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As above - what price would I be looking at for a new set of frame bearings plus fitting on a Cube Stereo? Thanks!
I’ll say £60 to fit and £40-£50 for bearings
£60 quoted recently
They should pay you for the priviledge of working on your bike, you might buy an inner tube off them in 2 years.
More seriously, ring round a couple in your local area, it’s no good asking here as what’s good where there are one or two shops is different to where there are a dozen. Those with a good rep may charge more too. Ask for recommendations of good work too. I assume you didn’t buy the bike from an lbs? If you did, they’ll probably offer you the best deal.
£40 labour, £30 for the official cube bearings or a few quid more for some actual decent one with actual seals
ring round a couple in your local area
I disagree. Find a lbs you like and trust and use them. Build up a relationship with them. Use them and they will look after you. My lbs gives me discount and is happy to try and price match. Most of the time they can't price match but I still use them as I don't mind paying more for a good quality service.
Also If you factor in post when returning faulty goods there's probably not that much in it.
My xtr pedals failed. I dropped them off at the shop. Within 7 days I had a refund. I didn't have to post, I didn't have to email etc.
If you don't use your lbs you will end up posting your frame to get the bearings changed.
As for cost, hard to say. Where are you? If in London you can triple that £60 quote
How hard a job is it? Some swing arm bearing positions can be bastards to manipulate, so if it's one of those I'd not be counting my pennies. If it's an easy knock em out / press em in then I'd not be counting my pennies either, as I'd do it myself 🙂
How much bike are you planning on taking in? Changing bearings on a bike is more time consuming than doing the same to a frame.
I disagree. Find a lbs you like and trust and use them. Build up a relationship with them. Use them and they will look after you. My lbs gives me discount and is happy to try and price match. Most of the time they can’t price match but I still use them as I don’t mind paying more for a good quality service.
Obviously, but that doesn’t really help right now... Though could be the start of a good relationship.
it's not just change the bearings though, it's a take gears off, take brakes off, remove rear swing arm, remove bearing hoping the come out easily then all that in reverse plus setting the brakes and gears up again. gonna be a couple of hours to do that
Multi-pivot bikes generally come in at around the £120 mark in our shop, though this often rises when other little jobs rear their heads too.
They should charge whatever they can get away with...you are paying them to do a service, they aren't doing this as a charity.
On the flip side
It should only be a 15-20 minute job and doesn't requite much knowledge, so about 30 quid for the bearings and half that to do it...any more and they are taking the mick!
Pick one (and make sure it is the first one)
£120-140 ish including the parts for fully build bike but as above you can save yourself some money by stripping the bike down first and just taking in the frame ( clean ).
Depends. Some can be a reet bastard to do when the hardware is seized, it can be impossible not to damage the bolts when removing! So you can end up with a load of scored bolts, sheared heads, damaged threads and drilling out on top of just replacing the bearings themselves!
Do yourself and the bike a favour, buy SKF bearings (usually around 8-10 quid each depending on size/type) and do it yourself...it’s an easy job and at least you know it will be done properly.
It should only be a 15-20 minute job
Really? 🤔
My lbs quoted £10 per bearing plus the cost of the bearings however I pulled the bike apart myself and so I negotiated 50% off the labour
It should only be a 15-20 minute job
A Giant Maestro setup has 10 bearings, most of which are blind and have a 50% chance of coming out while leaving the outer race in the housing. Worst case you'll be 15-20 minutes per bearing. Plus all the stuff that @rocketdog pointed out.
I was quoted £340 to replace the bearings on my Turner. Turns out the frame has bushes not bearings when I looked into it. I didn't take up their kind offer.
I think the 15-20 mins suggestion was a joke.
I've paid around £40-50 for my last couple of bearing jobs - and I supplied the bearings.
Shop had to buy a specific blind puller for one of them.
Read the whole thing...first one was from a bike shop perspective, the second (with the 15-20 minute piece) was from the bike owner looking to spend very little on getting it done as this is the standard thought process that goes through an owner's mind (unless they are aware of what is actually involved - and obviously that is a sweeping generalisation as well).
I've very much aware of how much can (and does) go wrong with bearing replacements on full bounce bikes...it isn't an easy job, but to the average biker who doesn't do bearings, the perception is that it will be 'quick' and easy...
I paid £100 more than 5 years ago. After doing it myself a few times since it’s worth the money.
When it goes well it takes a decent amount of time if you’ve got to strip other bits off first, but when it doesn’t it can be a complete **** of a job. I don’t think there’s a really great tool to do it, there’s some good presses and some good drifts but they don’t work for every bearing/frame and some seem to have been designed to be as much of a pain as possible (the little ones between the seat stay and chain stay on FSR style frames are a shit sometimesZ
Interesting this, I just emailed a local shop I would trust to do it and got this quote back....
£80 labour inc vat plus bearings, typically £5-6 each. Turnaround currently 2-3 working days.
As always, I'm happy to pay for the time and the knowledge it will be done properly
Hopefully that 15-20 mins statement was a joke.
Because even a single pivot bike would he hard pushed to do it in that time, especially if doing it properly taking care of the frame.
On a linkage bike that couldn't be further from the truth, it's quite a long winded job in my opinion, especially if the bearings are difficult and the cables are internally routed in the swingarm
After a lbs** messed up fitting the bearings on my old Marin Quad 2 I bought a few tools and watched a few guides on YouTube.... Took them out and fitted them again, properly. Since then I do all the bearings on a bike myself.
With patience,a few tools and a resolve to do it right, it really is a diy job.
I did the 11(!) bloody bearings on my Jeffsy last summer and I am no gifted mechanic! I just took my time and used a bit of common sense.
**Not a dig at lbs in general. It's just my one is a bit rubbish.
I did the 11(!) bloody bearings on my Jeffsy last summer and I am no gifted mechanic! I just took my time and used a bit of common sense.
OP probably wants it back in a few days rather than a complete season though. can you imagine the labour bill on that!
^^ I really wouldn't want to know how much that would cost at an lbs that's for sure.Lol
I was quoted £340 to replace the bearings on my Turner. Turns out the frame has bushes not bearings when I looked into it. I didn’t take up their kind offer
On my newer model Czar with cartridge bearings - you can import them for half the cost in the UK .
£340 is a lot of money especially given the cost of the Igus Bushes.
I did the main pivot bearings last week and whilst not a hard job, it's time consuming... If i were doing it again i'd want to be taking the whole swingarm off which means a new rear gear cable and a brake bleed on mine too. Just little tricky angles to get things done when it's still cabled, you end up with the bike upside down and the swingarm between your legs while you try and find a 3rd arm you need to press them in nicely whilst holding it all straight lol..
The thing about doing it your self had been raised above.
If it all goes according to plan its OK, with the right tools and some know how. It's when the bearings have collapsed and half of it is stuck in the frame. You can damage a frame without the right tools.
I'd allow myself around 3 hours to do all 10 bearings on my Aeris. External routing makes life a bit easier. While it's apart I also clean and grease as appropriate every part, spacer, collet, bolt, etc, and fully pack the bearings with waterproof grease. The kind of attention you don't get from an lbs doing the job as it takes too long and then people complain about excessive labour charges.
and do it yourself…it’s an easy job and at least you know it will be done properly.
This makes me laugh .
it’s an easy job and at least you know it will be done properly.
Well, you won’t. You’ll know it’s been done, but unless you have an LBS (or qualified mechanic) check, you won’t know if was done properly. And if you haven’t done it properly, you have probably ended your warranty.
Get some rrp press kits off crc and do it yourself. It’s not very hard to do and quite satisfying. Also you’ll have all the tools for next time.
Do it yourself... IF you have all the right tools and the knowhow. Obvious.
If not, expect up to £100. About the same price as a fork service - which, you can also do your self IF... etc
I think I paid about £150 last year at my bike shop for all the frame bearings and shock bushings to be replaced. Sounds high, I know but I wheeled my bike in, left it with them, and they did all the work, tweaked a couple of loose spokes, and set it all back up, and a couple of days later I wheeled it back out again.
For those of us without the tools, space or confidence/know-how to do this sort of work, it's a fair price (I think) for guaranteed work, and minimum downtime.