do bikes too?

Edit: Quoting/boldface fail. D'oh.

dhope

zanes wrote:

Dhope, my last post wasn't aimed at you, but I appreciate it may have read a little like that :oops:

No offense taken at all
Best thing to do when you don't know is to learn, so was more just agreeing that yep, most things can be fixed on one's own with a few basic tools, a little time reading up and a willingness to balls it up a few times while learning.

zanes

dhope wrote:

a willingness to balls it up a few times while learning.

Possibly the most crucial phase of the entire operation.


Not that I would have any practical experience of this, you understand....

Wrath Rob

Well, off to go and pick it up in about 30 mins so will find out the damage then. From what they've told me ove rhte phone there's no additional labour as they've completely stripped the bike so they're just using new parts instead of the old one when re-building. So it sohuld be £99 plus the parts.

Fingers crossed!

Wrath Rob

Right, the results are in:

- Service £99
- Brake blocks - £4.99
- Brake cables - £3.98
- Gear cables - £3.98
- BB cups - £29.99
- 50T chain ring - £46.39
- Cassette £29.99

Total - £243.31

So the winner, slightly annoyingly as he's in London and I'll have to honour my beer bet, is Spasypaddy:

spasypaddy wrote:

£250 on the nail, including the service. so £150 on parts and stuff

Still, in 2.5 years the bike has cost me £540, and then services of £170 and £243, totalling £953. A Chube pass would be about £2500 for the same period. And that's how I sell it to the wife.

Aidy

Hmm, misread. I was guessing the Ultegra quoted price - what was that?