Do you pay to have your bike serviced?

king_jeffers

As topic really :-) Personally I get my bike serviced once every 4-5 months depending on how many miles I've clocked up, typically costing between £25-45 depending on the work required. I would love to do the work myself but I'm a DIY diaster when it comes to bikes. I've tried to learn DIY skills from books and the occasional youtube video but I always make the problem worse. Just curious to know if I'm alone?

CiB

It's a DIY job all the way. Bikes are a collection of simple mechanical bits - cogs, chains, levers, cables. Looking after it yourself is both satisfying and safer - you know that it's done properly as opposed to being a Friday afternoon rush job by an indifferent school-leaver [mebbe], and it means that you're never at the whim of a bike shop who may or not be able to fit you in when you need it doing. Plus which knowing how to strip it down to the washers and put it back together without having any bits left over means you're never stuck with a bike that won't work, unless it's something major - it rarely is.

DIY. What's the phrase? Give a man a fish and feed him once, teach him to fish and he's set up on fish for tea for the rest of his days. Poor fellah.

gilesjuk

I don't even pay to service my car. So a bike service is a definite no no.

I built the bike from component parts and I even the built wheels. Who else is going to know better than me what condition the bike is in? In most cases servicing a bike is just about identifying worn components and sticky cables. Adjusting cables where necessary.

If you can spin (check trueness) and wobble a wheel, wiggle a crank, wiggle a dérailleur and apply the front brake and wiggle the bike back and forth then you've identified much of the possible wear.

Keiron Curtis

You are not alone, like you I'm a bike maniac disaster. I've got a BikeCare Plan with Halfords, and I have been impressed with their mechanics, currently they're very good and I have no complaints. £29.99 for three years, I only pay for parts, labour is free. It hasn't always been the case, because when I first started to commute, Halfords repairs etc., where crap!!! I do try the odd job, trouble is I produce odd results, and it takes me hours to do the simplest tasks.

stanarchist

the only thing i've ever paid for is wheel building - other than that I've always done my own. Started out from neccesity due to having very little money to today where I do it to keep my bikes running and also as a way to chill out. I find something very relaxing and comfortable about stripping down and servicing/building a bicycle.
QUICK POLL:
I've heard of people paying anything upto £100 for their bikes servicing - would you rather not save that money and use it to pay for a 'DIY Bike Maintenance Course' ? Y/N

If yes would you be intretsed in a residential course that threw in a bit of riding too ? Y/N

Keiron Curtis

stanarchist wrote:

the only thing i've ever paid for is wheel building - other than that I've always done my own. Started out from neccesity due to having very little money to today where I do it to keep my bikes running and also as a way to chill out. I find something very relaxing and comfortable about stripping down and servicing/building a bicycle.
QUICK POLL:
I've heard of people paying anything upto £100 for their bikes servicing - would you rather not save that money and use it to pay for a 'DIY Bike Maintenance Course' ? Y/N

If yes would you be intretsed in a residential course that threw in a bit of riding too ? Y/N

I hear and agree with what you say, stripping the bike, maintaining it et al, sounds relaxing etc., until I put it into practise, whwn I find it exasperating, not having enough hands or fingers to manipulate this or that into position? I'd love to do a mechanic's course, but doubt I could afford it.

iPete

I've always paid for certain jobs mostly around cabling and gears. This was until I re-built my bike with a mate who knew his stuff and suddenly I'll never pay again; its easy when you know how but that's the problem... I could still do with a course on tuning gears, I'm sure it'd pay for itself v.quickly!

MrChuck

Most stuff I do myself, things like fork servicing or wheelbuilding or where an expensive, rarely-needed tool is required (e.g. headset press) I'll take to a shop. Also I've ended up in shops when my patience has run out- for instance, when I changed the bearings on my Hope hubs I just couldn't get the old ones off (I don't have a vice) so I just tool it to a better equipped workshop.

bails87

The limiting factor for any vaguely competent home mechanic should be lack of tools, not lack of skills.

Especially on road bikes where there are no hydraulic brakes or high and low speed compression and damping suspension circuits to deal with, like on the relatively complicated MTBs.

It's just cables, grease and bearings.

Gears, for example, look mysterious and complicated but should be very simple. If they need doing you might as well try to do it yourself following one of the online guides.

All you need is a screwdriver, an allen key and (if you don't reuse the original cables) some cable cutters. If you mess it up you'll have to pay £x for the shop to do it. If you don't try then you'll have to pay £x for the shop to do it anyway, so you might as well try, in case you get it right! Then if there's a problem 'on the road', you know how to fix it.

If you're doing something like fitting a new headset, it might be worthwhile paying the shop to do it once every few years rather than buying the tools, same goes for BB facing where it only needs to be done once, but the tool costs a few hundred quid.

king_jeffers

stanarchist wrote:

I've heard of people paying anything upto £100 for their bikes servicing - would you rather not save that money and use it to pay for a 'DIY Bike Maintenance Course' ? Y/N If yes would you be intretsed in a residential course that threw in a bit of riding too ? Y/N

I would be well up for this, always good to have someone first hand you can fire questions at.

Pleased I'm not alone in paying for a service, I'll still give it a go but on the flip side I'll probably still end up in the bike shop begging for help

porlyworly

I'll be paying my LBS for a service, it's only £35 and I don't mind supporting a small local business. To be honest at this time of year when it's pitch black when I leave for work and pitch black when I finish I just don't have the time (or the daylight!) to do it anyway

clarkey cat

I pay for mine to get serviced. If any of you guys want to do it for me at 50% what I pay the LBS then be my guest.

stanarchist

So .... weekend away doing a bit of riding, learning some of the basic maintenance jobs to keep your bike running - tuning gears, tweaking brakes etc. Preventative maintenance - what and when to grease or oil etc. Talking shite and drinking beer etc.

Is it something people would be intrested in ?

Watch this space

Blue Meanie

For working on other's bikes I charge:
£10 per hour
£15 per hour, if you want to watch
£20 per hour, if you want to help

:-)

gosport_commuter

Blue Meanie wrote:

For working on other's bikes I charge:
£20 per hour, if you want to help

:-)

LOL.

king_jeffers

Blue Meanie wrote:

£15 per hour, if you want to watch :-)

oi oi!

desweller

I do my own servicing for two reasons:

Bike mechanics are a variable bunch
It's faster and cheaper

Maybe that's three reasons.

The Rookie

I do it all myself, it's cheaper, I know it's been done properly and I can guage the 'life' of things so if it needs changing between services I can do it then not at the service and earlier than necesary!

Simon

MrChuck

DesWeller wrote:

Bike mechanics are a variable bunch.

This is a very good point and I started buying my own tools after getting fed up with jobs being done badly. It's a bit of a shame LBSs get this wrong so often when it's one of the few ways they can compete with the internet.

roger_merriman

My local bike shop is for most parts, a shop that fixes bits and bobs.

I use them for parts I can't or don't want to do.

they are 2 min walk so really very local.

zippy483

Will be a bit of both in the future, my banged up mountain bike commuter, I do myself, I've just bought a new road bike and the LBS i purchased it from do free servicing for life so that'll go there, only pay for parts, doesn't make sense not to.

porlyworly

Booked my bike into the lbs today for its first service, costs £35 + parts which I think is fantastic value

CiB

zippy483 wrote:

Will be a bit of both in the future, my banged up mountain bike commuter, I do myself, I've just bought a new road bike and the LBS i purchased it from do free servicing for life so that'll go there, only pay for parts, doesn't make sense not to.

PorlyWorly wrote:

Booked my bike into the lbs today for its first service, costs £35 + parts which I think is fantastic value

putting my cynical hat on, that sounds like an open invitation for the shop to discover lots of parts that need replacing every time it has a service. Who knows.

Keiron Curtis

zippy483 wrote:

Will be a bit of both in the future, my banged up mountain bike commuter, I do myself, I've just bought a new road bike and the LBS i purchased it from do free servicing for life so that'll go there, only pay for parts, doesn't make sense not to.

Free servicing for life? That sounds fantastic, must be a very expensive bike?

bails87

But as CiB says, you take it in for them to tweak the gears, it's a 10 minute job for them, but then they 'discover' that your headset needs replacing, or the BB is on it's last legs, or the chain, cassette and chain rings are worn...

CiB

...along the lines of Free MOT Tests. The govt fee has to be covered + a bit of labour; oh fancy that - needs new discs & pads sir, and did you not notice the failed headlamp...? Etc.

Free lunch? Free beer tomorrow anyone?

DIY. Satisfaction guaranteed and you know that it's a good job well done at a time that suits.

redvee

The only time my bike enters the LBS is either when I call in on the way home for bits or when I've been building frames up from scratch and need an headset fitted to frame & forks. Most fettling I can do myself at home in the living room.

fossyant

You aren't a proper cyclist unless you can fix it yourself ! :twisted:

Always do all my maintenance. Used to get wheels built (only because my LBS is very good), but re-built my last set myself and they are perfect.

Doing it yourself also means you spot parts wearing, and have them ordered and delivered before they wear out ! No down time !

zippy483

CiB wrote:

zippy483 wrote:

Will be a bit of both in the future, my banged up mountain bike commuter, I do myself, I've just bought a new road bike and the LBS i purchased it from do free servicing for life so that'll go there, only pay for parts, doesn't make sense not to.

PorlyWorly wrote:

Booked my bike into the lbs today for its first service, costs £35 + parts which I think is fantastic value

putting my cynical hat on, that sounds like an open invitation for the shop to discover lots of parts that need replacing every time it has a service. Who knows.

You are a cynical lot aren't you , We'll wait and see I'm farily savvy mechanically, so I'd have an idea whether something was on it's way out or not, they seem a decent bunch as well so we'll wait and see.

As for the expense not massively although the bike wasn't cheap but I'm lead to believe they offer free lifetime servicing on all bikes you buy from them.

porlyworly

Got my bike back from the lbs after work yesterday, he said it was in pretty bad shape and he had to virtually rebuild it from scratch. Only part that it needed was a spacer where the brake rotor was. He said it was a ballache and I should bring it back once a year rather than letting it get that bad but didn't charge me a penny over the agreed £35 service charge. Bike feels much firmer, brakes more taught and best of all the gear change is now silky smooth.

Could I have done it myself? Maybe with a lot of time, effort and prior reading not to mention getting the right tools & consumables but for me the peace of mind knowing it's been sorted by a professional (and enthusiast) is worth double the paltry £35 I paid and it's definitely going back this time next year if I haven't progressed onto a better bike.

rolf_f

PorlyWorly wrote:

Could I have done it myself? Maybe with a lot of time, effort and prior reading not to mention getting the right tools & consumables but for me the peace of mind knowing it's been sorted by a professional (and enthusiast) is worth double the paltry £35 I paid and it's definitely going back this time next year if I haven't progressed onto a better bike.

This is where this approach falls down. OK, the deal is a good one but you let the bike get into a bad shape and you aren't touching it again for another year (which, even if that is less than the neglect period last time is still a long time).

Basically, unless you do very low mileage, you'll be spending a good part of the year riding a bike that is less easy to ride than it should be. If you can (mostly!) tell the difference before and after the service, you left it too long.