Originally Posted by
seypat
I'm not even in the bicycle business. Pneumatic air tools and collated fasteners. One of the most annoying instances I had was:
A person walks into my shop with a palm nailer he wants repaired. I look at it and say, "the repair kit is $38. A new tool is $57. You'd be better off buying a new tool." He says, "Harbor Freight sells one for $19.95. I was hoping you could repair this one for less than $10. I could keep it as a backup." I tell him to figure in an extra $20 on each job and quit wasting both of our time. If the Harbor Freight tool lasts longer than 1 job then he'll make an extra $20.
Yeah, it really does come down to the specific details (who, when, where) to figure out whether something is worth the effort or cost. For example in this scenario, I could have bought a great wheel set that was fully tuned and used almost the exact same hubs and rims right here on the forum a couple of weeks ago... And it cost $40 less than the price that this shop quoted me to remove a freewheel, true a wheel, and overhaul both hubs.
I'm just really surprised that people are having a hard time believing that I'm confident about being able to true some spokes and remove a freewheel. I have a lot of mechanical experience working on farm equipment and automobiles, and have done most other tasks involved in bicycle maintenance, yet I'm still being called "incompetent."
I'm done arguing about it, though. The shop can charge $45 for the work and $45 for each hub overhaul - that's their prerogative... But they won't be getting my money for it!
-Gregory