Bike builder.

ara3791
ara3791 Posts: 378
edited March 2012 in Workshop
Can anyone recommend a bike builder around the Coalville Leicestershire area?

I'm looking to get my new bike build setup properly.

My local bike shop of choice would be pedal power of Loughborough as I don't know of any others of note.

Cheers in advance.

Comments

  • timmyturbo
    timmyturbo Posts: 617
    JOHN FERN , if he is still going , i had a campagnolo luged 5631 time trial bike frame from him in 1982 , i only sold it last year . The old man might have popped his clogs though . He was in coalville
    Britannia waives the rules
  • ara3791
    ara3791 Posts: 378
    Remember his shop well. Been gone years. I think it's a motability scooter shop now.
  • Yossie
    Yossie Posts: 2,600
    Give Russ at Lutterworth Cycles a quick call - very nice guy, very good shop. Very recommneded by me and the Yossie in laws who live up that neck of the woods.
  • CYCLESPORT1
    CYCLESPORT1 Posts: 471
    Julies Cycles
    212-216 Clarendon Park Road, Leicester, LE2 3AG
  • ara3791
    ara3791 Posts: 378
    Cheers for the responses.

    A further question:

    I've been quoted anything upto £80.00 for the following.

    Fit the shifters and cables.
    Fit chain.
    Gear setup.
    Brake setup.
    Chop the fork steerer and install star nut and top cap.
    Check over the BB/Crankset, front and rear mech, brakes, Cassette. All of which I've installed.

    To me £80.00 seems a little steep! Am I just a cheapskate? Is this reasonable?

    Cheers
  • Yossie
    Yossie Posts: 2,600
    No - that's a little steep but not massive rip off steep. Call it £50/55 with the caveat that you can bring it back time and time and time again if it all doesn't click and clack perfectly first time and you can bring it back for tweak once it's all settled down.

    If you've fitted your own bits so far, why not finish the job: the shifters are two bolts, cables are four snips and putting in place, ok if you don't have a chain splitter and don't know the length you need then that's a job for the shop if you can't get one/don't want one, set up for mechs should be £12 or so.

    Brake set up is a case of pulling the cable through the caliper bolt things then doing the bolts up - 30 second job. happy to do a Yossie point by point guide if you want.

    Chopping the fork steerer can be a tad tricky (especially if you aren't confident about it) so that'll be a couple of quid plus a couple of pounds for the bits.

    HTH

    Y
  • Eyon
    Eyon Posts: 623
    Aside of the fork steerer, do it yourself and save a packet. It's half the fun of making your own bike is the building part. You've done the tricky bits, the rest are easy!
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,248
    ara3791 wrote:
    Cheers for the responses.

    A further question:

    I've been quoted anything upto £80.00 for the following.

    Fit the shifters and cables.
    Fit chain.
    Gear setup.
    Brake setup.
    Chop the fork steerer and install star nut and top cap.
    Check over the BB/Crankset, front and rear mech, brakes, Cassette. All of which I've installed.

    To me £80.00 seems a little steep! Am I just a cheapskate? Is this reasonable?

    Cheers

    Building a bike properly takes about 3 hours, so a shop will charge around 90-120 pounds, depending on how high their running costs are. A car mechanic would charge you two to three times as much and you won't complain, so it's a bit unfair to expect someone to work minimum wage on a piece of equipment which is often more valuable than a car. The skills involved are very similar and the running costs of a LBS are quite high.

    If you are not happy with that quote, DIY is the answer or you can ask someone in your club, who will do it for a lot less.
    left the forum March 2023

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