First free service

Schoie81

I bought my first road bike in May from a 'local' independent bike shop. When I picked it up, they told me I could bring the bike back after 200miles or 20hours of riding for a free service. One thing they mentioned might need looking at is cable stretch on the gears. I've passed 200miles on the bike now and have contacted the shop about this service. Does anyone know what kind of things this service might include? I've adjusted the gears myself anyway because they started not changing smoothly and I had the chain come off on a ride, so the gears all seem fine now. Just wondered what else they might do in the service and if its worth taking the bike in?

I know its a free service so I could just take it but the shop is a 40min drive from home and they say I'd need to leave the bike with them and pick it up the next day - so that means a total of 70-80 miles in the car and about 3hours. If they aren't going to do anything that I couldn't do myself (or maybe already have) then it seems a waste of time?

Beringo

I would imagine the best thing to do is to phone and ask the shop you bought it from. Would expect they would be happy to tell you if you're happy to do it yourself and save them some time.

slowbike

You've probably already done it yourself - they'd just check that everything looks ok - check cable tensions, brake blocks are still correctly aligned etc etc ...
At 200 miles nothing more than a check that everything is working correctly should be needed ... well, other than a clean and lub of the chain - and you should do that yourself anyway.

Mikey23

Nice to have it looked at though and it is free...

djm501

70-80 miles in the car isn't free.

It depends really on how competent you are yourself. If you're a total newbie then I would say yes, get it done. If you are experienced enough to safety check it and retune it yourself then you already know the answer.

Schoie81

djm501 wrote:

70-80 miles in the car isn't free.

It depends really on how competent you are yourself. If you're a total newbie then I would say yes, get it done. If you are experienced enough to safety check it and retune it yourself then you already know the answer.

That's what I was thinking - its two gallons of fuel at least...

I'm a total newbie to road bikes, but had a MTB for two years now and have done all maintanence, cleaning and adjustment on that myself. Had no problems in the last two years with that bike, but that doesn't necessarily mean i've done everything I should have done...

I guess long term I'd prefer to do maintenance myself, and if I could have stayed while they did it, so I could have maybe learnt something, i'd have had no hesitation in taking it in, but I mentioned being there while they did the service and they didn't seem too keen on that idea...

CiB

If you're happy doing it yourself I'd give the shop a call and ask if not doing the free service would affect the warranty in any way. That's the only drawback I can see. There's no reason why it should and if you're comfortable about adjusting brakes & gears etc it's a no brainer.

crankycrank

Personally I like to check everything on a new bike. Wheel bearings greased and adjusted properly, BB greased and tight, Chainring bolts tight, Headset greased and adjusted, All bolts and screws tight and threads greased, Seatpost greased (if frame or post are metal) and clamps tight, Check for loose spokes, Pedals tight and threads greased, etc. Most would consider this way overkill but I have seen enough new bikes where at least one of these points needed attention and can cause problems at some point. Shops do the initial checkup with varying degrees thoroughness and probably none would check everything mentioned so you need to ask but with a shop that's 40 min. away I think just doing it yourself is the best method provided you're capable. You may want to ask if their initial service is required for warranty claims though.