[Closed] £80 service reasonable?

Doesn't sound too crazy to me. Where in manchester are you?

"...where appropriate."
So if the regreasing of headset etc is not considered appropriate you still pay for it.
Find a mechanic that charges for the work done.

That's not bad, come on. I paid £300 for my last service and that seemed reasonable - it did include forks and shock service.

wait till the add the + parts bit onto the bill, it will be more than the bikes worth when they are done

Sounds reasonable to me, it's a good couple of hours work.

£90 + parts for that in our shop.

yes

Im assuming you are Stockport ish so I would recommend http://bikeanics.co.uk/service/ if the few miles travel isn't an issue.

I don't work in bike shop but would want at least that much for spending time on someone else's bike. You could of course watch a few YouTube videos and give it a go yourself?

Because in includes headset and bb I say reasonable.

Yes, weather it is worth it for the bike. You could add the words - I don't want to replace anything... except cables etc.

Anywhere from £30 upwards at ours, just depends on what needs doing. We charge £30 per hour & charge for how long it takes & what's required.
We've had some that need £30 spending & others than need £600+

Sounds cheap to me.

Last R5 service cost £130, the CXer just had a full service incl shifter cables, BB, headset replaced and that was £180.

If it's the chain store that I think it is, don't they offer a cheaper service at a lower price too, (£50 + parts last time I looked). I found when I used to work at a different branch, we used to book bikes in for the top level service, but often we would change it to the lower level if some of the work on the top tier service wasn't necessary in the mechanics opinion (we would call and tell the customer first of course). Of course I can't vouch for this store, and I might even be wrong about the chain.

Seems reasonable to me. I don’t really understand 'levels' of servicing. Some bikes you can 'service' in 10 minutes - quick clean, lube, adjustment, check everything is tight and running as it should be. Others need a full overhaul. Giving the one that needs a full overhaul a quick once over helps no one, and vice versa. I prefer to just charge for the work done.

The levels thing is because some customers like to know in advance exactly how much it'll cost. Some people are happy (and trusting) enough to say "just do whatever it needs", but others like a fixed price.

I use a really good guy who opened his own shop recently, he charges a high hourly rate but does a superb job. He also calls if anything needs replacing, except cables and brake pads BEFORE he changes something. Finally he insists on showing the old parts when I pick the bike up. Basically after using him, at a LBS and now on his own, for >5 years I trust him. My last service including shock, forks, full frame bearings, wheel and BB bearings is £270 but that's on a £3K+ FS so it seems reasonable.

I appreciate that, but it's stupid. Spending £50 getting a service on a bike which really needs new chain, cassette and cables is a complete waste of money.

Identify & remove worn out parts

This could end up costing you loads of money.

I bet bearing and cup surfaces will be warn if it's an old bike

If it's an older bike, have some fun and learn to do it yourself

I never really get bike services.

What exactly is he doing, most BB's/Head Sets/Wheels are cartridge bearing nowadays.

They need to be replaced you cant grease them.

Surely you can clean and lube the chain your self.
Identify parts that needs replacing surely is obvious too ?

^^^
Agree with the above, pull the bike out clean it spray some wd40 and oil at it. Then see what's not working, and get those parts fixed.

£80 would buy me some nice bike tools and grease. Then I would have them to use again and have the satisfaction of a job well done. Why pay someone to do what you can essentially do yourself

Sounds perfectly reasonable to me. I can spend a good 2 hours doing that to my bike at a leisurely pace before a big ride or trip so a professional should do it in about an hour, depending on the condition of the bike. You're paying not just for his time and expertise but also the fitted workshop. The cost would be the same whether it was a cheap or expensive hardtail.

£80 would buy me some nice bike tools and grease. Then I would have them to use again and have the satisfaction of a job well done. Why pay someone to do what you can essentially do yourself

+1

It's reasonable when you consider it's far more effort than goes into an annual car service (remove sump plug, remove oil filter, replace with new, pour oil in) for the same price.

But a fairly comprehensive toolkit is only going to cost you £50 or so. Youtube and the park website are free. And in reality other than checking everything is tight and not overly worn the only routinely serviceable part of my main bike is the gear cable. Everything else is replaced when it's worn (or bled when it needs it).

Even the gear cable isn't really serviced, £1.50 for an inner and about £1.50 worth of SP41 outer, even at my own internal 'is this worth my own free time fixing' rate I don't bother cleaning and re-installing it. I just replace the last 30cm that gets gunged up, grease a fresh cable and install it.

And to be honest, if you're not mechanically competent, and it's an old bike, then the "plus parts" is going to be eye watering because at a "we recommend you replace the chain at 0.75% stretch" level everything will be worn, whereas most regular MTBers would happily just run that chain and the rest of the drivechain into the ground. At least if you learn to DIY bike maintenance you can make those judgements and where things are quite worn but not quite dead you'll know to keep an eye on them, whereas a shop will just tell you to replace them so you don't come back next week saying 'you serviced my bike and now the hubs are worn out!'.

Eighty Pound. I give you full service. Full lube included.

i agree with TINAS

it would be better to use that money to invest in some decent tools and do it yourself
if you know what youre doing it shouldnt take more than a couple of hours to get it done

But a fairly comprehensive toolkit is only going to cost you £50 or so

I do all my bikes myself but £80 doesn't sound unreasonable, just make sure they tell you what and how much before they replace any parts.

Really? I know my tools cost a lot more than that.

I was referring to the stuff you'd need to service a bike.

Pliers, wire cutters

£10 (or 99p from the 99p shop and they'll probably still survive a few years of monthly bike maintenance).

Set of allen keys
Screw drivers
Torx key
Chain tool

That's 99% of jobs sorted with a £15 multi tool.

BB spanner or tool to suit the bike
Cassette lockring tool + chain whip
Cone spanners (if shimano hubs)

£30 more and you can now disassemble every single part of the bike that within the skill level of even the most inept mechanic.

Brake bleed kits, wheel truing stands, headset presses, frame alignment tools, that specific pinned tool for getting XTR M970 cranks off and nothing else, 1.5" headset race installation slide hammer, blind bearing puller for doing FSR chainstay pivots, and anything else can wait until it's needed.

Doesn't seem like a mad price for the service.
The problem for me is "Fit new parts and service and lubricate where necessary" as there's a lot of room for interpretation in there which could conceivably add a couple of £100 to that.

Local place just opened charges £40 for the same thing (North Cardiff) - but I don't know of anyone who's come away with a bill for less than £200 yet, in fairness their bikes were pretty shagged.

£80 doesnt seem extortionate to me, the op possibly can't do the work himself, or can't be arsed to do it himself.

EDIT: TINAS, i sort of agree with what you are saying, but not everyone is as mechanically minded as you are, i agree that actually most cycle parts are fairly simple *if you know what you're doing* but that doesnt mean that everyone can manage the jobs that some of us would do without thinking about.

£80 seems very reasonable for a full strip down, clean and regrease type job. I think people thinking it's excessive, or better to get tools and DIY, might not appreciate what the average bike mechanic goes through day to day. That seemingly easy looking job that turns into a nightmare due to some unforeseen horror lurking within. Trying to sort out stuff that's seized, without resorting to trashing the frame. Needing to return the bike to the customer in a safe, roadworthy state. Realising that although this component appears to be of a particular 'standard', it's actually slightly different, and nothing else fits, and you need to order a special part, and the customer is coming in at 4 expecting the bike to be ready. Etc. And that's before we even delve into the world of obscure older bikes with strange proprietary fittings and parts.

" that specific pinned tool for getting XTR M970 cranks off and nothing else"

Bike shops I know are simply telling customers to buy the tool themselves, before they agree to do the work, as it's just pointless investing loads of money on a tool that perhaps one or two customers ever will need for their bikes, before Shimano/Sram etc go and ditch that 'standard' and invent a completely new one. For this year. Before they go and do the same again next year.

I think what I'd really want is to take a bike in, have someone give it a 5 minute once over and discuss what it needs/would benefit from, then be given the price (or options for the price if things like mechs needed replacing).

If it needs a reasonable amount of work and the prices of parts in that store aren't extortionate, the cost seems reasonable - and it's a good way of making it clear to people with BSOs that your time costs money!

[quote=scu98rkr]What exactly is he doing, most BB's/Head Sets/Wheels are cartridge bearing nowadays.

In the STW world, maybe.. in a bike shop where you get a wide range of ages and quality bikes a large proportion will still be running loose bearing headsets, cup & cone hubs etc.

I think what I'd really want is to take a bike in, have someone give it a 5 minute once over and discuss what it needs/would benefit from, then be given the price (or options for the price if things like mechs needed replacing).

This makes sense, but not having a 'standard' price list could also put some people of - the "if you have to ask" effect.

UPDATE: I've been quoted £150. With £60 for labour and the following bits needing replacing: cassette, chain, bottom bracket, brake blocks and I think new rear wheel hub/bearings.

Does this seem fair enough?

Thanks again

What anyone else thinks is irrelevant. We all have varying amounts of free time, skill, tools and disposable income. Is it worth that [i]to you[/i] to have the bike sorted?

yes-again.

Its not a rip off but maybe a bit dear. A cheap bottom bracket is about 15-20£, bearings 5£, brake blocks 5£ a set. Cassette 20-30£, chain 10£. Definitely learn stuff yourself will save in the long run. Always clean it before going to the shop as they'll love it.