DazarGaidin

Called the bike shop today. It is a bit of a challenge for me to get to it, so I called ahead to ask about pricing. i think this sounds reasonable but what are your opinions?

25 for tune up
10 each wheel to true
25 to fit

He seemed a little confused when i mentioned fitting the bike for a second, so that has me a little worried, but maybe i'm over analyzing Could be he is used to people only getting fit for a bike at the time of purchase. But i read a few places that people who had this done with their bikes after riding a while found the small adjustments a great help.

CliftonGK1

$25 for the tune and $20 for the wheel truing is fine. Around here, the going rates (depending on the degree of work being done) a tune up can go for $50 - $150, and wheel truing is usually $15 - $20 each, not for the pair.

I'd avoid the $25 fitting if the guy sounded unsure. Someone who isn't positive about what they're doing could fiddle around with some parts and make things worse than they are.

sstorkel

In my area, a good professional fit goes for $100-200. If they're paying mechanics $50-75/hr, a $25 tune-up probably doesn't buy you much. Same thing for $10 wheel truing. Here are some prices from a shop in my area. I would say that they're about average for this area...

DazarGaidin

For the most part i want him to correct the front derailleur, check the back, and make sure everything else is tight and correct. I'll mention it before he does anything and see what he says. Given the prices you guys are mentioning, i wouldn't mind paying some extra/a la cart for what i need done.

KrisPistofferson

Good prices for the tune-up and truing, but personally, if I'm going to lay down the dough for a bike, I expest the fit to be free.

Aussie_Al

The price seems pretty decent if you ask me

Bone Head

If done correctly, it is a bargain. If not, well, you get what you pay for. $25 for a fitting is crazy cheap-- I'd be a bit skeptical.
What is the shop's reputation?

Just my $0.02

sstorkel

With a Philips screwdriver, a 5mm Allen wrench, and the Park Tool website you could probably do all of this yourself. Especially easy if your components are of recent vintage and you can find the instruction manuals on-line...

DieselDan

So much FAIL. Most don't make more then $12/hour. Get a grip on business economics. The hourly labor charge for any service includes taxes, overhead, etc that business owners have to pay.

txvintage

Keep in mind, depending on how long it's been since your bike was serviced, it may need cables and brake pads. These will be in addition to the initial fee.

$25 seems very low for a full tune up. It may just be an FD, RD, and brake adjustment. A good tune up will include checking your headset, bottom bracket, and a good cleaning of the entire bike. $10 a wheel to true is outstanding though.

sstorkel

So much FAIL? No, I don't think so. Merely a one-word slip: I should have said "billing" rather than "paying". Yes: I have been around the block, and I do understand that mechanics aren't paid $50-75/hr even though that's what car/bike/motorcycle shops charge for their services.

Still, I think my point stands: if someone is charging $25 for a service it probably means that a mechanic isn't going to spend a whole lot of time on it.

DazarGaidin

I'm sorry i shoulda mentioned that its a new bike so cable replacement and all of that wont be needed anyway. But the front derailleur is way off, i can basically only use one of the chainwheels (the middle) without noise. The back seems ok but it has slipped when im going to the 'granny gear' or whatever. I tried following a youtube on how to do it, but im pretty mechanically hopeless. So if hell get everything straight i'm willing to pay 25 bucks or even a little more.

I think i will skip the fitting and just try to get it comfortable myself.

Falcon64

Since it's a new bike, have you taken it back to the place you bought it? Those types of adjustments are usually done free there (well the tune up...maybe not truing wheels).

mwchandler21

Those prices are very good. As long as the shop does good work, you are very lucky. Like Falcon64 said though if you just bought the bike, its fairly typical for a shop to do most adjustments and maybe even a fit adjustment for a set time period (3 months, 6 months or even a year) as included in the purchase price of the bike.

mthayer

The LBS I manly use, Charges $50 for a Tune up. The go over the bike, derailleurs, brakes, chain, etc, and they true the wheels on the bike for that price. If you want them to take the wheels off and true them on a stand, its $20 a wheel. As for the fitting, the shops that I talk to do it for $75 to $150. You get what you pay for. I payed a guy who "trued" the wheels, and then I started having spoke popping. I payed him $10 a wheel, to do it. It ended up the guy never even trued the wheel, and didnt tension the spokes.
Pay the extra money, go to a real shop and if the shop owner wrenches get him/her to do the work. They will want you to keep coming back so they will most likely do it right.

Wogster

99% of the time, shifting problems come down to one thing, cable tightness. Shift the bike so it's on the small ring, is the cable kinda floppy, if it is, that's considered low normal, because if you remove the cable it would be in that position. If it's really tight, shift onto the largest ring, is it floppy now, then it's high normal. Usually if the cable comes up from the bottom it's low normal, if it comes down from the top it's high normal, but there may be exceptions.

I'll work this as if it's low normal, all of mine are, if it's high normal you need to reverse the instructions, low becomes high, etc. Rear dérailleurs are usually high normal, fronts are usually low normal.

Put the bike on a work stand or a trainer, you can flip it upside down to do this, but the controls will be hard to get at, and it's hard on the seat and bar tape/grips and all the crap attached to the bars. I use a trainer, because I have one and it works well doing it this way. Some car racks that will hold 4 bicycles can be used as well, you need a position where the pedals can turn without hitting anything though.

Now shift into low gear, the cable should be taut, but not tight, if it hangs down, then loosen the screw that holds the cable onto the dérailleur but don't remove it. On the dérailleur there should be two screws, one labelled low and the other high. Turn the low screw and watch the dérailleur it should move back and forth slightly, you want it in the position closest to the middle ring, turn the pedals so the chain finds itself. Turn the screw back the other way, while turning the pedals, until it quiets down, keep going until it starts to rattle again, them turn the other way until just quiet. Now look to see if you have a barrel adjuster this is a small hollow screw that the cable goes through, indexed shifting systems will either have one at the dérailleur itself or the shifter, often there are both, turn the barrel adjuster(s) so that it's at it's shortest position, then turn back 1 full turn. Now with the cable taut, but not tight, tighten the cable screw. Now shift to the highest gear and have a look at the high limit screw, turn this so that it's closest to the middle ring, and while turning the pedals until it gets quiet, then a little noisy, reverse direction so that it's just quiet again.

Now shift through the rings, if it will be quiet on both ends, if it rattles a little in the middle turn the barrel adjuster 1/4 turn at a time until it's quiet. Your done. Typically the screws only need adjusting once, but with modern indexed shifting, you end up tweaking those barrel adjusters on a regular basis, it's why some of us love our 30 year old friction shifters

CPFITNESS

the prices are fine, the question is, Is the value good? If they do a **** job it doesn't matter if the tuneup was free right??? And I agree with the others, where did yo ubuy the bike? my bike shop is lifetime free adjustments for bikes bought from them. I'm in NYC where people seem capable of doing things well and fast. I'm very happy with my local shop.

sstorkel

In my experience, most front shifting problems are due to the limit screws on the FD not being adjusted properly. Cable tension is a distant second place in terms of problems, especially for bikes with only two chainrings. High-normal and low-normal are terms that, in my experience, only apply to rear derailleurs. I've installed or tuned probably a dozen different models of front derailleur over the last 15 years and never seen one that fits your description of "high normal". In fact, I'd be surprised if such a thing existed at all...

I rarely end up tweaking the limit screws and barrel adjusters on my bikes. Set it up right the first time, then tweak the barrel adjusters once after the cables have stretched a bit and you should be good to go until the shift cable or derailleur needs replacement...

CliftonGK1

That would depend on the fitting, and the price you paid for the bike; at least at the LBS I frequent.
You can get any bike "adjusted" to the rider for free. Put the saddle and bars at the proper height +/- 1cm and make sure the frame size, stem reach, and angle of the bars/brake hoods is comfortable... that sort of thing. You can eyeball those measurements and get someone set up in about 10 minutes including a few test laps around the parking lot. That should be the minimum gratis fitting with any bike purchase.

My LBS charges $200 for a 3 hour fit session on the power metered adjust-a-bike, with a trained fitter etc. blah blah. If you buy a bike from the shop, 50% of the fit cost is refunded against the purchase for bikes under $3000 (iirc), and 100% for bikes over that price or for custom frame orders. (Don't quote me on it, because the shop ownership just changed hands and it might be different; but the new owner worked there for 9 years so I don't think much is going to be different.)

Bluetrane2028

These prices sound right for the LBS near me that I go to, and their services are top notch. Well, except for the fitting, I don't know what they charge for that, although it is free when you buy a bike from them. I had my shop true a wheel once, four spokes popped on it while truing and it took about an hour to get right... the bill? $10. The wheel has been perfect ever since. It seems some think that if the cost is low the service is crap, and that's not always the case.

As for fitting, in my opinion it's best to do that yourself. Only YOU know what's comfortable for YOU.

DazarGaidin

Well i couldn't afford an even entry level lbs bike, i got it online with the thought that i could either adjust it myself if it didnt come too out of whack (obviously not) or if i had to I would take it into a shop failing that (once i get some more cash). I'd think i'd be pretty upset if i did buy it at a bike shop and it had the problems i am having. Even the one that i bought has set me back for a while. I know, not buying from an lbs (not that any are 'local') is some sort of sin, but i figured its better to have something to ride than wait until mid winter for the money for the uber bike.

As it is im riding now and in about a week i can hopefully get the bike improved without breaking stride.

Im not looking at this from LBS > Online purchase im looking at it like Online Purchase >Walmart bike.

Anyway, i went ahead and adjusted the handlebars up a little and raised the seat some, and it made a difference, it was much easier going up hills, and i made it home without having to walk for the first time

Wogster

The differentiation between high and low normal is so that the same method of adjustment can be done to the rear, where most are high normal, but some are low normal. Cut and paste with less editing then I usually take time to do, someone else needed the computer.

As for the limit screws, I went through that in the process I described. Although if they are properly set when the bicycle is originally prepped at the dealer, the only time it should require readjustment is when it's replaced. Shops of course are making a lot of money, doing tuneups, where all they do is turn a barrel adjuster or two to change the cable tension. I would love to know the name of a bicycle shop, that let a new bicycle out the door, without setting the limit screws properly in the first place, so that I never go there.

Mr. Beanz

I think you are sweating the small stuff here. EVERY bike needs some sort of adjustment (even the $5000 bikes) once out of the shop. Cables break in then lose tension. After the adjustment, they are usually set for a looong time.

If there are any other riders in your area, ask them for some direction. I've adjusted a ton of bikes on the side of the road or at rest stops for others. Usually a 30 second fix that they were sweating. Some out on the first ride straight out of the shop ($3000 bike).

Best thing to do is read sheldon Browndotcom, very easy to make adjustments. Heck, I wouldn't let anybody I know pay $20 for a derailleur cable adjustment....30 seconds!

Wheels are different. Even the shop guys screw it up! For that reason, I do my own! Find a guy that knows what he's doing. If the guy says the wheels don't need to be retensioned, skip the guy, he's a bum! Biggest problem for clydes breaking spokes and going out of true is lack of tension. after 200 miles or so, the wheels need to be retensioned, NOT JUST TRUED!

One of the things I do when I walk in a shop is ask the guy "what about the wheels, do they need to be retensioned?" If he says " it's never usually a problem" or " they don't/won't need it", I know he's not worth a darn.

Sometimes I just go into the shop and ask for fun, just to hear worthless comments for a chuckle!

mthayer

Thats not right. I know its fun, but its just not right.

Mr. Beanz

True! I have a hard time with the wasy some of the workers think so I have fun with it. I got into a big argument one time cause I asked for a twenty six by one and a half tire.

Teh dude nearly chewed my arse otu said it was bike lingo, I should have said " twenty six by one point five O"...What the heck!

I said either way, the 26 by 1 and half is the same as a 26 by one point five O. I sadi tiw as all math related to numbers.

He said it had nothing to do with math or numbers, that it was all bike lingo and that I need to say "twenty six by one point five O"

So now if I see some dip that is trying to yank my chain, throw me for a loop, or simply doesn't know any better, I'll play along!

--------------

I was once in a bike shop wher the cutomer was asking the salesperson about a certain style wheel. Keep in mind, these are high end race shops.

Customer: I like that style of wheel where the spokes are together like a star, fewer spokes, know what I mean?

Salesdude: uhh yeah but I don't know what it's called

Mr Beanz: Mutters from a distance, "paired spoke technology"

Customer: hey thanks!

Customer: I also like the type that come straight out from the hub, also few spokes.

Salesdude: uhh yeah, I don't know what that's called either

Mr Beanz:......mutter form a distance, again.........."uhhhh radial laced"

Customer: thanks again

Hahaha! I couldn't help but giggle at the knowledgeble LBS worker. I got a funky look from the salesdude, I know he wanted to throw me out!