[Closed] How much for bike mechanic to internal route my brakes and dropper?

I paid £60 to have the intrnally routed rear brake removed and reassembled, then replaced with the one i preferred, and hard a third rear brake reassembled.

I'd expect it to take a couple of hours to do the job you want so something on a similar level

Before I retired I’d charge £30/hour. I wouldn’t quote but estimate, sometimes it’s quick, sometimes a right pain, depends on the frame design. You might get problems with braided hose as it’s usually a slightly larger diameter. I’ll take cover now as everyone tells you how easy it is, just do this, just do that...sometimes it is easy, most of the time it isn’t! Oh yes, just noticed, £30/hour is the the Northern price - might cost you more as some bigger bike shops round me are over £40/hour!

Braided hoses routed internaly? Is that even going to work?

It’s an Orange Stage 5 so the holes are pretty big

Braided hoses routed internaly? Is that even going to work?

Works on my Deviate. Hoses are also available without the plastic cover which takes them to standard diameter, but will shred unprotected paintwork...

It’s very bike dependent. Santacruz have a nice fabricated internal guide / tube for the hoses to glide through.

My stage 5 went like this…

Struggle to pass hoses through rubber grommets. Sit grommets in boiled water, refit and pass hoses through.

Remove cranks and bb to instal dropper cable. Discover seat tube badly finished at bb junction and have to order internal cable fitting tool.

It was still struggle. Probably took me 3 or 4 hours pissing around to do it all.

I’m pretty reasonable and playing mechanic too.

If the shop is an orange dealer and used to doing it then I reckon £50 but it could be more.

Routing time X 2
Bleeding X 2
Dropper routing X 1

I'd say £60ish Inc brake fluid

I had a norco HT a few weeks back that took nearly 2 hours to route the dropper!

£30/hour is the the Northern price

I have no idea how a business can survive when charging so little

Edit
Actually, thinking about it, maybe this is why we end up with threads like the invisiframe one and the wheelbuilders one?

Wildside cycles in TW is a good shop.

Speak to BikeGoo in Jarvis Brook, my mates are big fans.

Santacruz have a nice fabricated internal guide / tube for the hoses to glide through.

True for the front triangle gear + brake hoses. The chainstay routes don't have that so you're still trying to fish them through a small hole. Not too tricky but they definitely don't 'glide'. Then the dropper routing is the most monumental PITA I've ever had the misfortune to deal with! Completely inaccessible from anywhere near the >90° bend it has to go round. Even with an inner cable in, VERY tricky to pass the outer / hose. v4 5010.

I have a Stage 5 and have done this. Brake is easy enough but the grommets are a pain with Hope hoses and mine still doesn't sit correctly. Dropper is more difficult due to the angle the cable has to negotiate at the bottom of the seat tube and the size of the holes given for the task. Mucho skin loss, bleeding, swearing.

Saying that, I'm sure a shop mechanic will have some cheats that a dummy like me doesn't so I can't imagine it'll take too long. Maybe 2hrs labour? Going by what's posted above it's looking like £60/80.

My LBS, in Hertfordshire, charges £25 for dropper post fitting with internal cable and £25 for a brake bleed. Not sure about brake cable rerouting

Thanks all. Might see if I can get Wildside cycles to sort it 👍

Minimum of 2.5hrs at whatever your LBS hourly rate. Some frames are easy, others a PITA. I can do a dropper in about 30 mins, 30 mins for each brake bleed and 30 mins for each hose route.

It’s so hard to quote for jobs like this unless you’ve done the same job on the same bike before. I made the mistake of giving a mate a rough price to fit bars to his ‘dale system six, fully internal. What a bollox of a job that was. When it comes to needing a service I’m going to be too busy!!

Interesting comparison simondbarnes - I’m not clever enough to do a quote in a box! The quality of work done doesn’t necessarily increase with the price paid for the labour element, I’m sure there are lots of stories about poor jobs done at “higher” end shops and also lots of stories of excellent quality work done at cheaper operations like I was. I made it pay by charging the maximum labour charge the local market would take, bearing in mind there’s competition from Doctor Bike operations and “not for profit” companies. I made profit by supplying all parts myself and charging full r.r.p. with all parts from official importers. Yes, there were people who wanted to bring stuff sourced from China or various discount organisations but I’d politely point out that if there were any problems, or recalls, with parts I’d fitted then I’d replace and take it up with the importer.
I only used the correct tools, and only top quality cables and fittings and had a quality control system. I also belonged to the County Council Trusted Trader scheme which reassures people. I had lots of happy customers who became (paying) friends! Sorry for the long rant but more expensive doesn’t always equal best and cheaper doesn’t always equal poor!