Bike servicing?

stoveman

Apologies for if posted in the wrong part of the forum but qualifies for a couple !

Currently riding an old (mid 90s) Bianchi and saving for a new bike at the end of next year.

I am planning to take the current bike I have into one of the local shops for a service and safety check now that I plan to increase my hours on the bike through the winter.
The planned shop is Ricci at Redruth who seem helpful but also very geared up for the seasoned club rider!
What sort of cost should I expect to incur with a service and safety check roughly?

Many thanks.

Phil.

Simon Masterson

Most bike shops offer a £20-£40 or so basic service, but it's a huge waste of your money.

What sort of safety check do you need? What do you think might be wrong? Near enough any problem that they will look at for that money will be self evident and obvious - eg bearings, cassette/chain/chainring wear, cable stretch, brake pad and rim wear, tyre condition, wheels being out of true... Checking (and fixing) these things is within the reach of anyone that is capable of riding a bike.

Sure, if your bike genuinely does need some routine servicing and you don't want to do it yourself, then that's your choice, but if it rides ok, it probably is.

stoveman

Thanks for the reply Simon.
to my knowledge the bike has never been serviced I've only recently got it.Brakes and the such like all seem fine,only thing I have noticed whilst out yesterday is that when pedalling every second or third stroke there feels like something slipping or jumping for want of a better description.Feels like a bearing going perhaps in the bottom bracket.?
Thought that it may be worth getting the drivetrain looked at as I really wouldnt know where to start and don't want increased expense by making an existing issue bigger.

Thanks.

night_porter

As suggested you could try and fix things yourself but to be honest unless you are going to be doing it a lot you will end up spending far more on specialist tools for removing the chainset, bottom bracket, chain and cassette than it will cost to go to a bike shop. Why not ask the bike shop how much a normal service will cost and they will give you a guide (excluding spare parts of course).

Incidentally it sounds like your drivetrain does need looking at, it may only need a chain but I would expect more given the age of the bike.

defycomp2

Go and have a natter with Ricci, they are very nice people, or go to Clive Mitchell in Truro, CycleLogic (Helston) or Velotive (Newquay). The only one I have no personal experience of is Velotive. Ricci built me a bike many years ago, my Giant comes from CycleLogic and most "bits" come from Clive Mitchell.

stoveman

night_porter that is pretty much what I thought regarding special tools etc,also I want to ride as much as possible on this bike so don't want to dismantle it and then not get it back together in good time.Also i want to save as much as possible to go towards the new bike next year.
this will eventually become the winter bike so may then start to do some of the smaller jobs in the future.

DefyComp2 thanks for that,will have a chat with Ricci today,had already flagged them up as a possibly supplying my new one next year.So might be a good time to start the relationship now! I do like some of the cannondales they stock,I like the look of the BMC bikes and really fancied something different to all the Specialised,Trek and Merida you see around here but living in Hayle,it would mean the nearest supplier is Evans in Plymouth and wasn't overly confident in their sales team when I visited there recently.

Having been out of cycling since the mid 90s it is amazing how everything has changed and seems daunting being a beginner again.

Simon Masterson

stoveman wrote:

night_porter that is pretty much what I thought regarding special tools etc,also I want to ride as much as possible on this bike so don't want to dismantle it and then not get it back together in good time.

That's all well and good for things like the BB (though special tools needed vary by the type you have) but a couple of cone spanners (I'm guessing your wheel bearings may well be cup and cone) will cost you less than paying a shop, and if you really intend to ride a lot in wet weather, they may need regreasing more often.

charlie_potatoes

Simon Masterson wrote:

Most bike shops offer a £20-£40 or so basic service, but it's a huge waste of your money.

For some people the value is in the peace of mind though.

Having said that it is worth learning how to maintain your bike if you can.

I like tinkering with my bikes but sometimes when I'm busy I use my local bike shop as I can be out earning more than I'm paying them.

Tjgoodhew

The way I tend to service my bikes is to do the things myself i consider easy that dont really need any specialist tools or if they do then they are cheap to buy

So checking the chain for wear and changing if required, making sure the brakes and rims are ok, indexing gears and even checking the headset can all be done with very basic tools and youtube videos.

I then use my LBS for things that are either time consuming or require specialist tools.

I needed BB bearings changed and that was IMO a LBS job but it meant i can then just pay for the specific job instead of things that can quite easily be done by me at home.

If you are intending on riding more then it is a good idea to learn the basics at least

stoveman

Thanks for all the input,I now have a plan I think

As the bike has never been properly serviced to my knowledge,I am going to get Ricci to give it a service and sort the issue I mentioned above.Then I feel I will be starting from a known point if you understand what I mean.

Then as things crop up I will assess and have a go at them if I feel capable using the wealth of knowledge on the forum and the videos etc on Youtube.At the moment the priority is to get the bike running smoothly and indeed have the peace of mind mentioned above.

Phil.

Simon Masterson

Charlie Potatoes wrote:

Simon Masterson wrote:

Most bike shops offer a £20-£40 or so basic service, but it's a huge waste of your money.

For some people the value is in the peace of mind though.

Having said that it is worth learning how to maintain your bike if you can.

I like tinkering with my bikes but sometimes when I'm busy I use my local bike shop as I can be out earning more than I'm paying them.

I get that, I really do. And I've had bikes in the shop before during the week. My main problem here is 'laziness tax' type services designed for people that just want their Brompton to carry on carrying them to work and will happily spend whatever it takes for peace of mind and lack of dirty work - not because I object to the existence of services of that ilk (I imagine many bike shops wouldn't stay open without them), but simply because if you don't know that your bike is basically roadworthy (e.g. checking tyre condition, brakes, transmission, etc), you shouldn't be riding it at all, let alone at 20+mph. Even if you can identify the problem (or tell that something's not quite right) and not fix it, that's much better than nothing.

stoveman

Simon Masterson wrote:

Charlie Potatoes wrote:

Simon Masterson wrote:

Most bike shops offer a £20-£40 or so basic service, but it's a huge waste of your money.

For some people the value is in the peace of mind though.

Having said that it is worth learning how to maintain your bike if you can.

I like tinkering with my bikes but sometimes when I'm busy I use my local bike shop as I can be out earning more than I'm paying them.

I get that, I really do. And I've had bikes in the shop before during the week. My main problem here is 'laziness tax' type services designed for people that just want their Brompton to carry on carrying them to work and will happily spend whatever it takes for peace of mind and lack of dirty work - not because I object to the existence of services of that ilk (I imagine many bike shops wouldn't stay open without them), but simply because if you don't know that your bike is basically roadworthy (e.g. checking tyre condition, brakes, transmission, etc), you shouldn't be riding it at all, let alone at 20+mph. Even if you can identify the problem (or tell that something's not quite right) and not fix it, that's much better than nothing.

Totally see where you are coming from Simon and my using the term safety check probably sounds a little more simplistic than I intended.
Have seen the mechanic today at Ricci and they are going to check out the fault I described and then check the drivetrain and adjust if necessary the gear indexing etc etc and generally give me a breakdown of anything that might need attention.
I have already checked brakes for wear along with tyres etc,its just the drivetrain etc that is the concern.

Simon Masterson

Sounds like you've done the right thing here. If your mechanic is a good one, hopefully he'll be able to advise on any components that are worn or worth replacing - e.g. you have the option of changing for a sealed cartridge BB if the bike doesn't currently have one.

Mikey23

Ricci are excellent...

charlie_potatoes

Simon Masterson wrote:

but simply because if you don't know that your bike is basically roadworthy (e.g. checking tyre condition, brakes, transmission, etc), you shouldn't be riding it at all.

Ah yes! Mrs. Potatoes in a nutshell :shock:
Luckily I am around to help avoid a catastrophy