Cycle Surgery Service - £60 - Worth it?

nickponty

Hello,

I want to get my bike serviced, stripped down, brakes fixed, gears indexed, generally checked up and tuned before I do the RideLondon 100 on Sunday. Cycle Surgery do this for £60:

•Frame & forks wiped down and checked for alignment
•Drivetrain removed, de-greased, cleaned, checked for wear and re-lubricated
•Headset checked for free movement and adjusted if required
•Bottom Bracket checked for free movement and adjusted if required
•Allen bolts checked and tightened to correct torque
•External adjustment of all bearings
•Lubrication of chain, mechs & cables
•Adjustment of brakes and gears
•Wheel hubs and rims checked for damage and wear and trued if required
•Pump and inspect tyres for wear and tear
•Safety check (all fittings / mudguards / racks etc. are securely fastened)
•Brakes checked for effective operation and adjusted

Given that not all of this is stuff I'm that expert at, nor would I immediately spot if something was wrong, is this worth doing - or is this the equivalent of taking my computer to PC World and paying £60 for a 'virus check'.

N

smithy05

If you haven't got any issues with the drivetrain (creaking BB etc.) at the moment then I wouldn't bother. Most of what is included in that service you can do yourself, such as tightening bolts, checking tyre pressures etc. Seems like a lot of money to me

pashda

I think the value for money depends on whether you could do any of it yourself. If you cant then it is worth paying a professional to sort it all out. But if the bike is working fine and as smithy05 says no problems with the drivetrain then dont bother. You can check everything is tight and the tyres are in good nick. What are you going to do if when they check it they tell you actually the frame you thought was good is out of alignment? Get a new one or ride it anyway as it has felt ok to you? If it gives you peace of mind ahead of Sunday's big event then I would get them to check it over.

rolf_f

I was looking at the list of things Evans do for their gold standard service and my conclusions were pretty much as per this one:

•Frame & forks wiped down and checked for alignment - why wouldn't they be aligned?
•Drivetrain removed, de-greased, cleaned, checked for wear and re-lubricated - this is useful
•Headset checked for free movement and adjusted if required - they probably won't need to do anything here
•Bottom Bracket checked for free movement and adjusted if required - they probably won't need to do anything
•Allen bolts checked and tightened to correct torque - can be worthwhile
•External adjustment of all bearings - cup and cone wheel bearings? Not sure what else they are getting at here
•Lubrication of chain, mechs & cables - should be a part of your routine maintenance
•Adjustment of brakes and gears - should be part of routine maintenance
•Wheel hubs and rims checked for damage and wear and trued if required - oh, so above wasn't wheel hubs.....
•Pump and inspect tyres for wear and tear - should do this every other ride
•Safety check (all fittings / mudguards / racks etc. are securely fastened) - they already checked the allen bolts...
•Brakes checked for effective operation and adjusted - they already checked the brakes and gears!

So, of the above, the second line is worth paying for and most of the rest probably involves Cycle Surgery not exactly doing much at all or are things you really have no excuse not to do yourself. Some of the items are just repetitions to make the list sound longer. If you cycle to the shops a couple of times a week then maybe paying for this every so often is worthwhile but if you are doing a decent mileage then the bike is going to end up unsafe after only a few weeks if you don't do a lot of these things yourself as routine.

slowbike

I took my road bike in for a service after it's first 2000 miles ...

The reason I did so was because a) I wasn't confident that I'd spot all issues coming up, b) I was off to France on holiday with it, so wanted it working properly and c) the drivetrain had started to squeak.

Well - the squeak was the chain/cassette needing replacement but the rest of the bike was fine - just had a regrease that was part of the service.
I got what I needed for a fair price - a knowledgeable assessment of my bike just before I needed it.

Before going on holiday this year I checked and replaced the chain, cassette looked fine, replaced the brake pads and had a good clean and check over ... but then I'm a year down the line and have more confidence in my knowledge of my bike.

clickrumble

It's only value for money if they do it well. Also, if you are intending to do a fairly serious ride at the weekend it's probably better not to do have the cycle shop do the service this late stage as there is always the chance that they may not put everything back or adjust things correctly, leaving you with little time to sort it out or even worse find out when you're on the ride.

GiantMike

£60 for a service? Feck me! It's a bike not a car.

If you're anywhere near Preston drop it round my place and I'll have a look at it for free. You'll have to wipe your own forks down though as that's the technical bit I struggle with.

I wonder how they know the correct torque for all allen bolts.

thefd

Not worth it...

Do a days course (loads around) like this one for less - service your own bike and learn the skills at the same time. You may have to buy some tools but for £60 a time to pay for a service you are quids in. It means you know it is actually done and you are happy with it. I got lunch included for £49 one the Edinburgh bike one!!

Well worth it.

Oh - and like you before I went on it I was a little scared and unsure how to do anything, its not hard.