I’m know nothing about bike maintenance aside from cleaning and lubing the chain, so I took the commuter in for a service. Got hit with this whopping £300 bill. I had a quick checkup service around November so I assumed it would be alright, apparently not 😅
What can I do to prevent this happening again later on? Any simple tips or ELI5 for an idiot like myself?
by Torsythe
13 Comments
If you don’t know how to do your own maintenance, take it in for preventative more often so these problems don’t add up. The cassette is only worn because the chain reached such an excessive amount of wear, for example
They have added a considerable markup on the components, in my opinion. That’s absolutely not the price they’re paying for them. It would also make me question whether all the work is necessary. I’d take your bike elsewhere for a second opinion.
I’d also ask them what their labour rates are because… That’s a lot.
Labour to do the most recent major service on my car was less than that, and that included a cambelt change.
There are a bunch of red flags here but none more than charging a delivery fee on ordering a new chain for you. I mean, WTF? Bike shops should always have chains in stock. If they don’t, they order more. It is not a bespoke part they are ordering just for you. That’s absurd. Combine that with the general vibe I get from this text that this has been copy-pasted and is standard text they use for all assessments, I don’t care for it. Thank them for their time and take it elsewhere if you can.
FWIW after many many years of bike commuting I have settled on the If It Ain’t Broke Don’t Fix It philosophy of bike repair, after I once took a perfectly fine bike in for a “tune up” which the shop promptly broke while replacing a cassette that may or may not really needed replacing. If your bike is running well and you’re keeping up with basic maintenance, which it sounds like you do, then don’t worry about it. Fix stuff that breaks and otherwise if it rides well, sit back and enjoy it.
* Keep your bike clean. Dirt and grime on a drivetrain speeds up its wear.
* Keep everything correctly tightened – don’t under/over tighten bolts.
* inspect the cables, lubricate / clean them when necessary.
But even with proper care the chain stretches out eventually and needs a replacement, sprockets wear out, cables break and wear out etc. It’s normal mechanical wear, you can’t stop it completely.
Do a check on your bike with the mechanic and make an agreement on what they will do and what not in advance. Fix a price accordingly.
If you get a chain wear gauge, and check your chain periodically, you will know when it needs to be replaced. A overly stretched chain leads to more wear on the cassette and chainrings.
I find it odd that a shop needs to order a chain for your bike. Unless you have a very weird bike, any bike shop should have a replacement chain that would work for your bike. It’s also a little odd that they claim the cables are “stretched.” I’ve heard that after setting up new cables they will sometimes stretch a tiny amount but it only requires a twist of a barrel adjuster to take up the slack. If they are frayed it makes sense to have them replaced.
You might be able to get by without the hub servicing on the wheels. This looks to me to be the service that would also require the most service time.
If you would like to spend a weekend day on youtube watching some maintenance how-to videos, you can save yourself £180 on labor. None of this work is particularly technical.
Live in a country with low working class wages?
I mean that all sounds like completely normal wear and tear to me as far as parts go depending on how long your last service was ago/how much you use the bike.
How often/many miles do you ride a week and how long since the bike was last replaced with all these parts?
Keep your bike dry/inside when stored.
Clean in winter once every 2 weeks minimum maybe once a week if commuting.
Lube chain and clean cassette with brush when cleaning rest of bike to get grime and dirt off the teeth.
Keep chain clean.
Learn to wrench on your bike and save 2/3 of the costs
r/bikewrench
Seems excessive to me. How long since your last service? £25 for cables for example is a lot.
EDIT sorry just read you had a service 6 months ago. For me it’s a fucking rip off. There’s no way all of that has gone in 6 months.
Price for material seems around ok. Work is bit over. I do service myself and changing casset, hub and chain is easy (with right tool).
Question is, did you have problems with shifting, pedaling, excesive noise?)
How does your bike brake and shift at the moment?
This is all stuff you can do yourself with a couple extra tools. For way less than the cost of this servicing you could buy the tools and parts you need and do it yourself!