Did you pay for a proper bike setup?

mikey2424

Hi

I've just bought a 2010 Marin Kentfield over the internet as I was on a pretty tight budget and it was £100 less than a Specialized Sirrus base model in the shop that I had my eye on.

I've now just found out that it will cost me £65 to have my bike setup correctly in a shop.

Do I need to spend that? I've slotted in the threaded handlebar and tightened, slotted in the seat, added the pedals, fixed on the quick release front wheel. It seems I'm good to go but do I truly trust my work?! I don't want something to go wrong when I'm going at some pace on the roads.

I'm of course just trusting that the rest of the bike that was already assembled was done correctly as well - something I presume they will check in the shop.

Should I just bite the bullet and pay the £65 and get a proper setup done or stop worrying and get riding?!

Cheers.

AndyManc

£65 seems steep.

Look aorund, I'm sure a basic service (Gears/brakes adjusted, all bolts checked ) for around £30.

That's the problem buying from the net, I would never do it, you can find just as many bargains in local stores.


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mikey2424

Thanks for the reply.

I've just called Halfords and they will do it as part of the Bike Care Plan for £19.99.

On top of the bike setup, this covers me for all labour costs for a year so if I have a problem all I need to do it pay for parts through them and labour will be free.

Problem is, I've heard a few people mention that Halfords isn't the place to take your bike if you want it setting up correctly!

Anyone else had any experience with them? £19.99 sounds great with a year's labour free.

Much nicer than the £65 I was quoted elsewhere.

Cheers.

danlikesbikes

Some stores do have a good reputation - you might want to google it to see if there is one near you that people say is good.

Sometimes you get what you pay for so would maybe call around a few LBS's and see if there are any others that can do the job for you at a reasonable rate.

unixnerd

Learn to do the work yourself. You'll save hassle and a lot of time and money over the years. If something does go wrong when you're miles from home you stand a chance of being able to fix it.

Basic tools aren't dear, get a starter kit. Lots of good instructional videos and procedures online, Park Tools website is good.

Biggest tip - don't overtighten things or you'll break them. Learning how tight is tight enough is one of the first things you'll teach yourself. If you're dealing with carbon parts I'd advise a torque wrench but quite honestly for aluminium and steel parts I'd not bother.

Places like the Edinburgh Bike Shop (who're not just in Edinburgh) run courses to teach folk how to look after their bikes. This is a much better way to spend money than on a service.

mikey2424

I've just subscribed to biketutor.com - seemed reasonable at $6 a month.

What I'll probably end up doing is, like you said, work on the bike myself but I think I'd rather do that over time and gradually get to know how to maintain it.

Initiallly though I do want the peace of mind of a professional.

I did think about the torque and that was one thing that was worrying me about setting up the bike myself but I guess I will just get the feel. I've only got a small pocket alan key set so the shorter keys I suppose will protect me a bit from overtightening as you can't get as much leverage.

Interesting that it depends which Halfords you go to on the standard of service - all the complaints I'd heard were a blanket criticism of Halfords in general so I'll have to just make my own mind up about my local store.

Thanks again everyone for the advice.

TommyEss

If you do get a torque wrench be careful too though - the quoted torque setting can be quite a bit tighter than you might go by hand.

Today I put a new stem on, and it says 6nm - so I set the torque wrench to 4nm to give me a bit of margin for error, tightened up to 4, then switched to my regular allen keys - didn't feel like it needed anything more...

Wirral_paul

Are you sure you are getting what you assume you are getting for the £65?? Many bike shops these days set the bike up for you as part of the purchase and that involves getting you set up with a proper cycling position on your bike - saddle height / setback, handlebar position etc.

As said by others, learning to put the bike together correctly and setting the gear indexing is something that you should look to learn yourself but getting the position right is well worth the money for most. I've just spent £110 yesterday afternoon getting my bike position set up by a professional. That started off with a good 30 mins before i even got on the bike to look at cleat position for the clipless pedals and fitting varius wedges into my shoes and ended with identifying a muscular issue around my left hip that is limiting power generated (and i got to see it in a slow motion video!!). A shop setup wont go anything close to this extent but at least should get the general body position pretty close.

I'd suggest checking what they include for the £65 and go from there.

shouldbeinbed

I'm not one that routinely sneers at Halfords but in my experience & stories here & elsewhere, they can be very hit & miss.

I'd suggest you visit a few bike shops in your wider area & get a feel for the one or two you'll be happy to trust. I've got 2 local bike shops for different needs, one 4 miles away & one 12. I ride past a good few others including a Halfords to get to them.

Craggers

I'm definitely in the 'learning to do it yourself' camp... all the information you need is on the internet, just need to start thinking about building up a bike specific tool set if you want to get into bike maintenance properly.

For bike technical informationg google 'sheldon brown' or 'park tools repair help'

Dalton

+1

I agree!

It is strangely satisfying repairing and tweaking your bike yourself.

I spent Friday afternoon preparing my commuter for my return to work Monday. I stripped down the brakes and replaced standard crappy blocks with new alloy cartridges and Koolstop pads and re-taped my handlebars after moving the hoods to an even level (LBS had set left hood slightly lower than right - which had been causing me shoulder pain).

I didn't have a clue how to tape handlebars, but you tube was my friend and it was a lot easier than I expected.

Not a great fan of cheap cycle tool kits though, find that tools in them are not built to last. I prefer to build up my own kit as and when tasks come up, buying decent tools.

lockstock666

DIY!

There are some very good you tube videos of all the maintenance/setup jobs you could ever think of, from balancing a wheel to replacing wheel bearings.

I followed a video at the weekend to sort out my gear indexing, they were all over the place. Not shifting and loads of chatter. After watching the video a couple of times and experimenting I now fully understand how it is supposed to work and what I need to do to adjust in the future. Oh and now each shift is sweet as a nut!

Chris McG

Best to do it yourself, as others have said.

A good starter tool kit is the Icetoolz one: http://www.shinybikes.com/ice-toolz-essence-tool-kit-82f1.html

m00nd0g

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/frame-sizing.html

bails87

TommyEss wrote:

Today I put a new stem on, and it says 6nm - so I set the torque wrench to 4nm to give me a bit of margin for error, tightened up to 4, then switched to my regular allen keys - didn't feel like it needed anything more...

So you 'felt' like it needed 4, when the stem says it needs 6? :?

tptvmbircn

I've done the DIY method for so long I'd never trust a bike shop / store (halfords) to service my bike, in fact I've never used one well for so long I've forgotten, think it was 2005 / 06?

In fact only today the bikes been stripped down and reassembled fully serviced, the sense of achievement is unreal!