Ouch! Hefty repair bill from LBS

roundthebend

I bought a 2nd hand bike just before winter - Specialized Rockhopper with some upgraded bits.

Having used it for a short commute daily through winter, it got a little bit neglected - not cleaned, not oiled, not dried.

I had some gear issues last week and a couple of creaks and squeaks so I decided to get it into the LBS for a proper look over - I'm quite handy at maintenance but don't have enough expertise with the more difficult things.

Here's the diagnosis:
bottom bracket needs replacing - £35 + fitting
chain + cog replacement - £50
brake pads - £18 per pair (Avid Juicy 3)
Rear wheel might need to be replaced, but could be just the free wheel

It'll be around £200 (without the new wheel) to get them to sort it all.

Question is, shall I look at doing some of this myself? I've got a decent workstand with the intention of learning to do my own repairs anyway. How difficult are all these jobs?

And, how does one choose a wheel?

EDIT: I'm also wondering whether I might just sell break it up and sell the components then choose myself a shiny new bike. The brake system, frame (2006 Rockhopper Comp?), forks and SRAM X7 kit is worth quite a bit I imagine.

nicklouse

read Parktools and look online for pads. superstar for example.

cooldad

Diy excluding wheel maybe 30 quid or so in parts.

njee20

Bit more than that, but you should be able to do pads, BB, chain and cassette for c£50. Freehub you may have to get them to do, or at least order you the part.

nicklouse

njee20 wrote:

Bit more than that, but you should be able to do pads, BB, chain and cassette for c£50. Freehub you may have to get them to do, or at least order you the part.

but you do need a few more tools than just a work stand.

roundthebend

nicklouse wrote:

njee20 wrote:

Bit more than that, but you should be able to do pads, BB, chain and cassette for c£50. Freehub you may have to get them to do, or at least order you the part.

but you do need a few more tools than just a work stand.

Yep, I was just thinking that. What specialist tools are we talking about here? I already have hex keys, spanners, screwdrivers, grease and oil, cloths, pliers and a big hammer.

* Chain breaker
* Chain whip
* BB tool

njee20

Chain whip, cassette lockring tool, BB tool, chain tool.

Worth buying I'd say - needn't be expensive, check Superstar for good value tools.

cooldad

I don't look at basic tools as an expense. And they're always cheaper than paying to have the job done.

cooldad

Only thing I don't have is a work stand - should get one, but I do have a coffee table in my lounge which does the job most of the time. Obviously I'm divorced.

tofu21

cooldad wrote:

I don't look at basic tools as an expense. And they're always cheaper than paying to have the job done.

Unless you haven't got a clue what you are doing and knacker it.

Cross threading a BB is an expensive mistake to make.

roundthebend

cooldad wrote:

Only thing I don't have is a work stand - should get one, but I do have a coffee table in my lounge which does the job most of the time. Obviously I'm divorced.

I got my workstand last week, it was £40 new on ebay and seems to be well up to the task - holds the bike by the seatpost or frame, height is up to about 1.9m, has a magnetic tool tray, 4 legs, and a device to hold the front wheel steady.

cooldad

Been meaning to get one for years, but managed to strip and rebuild enough bikes without one - always seems to be something more pressing that I need. Like food and such.

roundthebend

When the LBS chap says "Cog & Chain" is he talking about the cassette and chainrings?

How does one choose these things? Is it dictated by the derailleurs, cranks, freehub?

.blitz

The chain always wears first followed by the chainring(s) and cassette. A worn out chain will wear the chainrings & cassette prematurely. A 'chain & cog' for £50 would be a new chain & cassette

Providing you keep to the same number of speeds 8/9/10 everything is interchangeable it's a question of how much you want to spend.

Although the intial outlay for specialised tools can seem expensive they are worth it in the long run. There's no need to buy professional or shop quality tools for home maintenance.

Have just changed the cassette, mech, chain, chain ring & brake pads on a mate's bike just over £100 in bits and an hour or so's leisurely fettling.

roundthebend

Thanks.

I broke it to my wife last night that the LBS wanted ~£200. She blew a fuse!

"£200 for a bike you've only just bought....and it was expensive."
"It's only a bike, not life or death!"
"You may as well buy a new bike..."

I can understand her to a degree. I'm not a very active mountain biker - I commute to work daily but only used the MTB during winter for its brakes and chunky tires, plus we live quite a distance from decent trails so the chance to go "proper" riding is not frequent and when I do it becomes a day trip or weekend which is costly. So, she sees this as being an expensive hobby. It doesn't help that I have a few other hobbies and interests which cost good money.

It would be easy for me to ignore her mis-guided opinion on the subject, but it wouldn't remove the fact that £200 is still a lot of money to us when we have other expenses to cover - car to run, house refurbishment, saving for a new house, holidays etc.

What I'm interested to know is, when does the maintenance cost become economically non-viable? To me, the frame is great, front forks are great, hydraulic brakes and SRAM x7 shifters are all good kit. Should I view £200 as a wear & tear maintenance bill to keep a great bike running, or should I consider selling those bits off and buying a different bike with a better spec? If I could get £250 for those parts, then another £250 would get me a very nice bike by my standards.

tofu21

If you are thinking about selling it, providing it is ridable, you'd be better selling it as a complete bike. You'd probably get more money that way than selling the bits.

bails87

I'd do it myself.

bottom bracket needs replacing - £35 + fitting

If the BB really is knackered (have you noticed a problem?) then replace it.
A Hollowtech 2 external BB can be had for £14 from CRC, an Octalink one is £11 and the tool is £6.

chain + cog replacement - £50

Again at CRC, you can get an 8 speed chain for £7, a 9 speed one for £11.
Cassettes are £13 or £18 respectively.

The chain whip, cassette lockring tool and chain breaker come to £18 in total.

brake pads - £18 per pair (Avid Juicy 3)

£18 for 4 pairs from Superstar. You don't need any special tools although pliers make it easier to get the old pads out, and a screwdriver or something is needed to push the pistons back (with the old pads still in place).

So, worst case scenario, you're on 9 speed and have no bike specific tools, it's a total of £85 for all the tools and parts.


Then there's the wheel....

mrmonkfinger

Second hand complete wheels can be had quite cheaply on the ebay, sometimes people will throw in a cassette with it, too. Worth considering.

What's actually wrong with the freehub/wheel?

.blitz

roundthebend wrote:

I'm not a very active mountain biker - I commute to work daily but only used the MTB during winter for its brakes and chunky tires, plus we live quite a distance from decent trails so the chance to go "proper" riding is not frequent

You are my mate Dave and I claim my £5

roundthebend

.blitz wrote:

roundthebend wrote:

I'm not a very active mountain biker - I commute to work daily but only used the MTB during winter for its brakes and chunky tires, plus we live quite a distance from decent trails so the chance to go "proper" riding is not frequent

You are my mate Dave and I claim my £5

Is your mate cool?
I'm actually new to the hobby so I expect to be making more of it in the coming years - hence why I've got a relatively cheap bike to get me started.

roundthebend

bails87 wrote:

I'd do it myself.

bottom bracket needs replacing - £35 + fitting

If the BB really is knackered (have you noticed a problem?) then replace it.
A Hollowtech 2 external BB can be had for £14 from CRC, an Octalink one is £11 and the tool is £6.

chain + cog replacement - £50

Again at CRC, you can get an 8 speed chain for £7, a 9 speed one for £11.
Cassettes are £13 or £18 respectively.

The chain whip, cassette lockring tool and chain breaker come to £18 in total.

brake pads - £18 per pair (Avid Juicy 3)

£18 for 4 pairs from Superstar. You don't need any special tools although pliers make it easier to get the old pads out, and a screwdriver or something is needed to push the pistons back (with the old pads still in place).

So, worst case scenario, you're on 9 speed and have no bike specific tools, it's a total of £85 for all the tools and parts.


Then there's the wheel....

Thanks for this. It's really encouraging.
As for the wheel, I'll see what comes of it. I hadn't noticed any running issues with the BB or rear hub just some creaking noises which he has put down to the front spokes being loose.

bungalballs

Just a note - CRC have a starter tool kit by X-tools for around £40. Alongside park-tools website for guidance as Nick said, maybe it's a good investment?

blablablacksheep

^^ also have rockhopper and tbh the bike can actually survive quite a long time without a service......

Tools wise :
Tool stand, massive help compared to trying to balance bike around the garden .
BB tool
Cassette tool/chain whip
Lubes and grease(quality stuff allways best)

Then other things you just buy when you need to, replacing BB is piece of piss tbh, the hardest thing is having the bike faced as i would guess you would need as mine needed it to be done, this costs in reality around £20 for bike shop to do, then BB is around £15 so that price doesnt seem to bad, buy depends if it includes parts ect.

I just replaced the whole chainset tbh as the new gear is a lot easyer i find looking after than the old stuff my bike came with, so costs a bit more at start but works out cheaper in long run i think.

wheel wise it very much upto you, i was running with a funky wheel for about a year with no major issues but thaks to sonic for new wheels that is now sorted(also good pair of wheels are going to last and easy to maintain most of the time too) so thats a good excuse you can tell the misses when you buy some new hope wheels for £250 lol

njee20

^^ also have rockhopper and tbh the bike can actually survive quite a long time without a service......

Well that depends doesn't it!? I never really 'service' my bike, but I do things as and when they need doing, which is pretty frequently frankly, otherwise it doesn't work as well. To that end the forks are away having a service following a particularly wet race, also needed new pads, cables, BB bearings and hub bearings. It had a new shock bush and chain last month but it was skipping in one gear, so new cassette needed. So that's about £700 or so all in. Then the spare wheels also need bearings. There's another £60 or so. The summer road bike needs chain rings, they're about £120.

Not really 'serviced' per se though!

Still, scary to think what the LBS would have wanted to charge!

roundthebend

Just back from the LBS where the technician demonstrated the issues. BB is grinding away so I'm happy to accept his suggestion of fitting a new one. It's an old style BB I need which they sell at £33. I guess I could get it cheaper online but with tools and potential cock up I opted to let him do that.

The rear wheel he's hoping is just a cone and bearings, or the whole freehub. He said it could be that there's damage to the hub itself which would mean a rebuild or, more sensibly, a new wheel. So, he's going to investigate that first which would mean I only incur a £10 charge for the labour in investigating it.

The cog & chain will do another few hundred miles so he suggested keeping those on for the moment and he agreed that I could probably DIY those if I have the necessary tools.

Brake pads - same as above.

EDIT: Just had a call while typing - the hub is damaged but he salvaged some parts recently from another bike so he's going to fit those which avoids me having to buy a new wheel.

Summary - He's fitting a new BB and repairing the rear hub, then he's finishing the basic service to setup the gears and brakes and check everything over. Total cost = £130.

The Rookie

An old style BB sells for a shed load less than £33, a sealed bearing square taper can be had for around a tenner!

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... elID=79293
Proof!

£33 is a rip off even for a shop!

Simon

mrmonkfinger

roundthebend wrote:

The rear wheel he's hoping is just a cone and bearings, or the whole freehub. He said it could be that there's damage to the hub itself which would mean a rebuild or, more sensibly, a new wheel.

EDIT: Just had a call while typing - the hub is damaged but he salvaged some parts recently from another bike so he's going to fit those which avoids me having to buy a new wheel.

Shimano hub by any chance?

roundthebend

mrmonkfinger wrote:

roundthebend wrote:

The rear wheel he's hoping is just a cone and bearings, or the whole freehub. He said it could be that there's damage to the hub itself which would mean a rebuild or, more sensibly, a new wheel.

EDIT: Just had a call while typing - the hub is damaged but he salvaged some parts recently from another bike so he's going to fit those which avoids me having to buy a new wheel.

Shimano hub by any chance?

Yes, he said it was Shimano which was a good thing when it comes to repairing it. I presume that's because parts are easily available.

roundthebend

The Beginner wrote:

An old style BB sells for a shed load less than £33, a sealed bearing square taper can be had for around a tenner!

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... elID=79293
Proof!

£33 is a rip off even for a shop!

Simon

That looks identical to the one he showed me - what hope have I got?
I'll probably just take this as a good reason to buy the tools and get the skills.

njee20

Not necessarily the same part though is it? One looks the same as the next.

mrmonkfinger

roundthebend wrote:

Yes, he said it was Shimano which was a good thing when it comes to repairing it. I presume that's because parts are easily available.

Yes.

Personally I don't like the Shimano bearing system, because sometimes when the bearings have gone you are sometimes forced to replace a freehub or hub shell; the hub/freehub forms half of the bearing.