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LBS prices and services


Dottleshead

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I get my commuter tuned up in the fall before the rainy season starts, and my road bike in the Spring.  Costs me about $100 each time, including the parts (cables, chains, brake pads etc)  The shop is near my office and they know I ride to work so they let me know what day works best and I drop off on my way to work and they have it done by supper time when I am ready to head home

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1 minute ago, Zephyr said:

I get my commuter tuned up in the fall before the rainy season starts, and my road bike in the Spring.  Costs me about $100 each time, including the parts (cables, chains, brake pads etc)  The shop is near my office and they know I ride to work so they let me know what day works best and I drop off on my way to work and they have it done by supper time when I am ready to head home

So about $81 U.S?

 

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Prices seem reasonable.

I don’t normally do “tune ups” but I do have shops work on stuff that goes wonky.  I get a lot of free deraliure tunes & minor adjustments at my friends shop but my wife & I buy from her a lot. This shop owner also recently put my Fuji Crosser back to original replacing the rear der, putting the cassette back on the original wheel, new cable & tune. I think she charged me $35.  Wow key buy, and then my wife plunked down $250 on new riding shoes! 😂

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7 hours ago, Dottles said:

I had 4 bikes that I had never had tuned up. The guy came out, picked them up, serviced them all, and then dropped them off. Two of them were e-bikes. Each one came with standard service which included truing the wheels. I think for $60 a bike, that was very reasonable. What say you? How does that compare to your neck of the woods? Do it yourselfers... we get it ... you did it mostly free and got the satisfaction of working on your own bike. Congrats. Someone is probably handing out gold stars. :happyanim:

Also they have 2 people test ride them to ensure quality. Plus they garauntee their work for a month.

But did they put summer air in?

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Seems reasonable to me. I don't take my bikes in for tune-ups. Most minor things I do myself. But major things I'll take in. Back in the 80s & 90s they were less complicated IMO. I did my own bearing service w/ loose balls. Now BBs and wheels have specific designs :wacko: I've never serviced a pressfit BB, but I'd like to learn. My Cannondales have BB30. The road bike uses an FSA crank, the Fat & CX use Cannondale's proprietary crank...joy.

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1 hour ago, bikeman564™ said:

Seems reasonable to me. I don't take my bikes in for tune-ups. Most minor things I do myself. But major things I'll take in. Back in the 80s & 90s they were less complicated IMO. I did my own bearing service w/ loose balls. Now BBs and wheels have specific designs :wacko: I've never serviced a pressfit BB, but I'd like to learn. My Cannondales have BB30. The road bike uses an FSA crank, the Fat & CX use Cannondale's proprietary crank...joy.

I feel the same. You also need specific tools to remove some of those BB’s too.  

I clean & lube my & my wife’s bikes but if I hear a weird noise or find an issue I take it in.  I really don’t enjoy wrenching. 

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I do the basics. I even like a little wrenching. I have done all the work on my MTB up until this last week. The back wheel kept going out of true quickly. I finally took it in to John. (LBS owner's name is John Wayne.....really) He agreed with me on what I was seeing and even suggested a new rim as he saw a couple small cracks I missed. No idea what the bill will be, but if replacing it was smarter, he would tell me. I take my bikes to him annually for a run through. Bill is generally $70-100 per bike depending on what I've worn out. His tune-ups have kept me from looking at new bikes more often. 

On LBS retirement front, he has a couple offers, but nothing solid, yet. He is hoping something happens by July 4. If not, he will begin selling off inventory and closing down. There is a rumor of a new LBS coming in. They own a shop about 150 miles away. I guess they were in our shop sometime last year and offered to buy it, but something about their approach put him off. 

After I dropped off my wheel, a riding buddy that works part time there walked out with me. He said he is trying to find a way to make a go of a shop, but doesn't want the overhead (or the mess) of the current LBS. His other jobs makes him more than qualified on the business side and he is a great person. I would love to see it happen!

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32 minutes ago, ChrisL said:

I feel the same. You also need specific tools to remove some of those BB’s too.  

I clean & lube my & my wife’s bikes but if I hear a weird noise or find an issue I take it in.  I really don’t enjoy wrenching. 

yup, I've been watching the youtube, and looking at Park's tools.

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24 minutes ago, groupw said:

After I dropped off my wheel, a riding buddy that works part time there walked out with me. He said he is trying to find a way to make a go of a shop, but doesn't want the overhead (or the mess) of the current LBS. His other jobs makes him more than qualified on the business side and he is a great person. I would love to see it happen!

The shop I bought my Bianchi at 10+ years ago and my Ritchey a few months ago has an interesting business model. Most of their sales are online and only high end road, gravel & some MTB.  He focuses on steel, Ti & NOS vintage.  He also does pretty well on service.

But you won’t find any riding kit, accessories are limited and even spare parts are limited. He’ll order anything you need but the chances of them having it in their tiny store is 50/50 at best. 

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2 hours ago, bikeman564™ said:

Seems reasonable to me. I don't take my bikes in for tune-ups. Most minor things I do myself. But major things I'll take in. Back in the 80s & 90s they were less complicated IMO. I did my own bearing service w/ loose balls. Now BBs and wheels have specific designs :wacko: I've never serviced a pressfit BB, but I'd like to learn. My Cannondales have BB30. The road bike uses an FSA crank, the Fat & CX use Cannondale's proprietary crank...joy.

The advantage of building new bikes with NOS is standard bearing cups for the crankset, standard headsets and inexpensive 8 or 9 speed hardware.  Only the wheels are Shimano exclusive.

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My LBS is doing really well. He sells his bikes before they come in. It’s hard to get new bikes these days. His showroom is full of bikes in for service. I tried to order a new 520 and they won’t be available until September 2022. That worked out well for me because I really wanted a Lynskey.

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2 hours ago, bikeman564™ said:

Seems reasonable to me. I don't take my bikes in for tune-ups. Most minor things I do myself. But major things I'll take in. Back in the 80s & 90s they were less complicated IMO. I did my own bearing service w/ loose balls. Now BBs and wheels have specific designs :wacko: I've never serviced a pressfit BB, but I'd like to learn. My Cannondales have BB30. The road bike uses an FSA crank, the Fat & CX use Cannondale's proprietary crank...joy.

I thought press fit BBs are one and done. Can you actually service them?

My Casseroll has a Chris King BB. It's more than a decade old now. 

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3 minutes ago, Longjohn said:

My LBS is doing really well. He sells his bikes before they come in. It’s hard to get new bikes these days. His showroom is full of bikes in for service. I tried to order a new 520 and they won’t be available until September 2022. That worked out well for me because I really wanted a Lynskey.

I think most shops are doing really well right now. Just before Covid hit I bought some stuff from my friend to upgrade my Fuji crosser.  She told me I was the only customer she saw all week.  She was working a night job to make ends meet and was concerned if she could keep the shop going.

By the time I picked up my bike Covid was in full swing and she was swamped.  Bikes going out the door as soon as they come in & she’s been busy ever since. 

She has built a nice shop & women’s oriented cycling community so I really hope she can keep it going long term.  That’s why I do buy from her as much as I can. 

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3 minutes ago, denniS said:

I thought press fit BBs are one and done. Can you actually service them?

My Casseroll has a Chris King BB. It's more than a decade old now. 

I think it’s a matter of if they start to creak or not?  I have PF on my Anthem and it’s been trouble free. I haven’t touched the BB since purchase.

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7 minutes ago, ChrisL said:

I think it’s a matter of if they start to creak or not?  I have PF on my Anthem and it’s been trouble free. I haven’t touched the BB since purchase.

So you can grease and adjust a pressfit BB? I thought once it was in need of service you replaced it like the cartridge BBs in most modern bikes.

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Shops here are scheduling appts about 2 weeks out. Parts can be hard to come by. One shop said they ordered $15k worth of parts and only a set of pedals shipped. Everything else was out of stock by the time the order processed. 

$120 is typical for a full tune. 

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4 minutes ago, denniS said:

So you can grease and adjust a pressfit BB? I thought once it was in need of service you replaced it like the cartridge BBs in most modern bikes.

I honestly don’t know.  I think there are ways to remedy the creaking if you happen to have a creaky PF BB but I think most are as you note, set it & forget it.  PF seems to get a bad rap but I really haven’t had an issue with it. The only creaking I’m aware of are with external cup BB’s.  My first crosser, AL frame with external BB creaked like a mothah! My brother has a Marin Hawk Hill, AL frame with external BB & his creaks too.

 

3 minutes ago, denniS said:

Shops here are scheduling appts about 2 weeks out. Parts can be hard to come by. One shop said they ordered $15k worth of parts and only a set of pedals shipped. Everything else was out of stock by the time the order processed. 

$120 is typical for a full tune. 

That’s why I built out my Ritchey with Ultegra & not GRX as Ultegra was in stock.  I also asked for a price comparison with 105 hydro and the owner chuckled. How long do you want to wait, could be months...

I am using the GRX wheels I bought early in 2020 and when I picked up the Ritchey another shop guy asked how I was able to find GRX wheels. The owner let him know I brought them in, they are not new.  Ohhhh that makes sense.  

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46 minutes ago, denniS said:

I thought press fit BBs are one and done. Can you actually service them?

My Casseroll has a Chris King BB. It's more than a decade old now. 

You mean the cartridge bearings? You can re-grease them, but I'd replace them if they're feeling rough. I meant service as in servicing the BB.

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12 hours ago, Dottles said:

What say you?

I just wonder what a "tune up" includes.

I do some of my own work, but certainly will defer to the folks with the talent and the TOOLS for stuff that rarely needs attention.  The BB remains one of those items but there may be more.  My Tarmac, at 5 yrs old, has never had a tune up.  It has had a BB replacement a year and a half ago at the LBS, and a wheel has had a spoke replaced, but I think that's the sum total of all work done in a shop for it. 

I often wonder if I am missing something, and should be getting work done regularly???? I keep the chain lubed, check its wear, will replace brake pads as needed, and try to make sure things are lubed, greased, tightened, adjusted, etc. as needed, and tires get replaced when worn.  As far as I recall, the chain, chainrings, cassette, and brake cables are original and at ~15k miles, and the tires have been through a lifecycle or two.  I don't think I have ever worn out a set of brake pads on any bike, although I did replace them on my MTB as they were super hard after a couple of decades on the bike.  Maybe the disc brakes on the Diverge will need more brake maintenance vs the rim brakes on my other bike, but time will tell.

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1 hour ago, maddmaxx said:

The advantage of building new bikes with NOS is standard bearing cups for the crankset, standard headsets and inexpensive 8 or 9 speed hardware.  Only the wheels are Shimano exclusive.

Can you still get 8/9 speed components? I know 7 speed is rare, which is what my schwinn aluminum has. 7 speed Ultegra :)

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22 minutes ago, ChrisL said:

That’s why I built out my Ritchey with Ultegra & not GRX as Ultegra was in stock.  I also asked for a price comparison with 105 hydro and the owner chuckled. How long do you want to wait, could be months...

I am using the GRX wheels I bought early in 2020 and when I picked up the Ritchey another shop guy asked how I was able to find GRX wheels. The owner let him know I brought them in, they are not new.  Ohhhh that makes sense.  

I have been successful getting a bunch of different components over the past year by just being patient and ordering with the knowledge that something will ship when it comes in versus immediately.  The wait time is usually a month or so, but many online shops are pretty good about stating "On Backorder - Due xx/xx/2021" and hitting or exceeding that date.

Honestly, I haven't heard much about why bike parts are still constrained, as China and Japan are pretty much chugging away, and it would seem like Shimano or SRAM or the like would be upping capacity as much as possible.  Cargo ships are sailing regularly too, so what is the challenge???  COVID, obviously, but to what degree?

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4 minutes ago, Razors Edge said:

I just wonder what a "tune up" includes.

I do some of my own work, but certainly will defer to the folks with the talent and the TOOLS for stuff that rarely needs attention.  The BB remains one of those items but there may be more.  My Tarmac, at 5 yrs old, has never had a tune up.  It has had a BB replacement a year and a half ago at the LBS, and a wheel has had a spoke replaced, but I think that's the sum total of all work done in a shop for it. 

I often wonder if I am missing something, and should be getting work done regularly???? I keep the chain lubed, check its wear, will replace brake pads as needed, and try to make sure things are lubed, greased, tightened, adjusted, etc. as needed, and tires get replaced when worn.  As far as I recall, the chain, chainrings, cassette, and brake cables are original and at ~15k miles, and the tires have been through a lifecycle or two.  I don't think I have ever worn out a set of brake pads on any bike, although I did replace them on my MTB as they were super hard after a couple of decades on the bike.  Maybe the disc brakes on the Diverge will need more brake maintenance vs the rim brakes on my other bike, but time will tell.

I’m kinda like you. I do replace chains more frequently but have never replaced brake or der cables. Haven’t had to... 

I have replaced cassettes, mainly for different gearing, tires, wheels that cracked & of course tires.  I have had new bikes need a derailure tune after cable stretch, needed suspension bearings replaced on the anthem and have had things come loose that caused the odd creek that shops have fixed.

But I have never had a “tune up”.

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1 minute ago, ChrisL said:

I wonder if creaking, regardless of BB type is more prevalent with AL frames?  

Well, my Schwinn aluminum is threaded, and never creaked. I had an older Cannondale w/ threaded BB, and it never creaked either. The problem w/ press-in is the size and shape of the mating parts. I know their both round, but round does not mean round. Depending on the hole & bearing size tolerances, as well as their roundness & lobing. Also how concentric is one side to the other? If this is off some degree, the spindle will not be seated properly. IMO this is a sheety design, and to think Cannondale invented BB-30, and made it open source which is why it is so widely used :blink:

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11 minutes ago, bikeman564™ said:

You mean the cartridge bearings? You can re-grease them, but I'd replace them if they're feeling rough. I meant service as in servicing the BB.

I mean a pressfit BB. Can it be greased and continued to use it or do you just replace it? Salsa said Pressfits are one and done. Use it and replace it but you cannot service it.

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Just now, ChrisL said:

I’m kinda like you. I do replace chains more frequently but have never replaced brake or der cables. Haven’t had to... 

I have replaced cassettes, mainly for different gearing, tires, wheels that cracked & of course tires.  I have had new bikes need a derailure tune after cable stretch, needed suspension bearings replaced on the anthem and have had things come loose that caused the odd creek that shops have fixed.

But I have never had a “tune up”.

Yep.  I measure the chain relatively regularly, so know I will replace it eventually, but I think the benefit of being a lighter guy with less power is that there is less stress than a bigger, more powerful rider would create.  Di2 luckily takes care of cable stretch.  I've swapped brake cables on my MTB and my wife's bike, but was able to use the old cable housing so only needed to cut a couple cables for easy peasy maintenance.

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1 minute ago, denniS said:

I mean a pressfit BB. Can it be greased and continued to use it or do you just replace it? Salsa said Pressfits are one and done. Use it and replace it but you cannot service it.

After the cartridge bearings are removed, the should be replaced. When I mentioned service, I didn't mean re-grease. I meant the act of over hauling the BB. Remove, replace. The bearings are pressed directly into the frame.

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1 minute ago, bikeman564™ said:

After the cartridge bearings are removed, the should be replaced. When I mentioned service, I didn't mean re-grease. I meant the act of over hauling the BB. Remove, replace. The bearings are pressed directly into the frame.

Got it. 

I switched to a CK BB because I was burning through a BB every year. The CK has lasted a decade and just needs to be greased every now and then.

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1 minute ago, denniS said:

Got it. 

I switched to a CK BB because I was burning through a BB every year. The CK has lasted a decade and just needs to be greased every now and then.

When my older bikes used loose balls w/ cups, I rarely ever needed to serviced them. Even the Shimano cartridge BB, you know that one piece threaded unit? Those rarely wore out...for me anyway.

 

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19 minutes ago, Razors Edge said:

I just wonder what a "tune up" includes.

I do some of my own work, but certainly will defer to the folks with the talent and the TOOLS for stuff that rarely needs attention.  The BB remains one of those items but there may be more.  My Tarmac, at 5 yrs old, has never had a tune up.  It has had a BB replacement a year and a half ago at the LBS, and a wheel has had a spoke replaced, but I think that's the sum total of all work done in a shop for it. 

I often wonder if I am missing something, and should be getting work done regularly???? I keep the chain lubed, check its wear, will replace brake pads as needed, and try to make sure things are lubed, greased, tightened, adjusted, etc. as needed, and tires get replaced when worn.  As far as I recall, the chain, chainrings, cassette, and brake cables are original and at ~15k miles, and the tires have been through a lifecycle or two.  I don't think I have ever worn out a set of brake pads on any bike, although I did replace them on my MTB as they were super hard after a couple of decades on the bike.  Maybe the disc brakes on the Diverge will need more brake maintenance vs the rim brakes on my other bike, but time will tell.

Holy shit. I replace the brake pads on my Fargo every year. I replaced my 9zero7 pads last summer and my Rocky Mountain went through two sets last summer alone.

My Fargo is howling so loud now, I will replace those this weekend. 

1 minute ago, bikeman564™ said:

When my older bikes used loose balls w/ cups, I rarely ever needed to serviced them. Even the Shimano cartridge BB, you know that one piece threaded unit? Those rarely wore out...for me anyway.

 

I ride mostly off-road so the cartridge BB would wear out every year.

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1 minute ago, denniS said:

Holy shit. I replace the brake pads on my Fargo every year. I replaced my 9zero7 pads last summer and my Rocky Mountain went through two sets last summer alone.

My Fargo is howling so loud now, I will replace those this weekend. 

I ride mostly off-road so the cartridge BB would wear out every year.

I need to replace my fatbike BB bearings

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5 minutes ago, denniS said:

Holy shit. I replace the brake pads on my Fargo every year. I replaced my 9zero7 pads last summer and my Rocky Mountain went through two sets last summer alone.

My Fargo is howling so loud now, I will replace those this weekend. 

I ride mostly off-road so the cartridge BB would wear out every year.

Do you ever replace rotors too?  I have gone through pads on my Fuji crosser & my first good MTB I gave to my cousin but haven’t had to on the Anthem yet.  I have never replaced rotors tho.

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23 minutes ago, bikeman564™ said:

Can you still get 8/9 speed components? I know 7 speed is rare, which is what my schwinn aluminum has. 7 speed Ultegra :)

I haven't built in a couple of years but then it was easy to get.  Europe still does a lot of touring work and commuter work in 8 speed, possibly because of the larger chain.  I bought my 8 speed flat bar road brifters from Chain Reaction cycles in Ireland at a very low price because they had them.  I haven't looked since then.  8 speed chains are common still.  The derailleurs are the newer generation Sora 9 speed capable but the cages are ok for the wide chain.

There's still a ton of 7 speed "freewheel" stuff coming out of China so I expect 7,8,9 to soldier on for quite a while.

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1 minute ago, maddmaxx said:

I haven't built in a couple of years but then it was easy to get.  Europe still does a lot of touring work and commuter work in 8 speed, possibly because of the larger chain.  I bought my 8 speed flat bar road brifters from Chain Reaction cycles in Ireland at a very low price because they had them.  I haven't looked since then.  8 speed chains are common still.  The derailleurs are the newer generation Sora 9 speed capable but the cages are ok for the wide chain.

There's still a ton of 7 speed "freewheel" stuff coming out of China so I expect 7,8,9 to soldier on for quite a while.

Ahh, I had shimano 6 speed freewheel, but my 7 speed is a cassette. I know Shimano doesn't make stuff. The cassette that's on there now is some knock-off brand.

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7 minutes ago, bikeman564™ said:

Ahh, I had shimano 6 speed freewheel, but my 7 speed is a cassette. I know Shimano doesn't make stuff. The cassette that's on there now is some knock-off brand.

I used SRAM cassettes and chains, Shimano wheels, Avid mechanical road disc brakes, a Diamondback frame specially picked for a particular size and geometry, carbon bars, one of my old WTB saddles that fits my butt.  :nodhead:  The Sora compact double crankset was purchased from a Shimano rep after it was used in a bike show.  It was nominally a 9 speed piece but just fine for 8.

I suppose you could call it a sort of tricked out hybrid.  

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10 minutes ago, ChrisL said:

Do you ever replace rotors too?  I have gone through pads on my Fuji crosser & my first good MTB I gave to my cousin but haven’t had to on the Anthem yet.  I have never replaced rotors tho.

Not unless I bend one. You can try to straighten them with a rotor tool, but it doesn't always work.

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