LBS workshop prices?

juststartinout

Hi all i recently took my bike to my lbs for them to have a look at my headset and gears as they weren't shifting as smooth as i'd like.They said they would phone me with a quote after two days they rang to say they had done work without contacting me with quote not too happy but what could i do.Got a bill for £94 does that sound about right for indexing gears,checking cassette,tightening bb cups and oiling gear cables?

JackPozzi

Sounds a bit steep for the work you've listed! Have they replaced any parts at all?

juststartinout

said he'd replaced headset star nut that was £10 on invoice.

Bozman

I've used two LBS for work, one charged £6 per job....... Front mech, chain or chainset etc and the other was a little cheaper, they built a bike up for about £30.
Then you see the light and learn how to do it yourself.

Bullet1

Seem fairly expensive

I've used the following guy a couple of times and has a price list on his website to give you an indication

http://www.ezerider.com/page7.htm

Bullet1

Bozman wrote:

I've used two LBS for work, one charged £6 per job....... Front mech, chain or chainset etc and the other was a little cheaper, they built a bike up for about £30.
Then you see the light and learn how to do it yourself.

Too true - £60 for a work stand, £40 for a half decent tool kit and YouTube!

juststartinout

thanks for the comments thought it was a bit steep.Will be investing in some tools and a workstand me thinks.

MrChuck

Sounds quite high to me.

styxd

Ripped off in my opinion.

I would have thought about 20 quid for the work you've listed.

juststartinout

Dont think i'll be using them again

danlikesbikes

Did they do a service on the bike also, as it does sound a little steep but if they could have always added that into the cost.

LBS did a service on my old MTB & I knew the BB needed upgrading as is quite old and getting a bit knackered, they quoted me a price which we agreed on & they went ahead with the work. Paid for and collected the bike only to find they had not done the work asked, replace the BB, but did a standard service on the bike. Needless to say they told me they had taken the BB out and it was "OK" so refitted and that was it. Surprise if I don't find that after 1 ride out the BB is not alright and needs replacing.

Most LBS's are very good and need our support, some you wonder how they get any business at all and are still going.

juststartinout

No they didnt do a service.Think what surprised me more was they went ahead and did work without contacting me with a quote wonder how many people they've had with that one?

nochekmate

juststartinout wrote:

No they didnt do a service.Think what surprised me more was they went ahead and did work without contacting me with a quote wonder how many people they've had with that one?

Given the figures involved, they are bang out of order for not contacting you. £10 replacement cost of star nut is massively overpriced for starters, so where does the other £84 come in, if no other parts were replaced - cannot be all labour charges surely for those jobs. How long did they claim to take if that's the case? I would hope to complete that lot inside an hour and I'm no expert mechanic compared to others on this forum.

ic.

I think that's shocking. You're in a difficult position because its difficult to argue with them when they're claimed to have done the work

In my opinion the work listed should have cost £20 at the VERY most

Star nuts cost about £1 retail, an lbs will paying pennies for them. For an lbs, I'd be expecting that sort of thing for free as a values customer

Name and shame them. Helps others out.

In future, if you have little jobs that need doing, post questions on here and look things up on YouTube, you'll be amazed how easy things are. It's called fettling. And it's the best use of anyone's time. I once spent three hours fettling with a bike that was working perfectly to start with

juststartinout

just checked invoice £84 for labour.He quoted £120 labour for a full service.Think i've found the most expensive bike shop in u.k lucky me

jagx400

Name and shame

nochekmate

juststartinout wrote:

just checked invoice £84 for labour.He quoted £120 labour for a full service.Think i've found the most expensive bike shop in u.k lucky me

I would take a print out of these responses and let the LBS owner read them and if he's not prepared to meet you somewhere along the line with the charge, then post the shop details - other cyclists need to be protected from such blatant profiteering.

Anybody who pays £120 for a 'full bike service' has simply got too much money - most full services are worth no more than £25 IMO. If ever there was a reason to learn a bit of cycling DIY then this is why.

Strith

What shop?

pinarellokid

its disgusting. only really dealt with 1 LBS who i bought 3 bikes from on the cycle to work scheme
each time a free service, but i never ever took them back to get a paid service as they were so snotty
and up themselves that i wouldnt give them my money ever again
and obviously stopped buying from them
their service costs were shocking also

rich164h

That little lot can't be more that £20 I'd say, maybe £30 at the absolute top end.

£84 for labour? seriously? that list wouldn't have taken more than maybe 45mins to do, possibly less.

ugo.santalucia

These threads only make sense if people come out with the names...

The "my local LBS ripped me off" doesn't help anybody. You need to name the shop... the same way as you are quick at pointing the finger at Wiggle, you should do the same with the shop that you think "ripped you off"...

Are you scared of retaliation or what?

ride_whenever

nochekmate wrote:

Anybody who pays £120 for a 'full bike service' has simply got too much money - most full services are worth no more than £25 IMO. If ever there was a reason to learn a bit of cycling DIY then this is why.

Depends on the service, if it's a full strip down, clean and re-assemble that's pretty reasonable. Although I'd expect the bike to be like new for that sort of money.

iPete

Think my work stand and lifeline toolbox has paid for itself about 10 times over, plus there are no waiting times.

It is very much worth investing now and learning. Doing a full strip and re-build in the summer is good fun, better than sunbathing anyway.

Rob Somerset

I agree you paid too much. On the other hand some of the reply posts seem to think that lbs are doing this as a hobby from the prices that are mentioned. Any business with a premises and workshop that have to be paid for, surely would have to be charging at least £25 /hour. probably a fair bit more if they have a good high street location. The reality is that a business exits to make money, it holds true always - buyer beware. Always check beforehand what you are going to get for your money - and think - why dont I do it myself ? Most cycling mechanics are easy, but I would always get an expert in when special tools are required, such as bearing press.

nochekmate

Rob Somerset wrote:

I agree you paid too much. On the other hand some of the reply posts seem to think that lbs are doing this as a hobby from the prices that are mentioned. Any business with a premises and workshop that have to be paid for, surely would have to be charging at least £25 /hour. probably a fair bit more if they have a good high street location. The reality is that a business exits to make money, it holds true always - buyer beware. Always check beforehand what you are going to get for your money - and think - why dont I do it myself ? Most cycling mechanics are easy, but I would always get an expert in when special tools are required, such as bearing press.

Agree with the sentiments here on the whole - but still cannot see how they did more than an hour's genuine work myself. On the second bit of bold text, the OP did request that they offer him a quote first for work required, which the LBS appear to have ignored before charging him the £94

juststartinout

thanks for all the advice and comments.Just hope any beginners reading this thread realise how important learning your way around your bike is and could save you £££££.Lennard zinn road bike maintenance ordered have learnt my lesson.